黃鋼近來的創(chuàng)作將他本身推向國際關注的焦點，他近年參與了多次重要的展覽及在拍賣場上成功獲得收藏家的親睞。他近期的創(chuàng)作主要包含了曼陀羅，菩提樹，舊皮箱子，五角星系列。我認為他的作品主要探索了抽象藝術的本源：一、藝術儀式化，二、藝術物質(zhì)化，并且具有獨特的技法和氣勢。
空間的時間感 Upon Time and Space
黃鋼將抽象藝術引導到強調(diào)社會性，批判性，遠離了強調(diào)色彩，線條等藝術語言的視覺與心理作用；他的作品超越純粹抽象，用東方的抽象語言延展了抽象繪畫的意義。他從2002年開始就不斷地在畫抽象畫，對他來說，趙無極是他相當心儀的抽象派大師，他對趙的在用筆中融合中國書法技巧和在對畫面經(jīng)營上應用中國式宇宙觀特別欣賞，對他的作品上分析，趙無極似乎有意識或無意識的影響了他對抽象畫的概念，但就我看來，他的作品相比趙卻更加的中國式也更加的西方式。他對空間的營造更立足于再現(xiàn)中國式的宇宙觀，這種觀點是來自于他受到中國南宋山水畫的意境及東方美學思想的影響。
黃鋼使用了壓克力顏料，結(jié)合中國特有的透明植物大漆（lacquer），用特別渲染的方法多次添加。他用作品質(zhì)感來營造出南宋山水畫中的朦朧空間感，造成視覺上對空間的不確定性，進而產(chǎn)生了空間感，他在畫面上也大量使用濕筆等中國技法待干之后再不斷反復的覆蓋上去，一層又一層，有時候他也會將已完成的部分除去，再重新來一遍，最后使顏色之間沒有明顯的交接線。他所表現(xiàn)的空間感因此是近于中國式的自然觀察而不同于西方式的強調(diào)視覺透視。
黃鋼對畫面空間的營造導致他產(chǎn)生了一種獨特的用筆，他偏好使用大筆，側(cè)鋒強調(diào)畫面的動感而非細節(jié)。他創(chuàng)作時更強調(diào)使用畫筆的力量和用筆的速度和運動方向。他的用筆造成了空間的流動感，更因此加深了空間的不確定性，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)黃鋼對畫筆的運用基于他長期對中國書法的了解和實踐，與其說他的作品是畫出來的，倒不如可以說他的作品是寫出來的，我認為他的作品中空間感的再現(xiàn)是相當獨特而且是相當深刻的。他的空間感并非視覺的再現(xiàn)，而是經(jīng)由畫筆的運動痕跡對觀者所帶來的時間感，進一步來說，他所營造的空間感是由時間將所再現(xiàn)出來的是一種觀者感知上的投射，基于筆者的分析，我們便不難了解為何觀者在欣賞黃鋼的作品畫面時會感到畫面在不停的變動，像是一幅活的畫，充滿靈性。我個人認為黃鋼的作品體現(xiàn)了中國道教式的宇宙觀，宇宙是變化不斷的，就像是由源源不斷的力量所衍生而來。這也就是為什么我認為黃鋼的作品比趙無極的作品更具中國式的繪畫表現(xiàn)及宇宙觀，是基于深刻的理解之上的獨特實踐。
藝術魔法 The Magic of Art
就另一方面來說，我認為黃鋼對抽象畫和西方抽象畫大師康丁斯基的作品產(chǎn)生相當有意義的對話，眾所周知，康丁斯基為抽象畫的先驅(qū)大師，對他而言，抽象畫的意義不單是視覺形象上的單純化，而是一種精神層面上的追求，他的基本著作總結(jié)了抽象畫中所表現(xiàn)的視覺能量，對康丁斯基來說，抽象畫中更重要是說籍由這種能量，觀者可以由畫面體驗到如宗教般的精神力量，這種對抽象畫的理解幫助我們解釋了黃鋼抽象畫的另一層觸及到的意義。
我們都知道黃鋼的創(chuàng)作來源很大部分是根于他對西藏佛教長久的學習和理解，從材料來說，他近期作品是選自西藏的印版經(jīng)和舊皮箱子，他將印版經(jīng)或舊皮箱子拼在一起作為畫板，從構(gòu)圖來說，他取材于藏傳佛教中的曼陀羅為形式，是一種佛教的宇宙觀。除此之外，籍由康丁斯基對抽象畫的理解，我們現(xiàn)在可以體會到他作品中和宗教的關聯(lián)表現(xiàn)在我上述談到的他作品所產(chǎn)生能量上，在這里，黃鋼和康丁斯基對繪畫的了解不是形式或視覺地再現(xiàn)而是觀者冥想的一個視窗，從藝術理論的角度而言，有學者就把藝術認為是一種魔法，不是一種視覺幻覺，而是根植于人類在物質(zhì)環(huán)境中的宇宙生成未知的、原始的、永恒的依存。
物質(zhì)化的繪畫 Materialized Painting
中國當代藝術近幾年的發(fā)展已開始尋求一種新的藝術概念和美學以脫離自80年代以來以西方形式和圖像為主流的現(xiàn)象。這一方面是源于藝術市場上不斷求新求變的市場邏輯，另一方面更是源于藝術家對自身創(chuàng)作的要求與滿足感，黃鋼對近期幾個系列反映了他對新的藝術潮流的探索。他的作品強調(diào)了架上繪畫的手藝、技藝和生活性，他將長年收集到的西藏宗教及生活材料加以加工組合，同時也強調(diào)這些材料在生活中的時間性和精神性。他似乎想籍由此將中國的架上繪畫拉回到更本質(zhì)的創(chuàng)作層面上，而非主流中的強調(diào)概念及圖像似的應用，也就是說，繪畫的意義不是在創(chuàng)作后的視覺再現(xiàn)而是包含了創(chuàng)作中的創(chuàng)作過程和創(chuàng)作前材料的選用，繪畫的本質(zhì)是和物質(zhì)緊密地結(jié)合在一起的，因為這些材料具有巨大的能量，經(jīng)過時空的轉(zhuǎn)換，這些能量被藝術家放大，釋放出來。黃鋼的強調(diào)繪畫的物質(zhì)性和中國當代藝術家反繪畫物質(zhì)性有極大的差別。黃鋼作品的特點受到他的經(jīng)歷的影響。黃鋼畢業(yè)于中央工藝美院環(huán)境藝術系，從大學的訓練中，他對材料的認識和應用比油畫專業(yè)的更為深刻。因此在他的作品中他更希望是選用現(xiàn)成物。籍由對現(xiàn)成物的藝術處理，語言轉(zhuǎn)換，使其具有的精神能量按照藝術家的創(chuàng)造思想去發(fā)展，他的藝術能將這些現(xiàn)成物所具有的精神力量和藝術產(chǎn)生一種關聯(lián)。
黃鋼對宗教力量的探討也反映到了政治層面上，在他近期的作品五星系列中，我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，他將紅色五角星或毛澤東的肖像和他的中國式美學及西藏印經(jīng)版并置，直接的產(chǎn)生了這些紅色經(jīng)典符號和宗教符號的對比，前者是直接的，色彩強烈的；后者是間接的，顏色溫和的。黃鋼恰好能夠?qū)⑦@兩者的差別藉由視覺效果表現(xiàn)出來，但我認為，他的作品另外重要的是在表現(xiàn)兩者的共同性。藉由并置政治和宗教這看似不相干的思想來邀請觀眾探索兩者的關聯(lián)，結(jié)果是顯而易見的，正如他的作品巧妙地展現(xiàn)。這兩種思想都是一種精神力的創(chuàng)作物，都是一種信仰。五角星是常出現(xiàn)在社會主義社會的政治符號，但它更常代表一種前衛(wèi)力量的展現(xiàn)，它代表反叛、革命的力量，對理想主義的最高追求，這種追求不正是和宗教所提倡的理想主義有共同性嗎？所以我認為黃鋼對政治和宗教的取材不是單純的停留在形式主義上，而是更深一層的探索兩者背后的深層意義。
結(jié)論 Conclusion
在中國當代藝術家的創(chuàng)作主題中，除了大家耳熟能詳?shù)恼晤}材或是消費文化符號外，中國的古代文化也是一部分藝術家較為關注，尤其以海外極為國際知名的藝術家為主，如徐冰使用中國的印刷術，蔡國強借用中國煙火，黃永砯采用中國民間宗教及巫術。他們的創(chuàng)作會引起國內(nèi)外關注的主要原因是他們有系統(tǒng)地、巧妙地將中國古老智慧轉(zhuǎn)變成了當代藝術形式，這既是中國的，又是全球的，既是古代的，也是當代的，正是這種多元性或是矛盾性體現(xiàn)了他們藝術的本質(zhì)，而我認為黃鋼的作品也放在此一脈絡來討論，并為其藝術找到一個學術上的定位，他借用作品來表達中國式的宇宙觀，藉由抽象藝術的語言來表達一種無形的精神及能量。
但我認為黃鋼的作品不僅于此，他同時也藉由作品來尋找一種屬于中國文人式的當代藝術。黃鋼出生和成長在北京，從小生長在具有深厚中國文化歷史底蘊的家庭，他喜歡收藏藝術品，無論是當代藝術或是古董，他對藝術有著敏銳而深刻的洞察力。在如此強烈的中國文化薰陶下，對他來說，藝術家不是一個職業(yè)，更不是一種工作，而是一種生活方式和對事物觀察的本能，也就是一種自然而然的審美能力和對事物再現(xiàn)能力的實現(xiàn)。在中國當代藝術中，這種對藝術家個人的認識是很根本的事。中國書畫家講求與自然、山水的融合與對話，而創(chuàng)作是基于此的延伸，相對于西方藝術來說，藝術家較強調(diào)概念的再現(xiàn)。黃鋼的架上繪畫是在兩者兼具中顯示出其獨特性和創(chuàng)作性。
楊心一（美國康乃爾大學藝術史博士）
On Huang Gang’s Creativity of Abstract Painting
Shinyi Yang
Huang Gang’s recent artwork has made him a major/chasing/catchy focus under international spotlight, along with participating in many significant exhibitions and receiving great attention by art collectors in auction. His recent works mainly contain elements like Mandala, Pipal, old luggage case, and star. His works have explored the origin of abstract art, including its ritualization and materialization, as well as developing his own technique and style.
Upon Huang Gang’s abstract painting, he has led art from depicting conventional artistic language – the color and lines – to a stage that emphasizes more on the society and criticism. With Eastern abstract language, Huang’s work transcends pure abstract painting and extends its meaning. In fact, he has been working on abstract painting since 2002, and has always considered Zao Wou-Ki as a great master. The way that Zao blends writing skill of Chinese calligraphy into brushwork and the cosmic arrangement on the canvas both consciously or unconsciously affect Huang Gang’s creation upon abstract painting. But to me, he presents both more of Chinese and Western styles in his own work. The spatial construction is built to represent Chinese conception on cosmos which he derived from Chinese landscape painting and Eastern aesthetics.
Huang Gang adopts lacquer, a special transparent material extracted from Chinese lacquer, to combine it with acrylic and then paints over and over. The texture in work is created in a misty, airy atmosphere which provides spatial uncertainty. On the other hand, he would use lots of wet strokes and then repeatedly covers paints on where he has drawn before. Sometimes he would even discard the finished part just to start it all over again. Thus, the space he presents is close to natural observation of Chinese style, instead of Western perspective.
The way that Huang Gang creates space naturally constructs his own painting skill. He prefers to use big brush so that the side tip could express dynamic momentum. In addition, he emphasizes much on power, speed, and direction of brushwork in order to give painting a sense of floating. It is clear that Chinese calligraphy has planted deeply in Huang Gang’s mind and has further influenced his creation. In a sense, I think the work tends to be finished through “writing” rather than “painting,” and the representation of how he constructs space in painting is indeed extraordinary and profound. To discuss more specifically, the space is projected by the time feeling when audience looks at the painting. Therefore, Huang Gang’s work seems to be moving lively and vividly with spirit. Last but not least, it well-presents Taoist cosmic conception that the universe never stops changing or providing energy. And this is why I consider Huang Gang’s work manifests more Chineseness than Zao Wou-Ki’s work.
Looking from another aspect, I think Huang Gang’s work also generates some very interesting interaction with Wassily Kandinsky’s painting. To a master of abstract painting like Kandinsky, the significance of abstract painting does not merely lie on simplifying what we see for images. It is human being’s pursuit for spiritual strength that better explains. According to Kandinsky’s published writings, abstract painting delivers visual energy. And what’s more important is that visual energy enables audience to experience a religion-like power. As a result, Kandinsky’s interpretation helps us to excavate into a deeper level in Huang Gang’s creation.
It is widely known that the origin of Huang Gang’s creation derives from years of learning for Tibetan Buddhist knowledge. Upon material, he selects Tibetan Buddhist scriptures and old luggage case, and then combines them to become painting board. Upon structure, he adopts Mandala, a Buddhist cosmic conception, to form the major image. And through Kandinsky’s statement, we experiences that religion-like energy for both Huang Gang and Kandinsky regard painting not as a representation about form or vision, but a window for audience to think and meditate. Hence, there are some scholars consider art to be a kind of magic – magic that has long existed in human being’s materialized environment.
In recent years, the development of Chinese contemporary art has begun to seek a brand new artistic conception and aesthetics so as to getting rid of the dominant form and image of Western mainstream since 1980s. The phenomenon is caused from the idea that art constantly seeks for changes, and artists never stop pursuing more self-fulfillment for creating. For example, Huang Gang’s recent series show out his exploration on new artistic trend. It emphasizes technique and life. Moreover, the combination of Tibetan objects also explains how important these materials are in the meaning of time and spirit. It seems that he tries to lead China’s current creation onto a more substantial aspect, instead of keeping using mainstream’s concept. In other words, the meaning of artwork is not only how a painting looks after creation, but includes the creating process and the selection of material. The essence of painting is closely connected to materials for they possess enormous energy to be released by artists. In fact, what Huang Gang emphasizes – the materiality of painting – has a very huge difference with what Chinese contemporary artists oppose. Huang Gang graduated from the Department of Environmental Art (the Central Academy of Arts and Design) where he received much more trainings and application on material than oil paint. Therefore, he tends to utilize the ready-made in his artwork. By transforming the meaning of the ready-made, their spiritual energy is able to develop in the way Huang Gang conceives, so that the spirit poses a connection with his art.
Furthermore, Huang Gang’s exploration on religious energy also reflects political circumstances. In his recent star series, he puts red star or portrait of Mao Tse-Tung together with the Buddhist scripture, causing contrast in boldness and moderation, eye-catchy color and mild tone. It is evident that Huang Gang, through visual effect, skillfully presents differences between the two components, but it is more important that he shows their mutuality. The two ideologies are the products representing spirit and belief. The red star is a political symbol commonly seen in socialist society, but it has a more crucial meaning standing for avant-garde thinking. It represents rebellion, revolution, as well as the supreme status of idealism, which happens to meet the same idealism of religion. This is why I believe Huang Gang does not simply go for formalism when he selects political and religious subjects, but explores deeper meaning behind them.
Among Chinese contemporary artists’ creating subjects, there are commonly-used political issue, consumerist symbol, as well as Chinese ancient culture. The last one, in particular, provokes unique creativity by overseas artists. Works like Xu Bing’s printmaking, Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder, Huang Yong-Ping’s adoptation from folklore belief and witchcraft become great examples of this type. Their creation rouses attention from all over the world mainly because they, systematically and artfully, transfer ancient Chinese wisdom into contemporary art form. This new art is presented in both Chinese and global style, ancient and modern look. And it is the kind of diversity, or contradiction, that manifests what their art is. In this way, Huang Gang’s work is suitable for placing into this genre, and suitable for defining it in academic research.
In general, Huang Gang expresses Chinese cosmic conception through artwork, realizing intangible spirit and energy through abstract art language. Meanwhile, he tries to search an exclusive feature of contemporary art that belongs to Chinese literati. To analyze Huang Gang’s background, he is an artist born in Beijing and he personally also likes to collect artwork, whether contemporary art or antique. The way that he was raised in a family deeply soaked in Chinese culture cultivates him to possess a keen, profound perception toward art. Under such circumstance, it is very natural that being an artist is neither a career, nor a job. To him, it is a life style, an instinct of observing the world, as well as a practice of representing beauty. When traditional Chinese painters stress on the interaction between the nature and human being, Western artists focus on individual concept. Therefore, Huang Gang’s painting manages to balance between the two, showing his uniqueness and creativity.
【編輯：霍春?！?/p>
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