郭燕的《飄》系列以紫色作為基調(diào)，呈現(xiàn)當代都市生存經(jīng)驗中人與人、人與城之間疏離而又依附的難以理清的糾纏聯(lián)系。這些畫面令人感傷。當代都市空間與文化研究最重要的思想家亨利•列斐伏爾（Heri Lefevbvre）提出“什么才是社會關(guān)系的真正存在方式？”這個必須回答的理論問題。在《空間的生產(chǎn)》一書中，列斐伏爾用“空間本體論”回答了這個問題。在他看來，社會關(guān)系存在的根本地基是都市空間的存在與生產(chǎn)，現(xiàn)代都市的人造環(huán)境是“社會關(guān)系的粗暴濃縮”。在近二十年來中國城市前所未有的高速發(fā)展過程中，我們看到了這一點。忙忙碌碌的都市人穿梭在鋼筋水泥的叢林中，在對物欲的瘋狂追逐中越來越物質(zhì)化和機械化，樓建得越來越高，大地越來越遠。飄零的身世、思鄉(xiāng)的濃愁逐漸被功名利祿層層遮蓋，田野、家園和世界的詩意只能在夢中偶爾靈光一現(xiàn)。在大幅尺寸的畫布上，郭燕揮灑著夢幻、奢靡而又神秘的紫色來訴說自己對幸福人生的夢想和淡淡的鄉(xiāng)愁。紫色，這個最屬于女人的顏色，被她令人心驚的用盡。在每個畫面上，層層疊疊的紫色勾勒出一個又一個都市男女的溫柔夢鄉(xiāng)。在這些明顯虛擬的場景中，偎依在床上的青年情侶漂浮在都市的樓群上空，它寓意深長的張力讓人想起夏加爾那些時空穿插中溫暖而又憂傷的畫面。如果如列斐伏爾所言，現(xiàn)實社會不斷通過對城市空間的生產(chǎn)來強化自己的物質(zhì)基礎(chǔ)與社會結(jié)構(gòu)，那么，藝術(shù)家唯一能做的就是通過對藝術(shù)作品與藝術(shù)空間的生產(chǎn)來安頓流浪的心與無根基的生存。在自己畫面的處理上郭燕頗費心思。她把象征城市的大片樓群安排在畫面的遠處，用紫得近黑的顏色信筆涂抹，隨意地勾勒出一些輪廓，雖不清晰，仍然傳達著當代人對都市生活的感受：繁雜、混沌、喧囂，但又如一張巨大的網(wǎng)無處不在。在龐大的城市上空，是溫馨的粉紫色來表現(xiàn)床墊、床單和枕頭，再用白色提出如紗般飄逸透明的調(diào)子。年輕的情侶在甜美的夢中相擁而臥，相偎相依，他們在靜謐的夜里飛離現(xiàn)實，用愛情與家庭的溫馨逃避涼薄煩亂的都市生活。郭燕是否有意無意告訴我們，在城市的冰冷和逝者如斯的惶恐里愛是我們無望人生中唯一的救贖和慰籍？ 以如此豐富的紫色，郭燕構(gòu)建出一個愛情烏托邦來試圖對抗我們越陷越深的都市之網(wǎng)，但這張頗具象征意味的席夢思是否會如神話里的魔墊帶人們回歸夢中的家園，我們不得而知。虛幻的“飄”和“夢”這兩個主題顯示出了畫家對此思考的游移和不確定，也許畫面上深深淺淺的紫色正是她輕輕的嘆息。
——彭肜
Purple Utopia
Yan Guo’s series of artworks entitled ‘Waft’ adopts as its foundation the colour purple. This work of art captures the contemporary urban experience of the alienation of an individual with relation to the city and develops the concept of survival in the urban jungle. The pictures evoke in the viewers the feelings of sorrow and uneasiness. Henri Lefebvre, a prominent philosopher concerned with the study of contemporary urban space and culture, raised the critical theoretical question: ‘what are the social relationships embedded in space?’. In his book The Production of Space, Lefebvre answered this question focusing on the idea of ‘space’. In his view, social relations are based on the very existence of urban space and production. Space, according to him, is anything but the ‘passive locus of social relations’. The unprecedented development of Chinese cities in the last 20 years confirms this point. Every day, millions of Chinese city-dwellers hustle and bustle through the jungle of concrete. In pace with the growing pursuit of wealth, the jungle has become increasingly inhospitable and oppressive, creating a distance between its inhabitants. The realities of homelessness and depression have been gradually pushed to the margin by those posessing the high social status, power and wealth. The beauty of the natural environment external to the urban space can only be experienced in the illusions of our dream world. On the vast expanse of her canvas, Yan spreads dramatically the most extravagant and mysterious shades of purple – conveying her dreams of a happy life , but also endless homesickness. Purple, the color of femininity, is wielded expertly in Yan’s hands. In each of her paintings, shades of purple express the dreams of the urbanites. In these implicit scenes, young lovers lean against the bed whilst floating high above the city buildings. The allegoric tension reminds us of Marc Chagall’s warm pictures of a space-time paradise. If, as Lefebvre said, the real world is trying to strengthen its material base and social structure by creating more urban space, then the only thing artists can do is use their artworks to settle down their wandering hearts. Yan exposes her intimate thoughts and feelings in her paintings.
The letter T and arbitrary contours are smeared across the canvas in a deep, dark purple, which creates an image of large urban complexes. The vision shows contemporary urban life with its sense of complexity, chaos and noise, cast like a net over the surroundings. Above the city, a warm hue of pink-purple is transformed into a mattress, with a bed sheet and a pillow – the white colour emphasises the smoothness of the material. Young lovers hug, in their sweet dreams flying away from reality into the quiet night. By fleeing from the cold world they manage to capture love and warmth. Perhaps Guo Yan is thus expressing her notion that ‘love’ is the only true way of escaping the coldness of the city? Guo Yan has constructed a Utopian vision of love in which the urbanites can get away from the confines and entrapments of urban life. Like a magic carpet from the Arabic tales, can Yan’s mattress transport the lovers to their dream utopia? These two symbolic themes, ‘Waft’ and ‘Dream’, reveal the artist’s hesitation and brooding over the question. The dark and light shades of purple reflect her contemplative mood.
By Rong Peng
【編輯：霍春?！?/p>
