2007年《舞臺角色》100X80CM 被美國人士收藏
去年，在一個展覽上看到郝儷的系列油畫，我仿佛又被拉回到了30多年前在河北農(nóng)村接受勞動改造的情景。封閉的環(huán)境，貧脊的土地，淳厚的民風，苦澀的生活。貧窮的物質(zhì)生活，匱乏的精神需求，那兒的民眾世世代代就在那片土地上無怨無悔地生養(yǎng)生息著。每當我回江蘇老家探親，看到改革開放后的江蘇農(nóng)村日新月異地創(chuàng)造著富裕的奇跡時，我就十分惦記曾生活過3、4年的河北農(nóng)村那片干渴的黃土地。我的房東李隊長家：那位星夜老坐在門坎上抽煙想心事的老大爺、成天進進出出忙碌的大媽、他們又怎么樣了？郝儷的畫似乎讓我感覺到了他們的存在：在《三月八日在路上》和《希望》中，不就是那爽朗能干的小媳婦秀珍抱著豆豆出門去了；在《四個孩子》，我看到了那個光腚樂開了懷傻笑的豆豆；在《路遙遙，情聊聊》中讓我想起村里幾對常鬧別扭的夫婦；而她的《小胖》、《花中花》中的花季少女，與我那時所接觸到的農(nóng)村女娃一樣有著美麗的憧憬，所不一樣的是走出了貧困以后的這代女娃，她們更充滿自信地去追求自已的幸福……為什么郝儷的畫會給我這么真實、親切的感受呢？在她的畫中，沒有一種城市人對鄉(xiāng)村人舉高臨下的俯視，沒有那種對弱勢群體"他者"的同情、憐憫或調(diào)侃、戲謔。在她的畫中有身臨其境的真實，她們的歡樂、迷惘、困惑、青春期的躁動，對美好的憧憬……在她們的身后都似有一個個鮮活動人故事。她那溫暖的黃土地色調(diào)；那種大膽地把人物切入畫面具脹滿感的構(gòu)圖；那不求透視空間的平面構(gòu)成；賦以線條的立體造型；和那凝聚著情感的瑣碎郁結(jié)的筆觸都有一種天然去雕飾的樸實，不講究成法原創(chuàng)的野性。不管是肖像式的自畫像，還是小姐妹群體，或是嬉戲的小娃娃，其身上都透著樸質(zhì)、淳厚莊稼人的本真。她的畫中人沒有水鄉(xiāng)女的清麗妖嬈，沒有東北女的粗獷豪放，有的是與黃土地摸打滾爬滲入骨髓的淳樸和厚實，不知為什么我確信郝儷一定是河北人。
近日，我們才有機會相互認識。果然，她是從河北一個小山村走出來的女青年。這位70后出生的女娃，在人生的旅程中出現(xiàn)過幾次重大的抉擇，都因她那樸素、執(zhí)著的自尊、自強、自信，那種追求獨立的女性精神，使她跨越一道一道的溝坎而成就為一位優(yōu)秀的藝術(shù)家。初中畢業(yè)時，面臨人生第一次選擇，她拒絕走老一輩為15、6歲女娃選個好人家嫁出去的人生路。她毅然走出大山，雖不知路在哪里，但義無反顧地開始了"尋夢"的旅程。先到省城石家莊打工掙錢獨立生活。她好幻想，也喜歡畫畫，在畫中訴說自已的苦樂。碰巧有機遇到了八一電影廠一位美術(shù)師家半工半讀。四年后她終于走進了夢寐以求的中央美術(shù)學院進修油畫專業(yè)。在北漂苦讀、苦熬的日子里，生計無著，舉目無親，食無飽腹，居無定所，她是如此的孤獨無助，一個青春少女所面對的將是怎樣的艱難和挑戰(zhàn)！作為城市的邊緣人，她又面臨著人生第二次選擇，在商品社會中，如果為了解決生活困境，憑她的條件，很容易找到一位有錢人結(jié)婚成家。已進入婚齡的郝儷同樣渴望愛情，也有過兩次刻骨銘心的戀愛，都因?qū)Ψ揭笏鋈毺艞壛?。在今天，歷史已進入了21世紀，而以男權(quán)為中心的傳統(tǒng)思想?yún)s仍在壓抑著女性的人生自由，忽視女性的人生價值。為什么女人一出嫁就成為夫家的私有財產(chǎn)，成為"花瓶"？郝儷如果放棄了畫畫，還有郝儷的人生價值嗎？在情愛與藝術(shù)之間，她選擇了后者。面對種種誘惑，她守住了自己的作為獨立女人的尊嚴。畫畫已是她的生命形式，惟有畫畫，她感到了自己的存在，感到自己生活的意義。畫畫也是她傾訴的忠實伙伴，她的畫幾乎都是她自己的生活、情感的真實呈現(xiàn)，在畫中我們看到一個孤獨的靈魂，在沉思中內(nèi)省，所流露出的迷惘和無奈，在被《情網(wǎng)》糾纏著的女人，她那欲進不能，欲罷不忍的彷徨與《恍惚的女人》、《從夢中醒來的女人》《走出驚恐的女人》無不道出了被情所折磨的女人，承受著心如亂麻理還亂的困惑，這些畫是她蘸著淚水書寫出的一幅幅內(nèi)心的獨白。
在新作《人生舞臺》、《面具舞臺》、《戲中戲》、《角色人生》或《舞臺背后》系列中，郝儷的畫有了變化，也許經(jīng)歷了太多的折磨，面對太多的不如意，她有種看破紅塵的冷峻，戲如人生，人生如戲，她對人生從懵懂到有了透徹的認識。她不再沉緬于對山村生活的童貞時期的追憶《遠去的歌》、《小胖那一天…》或《花開時節(jié)》來溫暖自己孤寂的心靈，也跨越了失去愛情留在心底的傷痕，她從封閉的自我獨白式的繪畫天地走出來，直面人生，關注自身以外的世界。如果說她以前的畫，是一種"本色演員"的獨自吟唱；那么，07年后的新作，她跨越"自我"，進入"超我"的"性格演員"去從事各類題材"角色"的自由表現(xiàn)的放聲高歌了。目前，她的作品，不僅不斷參加國內(nèi)外的展覽，還被國內(nèi)外一些專業(yè)藏家看好。日前，好萊塢著名導演羅伯特-民可夫，這位風行世界《獅子王》《功夫之王》的導演，對郝儷的畫特別青睞，他請郝儷畫了兩幅他與夫人的肖像，郝儷創(chuàng)造性地把肖像與他導演的動畫片情節(jié)組合在一起，這別構(gòu)奇妙的意韻，讓這位大導演樂得手舞足蹈。
郝儷的成功是個奇跡，她以自強、自信的獨立精神，完成了從一個鄉(xiāng)村人向城市人身份的轉(zhuǎn)換，完成了一個村姑向一個藝術(shù)家身份的轉(zhuǎn)換。我相信，成功永遠屬于不向命運屈服的強者！
著名策展人、批評家：陶詠白/文
2008.7.24.名佳花園
Song of Life
---A Comment on Paintings Created by Hao Li
By: Tao Yongbai
Last year when I first saw a series of painting works created by Hao Li, It seems that I was drawn immediately back to a village in Hebei Province over 30 years ago then I was accepting reeducation through labor under the special political background. But villagers there never complained for close environment, poor land, simple folkway and bitter life, even extreme lacks both in spirit and material. They were just living there generation by generation. Every time when I was back to my hometown in Jiangsu Province to visit my relatives, surprised by the fortune miracle created in changing rural areas of Jiangsu Province after reform and opening up, I always cared about the poor land in the village in Hebei Province where I had lived for 3-4 years. How about is the family of my host Li, a head of production team? How about is the old host who was always sitting on the doorsill and contemplating? How about the aged hostess who never had a rest? I saw them in some paintings of Hao Li: "On the Road on Mar. 8" and "Hope" let me remember the scene that Xiuzhen, an open, capable, young woman, went out with Doudou, her little baby; from "Four Kids", I remembered the giggly Doudou with open-seat pants; the figures of "Long Road Ahead, Chatting in Love" just liked several couples in the village that often misunderstood each other; the girls in "Fat Kid" and "Flower among Flowers" had beautiful dream just like the rural girls I met, but it is different that this generation of rural girls pursue for their happy lives with more confidences. Why did the paintings of Hao Li give me so true and familiar impact? As an artist, she never made light of these rural people from a view angle of superior city woman, nor gave these vulnerable group pity or irony. From her works, you can "see" many true girls or women, happy, puzzled, troubled, unsteady and full of dream. Every painting Should have a vivid story. The warm tone of yellow land, the rich composition stuffed bold figures, the plane ignoring perspective, the solid sculpt emphasizing line and the exquisite style full of emotions all show a simple nature and an original wildness without any limit of academism. No matter self-portrait, or girl group, or playing kid, all project the true nature of peasants. Without beautiful and fascinating charms featuring water-town girls, or wildness and boldness found in women in Northeast area, just a thorough simplicity and plainness from farmlands penetrates in her works. I had an intuition: Hao Li came from Hebei Province.
Up to the immediate present we knew each other by chance. As expected she is a young female artist born in 1970s from a village in Hebei Province. She had faced several life alternatives and conquered endless challenges with modern female spirits full of persistence, independence, confidence, now she has become an outstanding artist. After graduated from a junior high school, she faced the first choice in her life and refused to be a teenage wife that had been deemed as a good way for a rural girl by elders. Later, she left the mountain area and pursued for dream, though she didn't know where the way would go at that time. She found a job in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province at first. Meanwhile, she was dreaming, painting and expressing her feelings by art. By chance she met an artist of Bayi Audio and whereby learned from him within off hours. After four years, she finally realized one of dreams and studying oil painting art in China Central Academy of Fine Arts. In the days struggling in Beijing, without any economic support, without any relative she could rely on, without a stable life environment, a young girl would face so many hardship and difficulties. Living in the marginal of the city, she faced the second choice in her life. In the money society, if she just wanted to resolve the embarrassment of life, it was easy for her to married a rich man, the rather that she had been a young woman eager for love. She had experienced two unforgettable loves but she had to give up them for the refuses to just be a housewife. Today some traditional thoughts still oppress the freedom of women and ignore the value of them even in 21 century. There were two questions: why a married woman must be as a private property, a "vase"? Who is Hao Li if Hao Li gives up painting? Between love and art she chose the later, facing various seductions she stood on her dignity as a modern woman. Today painting has become her whole life, only painting can she feel her existence; and painting has been her loyal friend, hearing her dream, revealing her life and love. In her works we can see a lonely soul, contemplating, introspecting, puzzled and vulnerable. The woman in "Love Net" that was trapped between the devil and the deep sea as well as the women in "Dreamlike Woman", "Woman Awake from Dream" and "Woman out of Horror" were all tortured and puzzled by love. All these works were her monologs form the inside.
In her new series "Life Stage", "Mask & Stage", "Play within Play", "Role & Life" and "Back of Stage", she adopted different styles from before. Maybe she experienced too many tortures and frustrations, therefore she sees through the vanity of the world that just likes a play. She has an ignorant girl but now she is a rational artist having correct understanding on life. She never warms her heart by looking back rural life and her childhood that was described in "Past Song", "The Day of Fat Kid", or "Flower Season"; she has walked out of the distress of past love and turned to a wider life and external world from a narrow personal world. Her old works should be regarded as monologs of a "natural actress", but her works after 2007 should be viewed as various self-surmount performances of a "character actress" involving different themes. Recently her works frequently were exhibited at home and broad and collected by many international collectors. Roger Allers, famous Hollywood's director, who has directed well-known "Lion King" and "King of Material Arts", favored the Hao Li's paintings very much, and asked Hao Li to create two portraits of him and his wife. Hao Li creatively combined the portraits with some scenes of animation firms directed by him and the special composition make this big man excited with a flourish.
The success of Hao Li is a miracle. With independence and confidence, she finished a transform from a rural girl to a city artist. I believe fortune favors the bold.
Written in Mingjia Garden on Jul.24, 2008
