郭燕是美術(shù)圈里公認(rèn)的美女。一般美女都有些爭議；郭燕屬于無爭議的那類，這就少見了。天生麗質(zhì)難自棄，象這樣的美女通常都開著香車，出入時(shí)尚場合?？墒枪嗝刻煸诋嬍夷艽羝甙藗€(gè)小時(shí)，這就更少見了。
人們好奇；過著美好生活的郭燕，這么刻苦的工作，有什么樣的內(nèi)心需要表達(dá)呢?的確，過去她那些紫灰色的畫面上，如兒時(shí)夢境一般的背景，兩個(gè)時(shí)尚的男女或坐或站，或款款走來，似乎正是她完美家庭生活的心里投射。不過這些畫面要告訴我們的，也許遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不止這些；正如郭燕雖是正點(diǎn)美女，細(xì)細(xì)品味來她的形象也別有不明朗之處。有位外地朋友初見郭燕，后來談起對她的印象；她笑起來很開朗，但笑容緩緩消失，凝固在一種大理石般的落寞中。不論他的觀察是否純屬想入非非，郭燕的內(nèi)心世界肯定比其外表更朦朧。她反復(fù)刻畫的男女形象，姿態(tài)，服裝都很清晰，唯有面孔模糊而刻板，猶如面具一般不可捉摸，如同作者本人，總在我們身邊卻又拒人于千里之外。
以上文字寫于一年前。一年后的今天，郭燕除了人沒變，畫大變了，其他情況也大有進(jìn)展。她的作品開始出現(xiàn)在各個(gè)展覽上，既有國內(nèi)的，也有國外的，有些是相當(dāng)重要的展覽。有時(shí)，我會(huì)應(yīng)邀去她那間窄小、整潔的畫室。在那些命名為《飄》的一系列大畫中，背景似乎是最重要的元素，也是郭燕內(nèi)心世界（如前文所述）的偶然透露。仍然是深厚的紫色，籠罩著黑暗的城市；天邊露出一帶桔紅色的云彩，游移不定，象動(dòng)蕩不安的預(yù)兆。這些復(fù)雜的圖像以大筆涂成，細(xì)節(jié)和整體處理得簡略而有效果，顯示出作者處理復(fù)雜對象的能力。
在動(dòng)蕩不安的背景上，人物大多是作者自己與她所摯愛的家人，在深深的睡夢中飛翔，掠過神秘的不可知的城市和荒原，猶如但丁《神曲》的人間版本。
在別人苦苦追求而不可得的成功，在郭燕似乎是順利成章的事情。我認(rèn)為，除了每天八九個(gè)小時(shí)的刻苦勞作外，郭燕的成功來自于她的平衡天賦；技巧和表現(xiàn)的平衡、現(xiàn)實(shí)和幻想的平衡、以及最重要的—美和修辭手法的平衡。這就是郭燕作品的魅力，也是郭燕的魅力。
—何多苓
2008-10-15
About Guo Yan
Guo Yan is universally recognized as a beauty in the circle of fine arts. Generally speaking, a beauty often creates some argument. However, Guo Yan is a rare case in that there is no argument. An endowed beauty like this seldom can give up herself and should drive fine cars and shuttle around in trendy venues. But it is even rarer that Guo Yan stays in her studio for seven/eight hours a day.
People are curious why Guo Yan, who could just live a simple and pleasurable life, should work so hard, and what kind of personality does she have that needs to be so urgently expressed? On the greyish purple surfaces of her paintings, in dream-like backgrounds of childhood, a man and a woman are either sitting or standing, or walking daintily. This seems to be the reflection of her ideal of perfect family life. Nevertheless, this configuration tells us far more than this. Just like Guo Yan: although she is unquestionably a beauty, there are perhaps ambiguities about her image upon detailed rumination. A friend from abroad first met Guo Yan and later talked about the impression of her: she laughed open-heartedly, but the smile gradually faded and froze in a marble-like indifference. Whether or not his observation was purely imaginary, Guo Yan's personality is definitely more obscure than it appears to be. Time and time again, she depicts clearly the images, manners and costumes of the men and women. Only the faces are blurred and deadpan, elusive as masks, and in this sense they are just like the creator herself, always by our side yet far and far away. The non-earthly pictures appear surreal, but help the viewer clearly feel the intimacy together with the creator's unique sentiment. Maybe, this is the charm of life and also the charm of Guo Yan's works of art.
The above text was written a year ago. Since then, Guo Yan herself has not changed much, only the size of her paintings has become noticeably larger. More importantly, however, her career has undergone some major developments. Her works began to appear on many exhibitions, both in China and abroad. Some of these events are very significant and widely recognized.
One day, she invited me to her small but tidy studio to show me her paintings. In the "Floating" series, the background of the paintings is particularly important, as it is supposed to depict the artist’s inner world. It is usually represented by dark purple sky over the city and orange clouds in the horizon, which seems like a disquieting premonition. The artist used thick brushes to create these complicated images: the general idea is definitely more important than the care for details.
In the unstable background, one can always see the figures of the artist herself and her family. They are flying in their dreams across the unknown cities and wastelands similar to those from Dante's Divine Comedy.
It may seem that Guo Yan achieved with relatively little effort the success that others have to chase for years. In my opinion, her achievements are the result of both hard work – she works 8 to 9 hours a day – and her talent for maintaining balance: the balance between technique and expression, between reality and illusion as well as, most importantly, between aesthetics and rhetoric. The balance is the secret of Guo Yan's art and also the secret of her personal charm.
By He Duo Ling
2008.10.15
【編輯：霍春常】
