追光—阿斯蓬
Aspen Sparkling
Aspen Sparkling
毫无疑问中国的当代艺术是世界艺坛一股新崛起的力量。众多的中国艺术家出现在主流国际艺术事件中，而越来越多地国际艺术界人士也纷纷来到中国进行活动。中国当代艺术对当今中国社会、对范围更大地世界来说产生的真正冲击是什么？正如国际媒体凿凿记载的，中国正在经历一个爆发式的经济、消费以及城市化的繁荣期；但社会民主与公正却发展缓慢。个体自由，特别是创造的自由，并未受到任何鼓励。艺术家陷入到一种矛盾乖张的境地——一种具有精神分裂特征的社会语境中。因此，当代艺术在中国是极其多样化和复杂的。
2006年10月，我前往北京和上海，第一次见到了颜磊和他的作品。思考后两个主题显现出来：二元性和一体性。前者正如策展人、批评家侯瀚如所称的“对一片乐土的渴望，有关真实的谈判”。他把文化记忆与文化现实之间的张力放在显著位置，探讨二者是否可能、以及如何和解。“一体性”指向的是中西方文化的冲突关系，从表面上看，最为明显地表现在共产主义与资本主义经济战略的相异中。为了解决这些以及其它领域的二元性对立冲突所做出的努力，显著地体现在2007年召开的中国共产党十七大的口号中，“和谐社会”的观念替代了长期以来的“毛主席万岁”的口号。
中国的古典艺术、古代著作和哲学对当代中国艺术影响甚巨。颜磊受到过专业的传统版画创作训练，并取得过相应的学位。徐冰的“天书系列”（1987－1991年）由4000个刻在木板上的中国“汉字”组成，每个字都是假汉字，没有任何意义，却以11世纪的宋代书法风格写就。蔡国强很好地利用了另一项中国古代的发明——火药——创作了一些抽象作品。其他艺术家如艾未未等选择留在中国生活，而他们的影响在中国以外仍旧巨大。过去的这个夏天，在第12届德国卡塞尔文献展上，艾未未的方案是邀请1001个中国公民在展览期间来到卡塞尔；方案最终以每次来200人的方式得到实施。
过去的18个月中，中国当代艺术大量地占据头条位置；而大量的中国当代作品流入拍卖市场，也剧烈地引发了很多出乎意料的金融波动。一方面，越来越多的金融投机足以解释人们对中国艺术和艺术家的兴趣日益增强；而对这个国家本身强烈的好奇也是不可忽略的要素之一。
西方对中国的固恋可以反过来由中国对美国的兴趣得以体现，特别是像阿斯蓬这样传达着美国财富之荣的地方尤为受到中国的关注。“追光——阿斯蓬”是颜磊在阿斯蓬美术馆的展览项目，表面上看，阿斯蓬成为了他的创作对象，而充满整个项目的是带有深深个人印记的图像。
展览包括了三个男性艺术家的肖像，分别是洪浩、安迪•沃霍尔和颜磊自己的自画像。洪浩是经常与颜磊合作的艺术伙伴，1997年的一幅照片是这幅肖像的出处所在，那一年，洪浩和颜磊完成了一个广为人之的项目，他们伪造了大量参加1997年卡塞尔文献展的邀请信，并寄发给大量中国艺术家，而这些艺术家却对这个恶作剧一无所知。最近他们又合作完成了“太康计划”，项目主体是一幅巨大的油画，修改自凡高的作品《阿尔医院的病房》（Ward in the Hospital in Arles，1889年）。
他们在画作中插入了自己的画像，头部被纱布包裹着，画布旁附以三份泰康人寿为两人购买的价值极高的人寿保险单。
颜磊选择了马克•辛克（Mark Sink）1983年拍摄的一幅安迪•沃霍尔在阿斯蓬的照片作为《追光——沃霍尔》（2007年）的灵感来源。颜磊的艺术实践，无论从创作哲学上还是其负载的生产性上，都追寻着沃霍尔的脚步。在准备展览期间，颜磊得知沃霍尔曾在阿斯蓬驻留，享受这里的壮丽风景——这一点对颜磊来说也很重要。尽管在颜磊的自画像上，一条条光线自他的头部向外散发，就像“追光——阿斯蓬”系列所有的画作中一样，它并未呈现为一种夸大个人的姿态。相反，图像更多地显现为一种护照照片或者证件照片的形态。
颜磊本被人们看作一个挑衅性的行为艺术家，他曾经在一个群展的入口处挂上一条横幅，上书“欢迎颜磊到上海来”，以此激怒其他参展的艺术家。而为了继续拓展自己2004年开始进行的“特醇”系列，颜磊持续创作了很多画作，探索艺术和文化的关系，解构被不断挪用的图像，并同时挑战绘画概念本身。他曾说：“绘画毕竟是一种无思想的、对一个你可能在一幅照片中可以看到的图像的再现。制作这一画作的过程已经变得多余了。”像今天诸如达米安•赫思特（Damien Hirst）等知名的“画家”一样，颜磊并不自己动手去画。他总是拿着相机，到处去捕捉未来会出现在画作中的图像。他还和一个中国的工厂合作，定制作品中需要使用的颜料颜色。
当2007年7月颜磊第一次着陆在阿斯蓬时，有报道说他觉得有一种如释重负的宁静感。因为阿斯蓬的机场海拔高度达到8000英尺，着陆显得很突然，似乎发生在飞机还盘旋在云端和山峰之上时。这种降落过程中人们往往会被阿斯蓬的美景折服。这样的海拔高度使得人们无限地接近太阳和天空，一切都因之变得更加明亮，有时甚至闪烁着耀眼的光芒。科罗拉多州的褐铃峰是美国西部风景的象征，也是北美洲被拍摄最多的山峰。颜磊借用了安瑟•亚当斯（Ansel Adams）拍摄于1951年的一幅著名的褐铃峰照片，作为作品《追光——山峰》（2007年）的素材。
“追光——阿斯蓬”系列将阿斯蓬壮丽的光影与社会主义现实主义传统的太阳升起的图像比喻联结在一起，颜磊从统治了中国和前苏联近六十年的宣传画风格中发展出了自己的一套波普版本。社会主义现实主义宣扬典型性、理想化、党派忠诚和无产主义；颜磊则代表着艺术、世俗、个人和流行文化。
最初颜磊把他为阿斯蓬美术馆创作的系列主题称为一整年疾风劲雨般的展览后的一次“降落”，这其中包括声名颇著的由侯瀚如策划的伊斯坦布尔双年展以及罗杰•布尔格尔和鲁特•诺阿克组织完成的第12届卡塞尔文献展。颜磊特意选择了一幅卡塞尔策展人表情愉快的照片放在“追光——阿斯蓬”系列中；一个她张大嘴放声笑着，而另一个他则摆着幽默诙谐的姿势。这些图像附在蜡笔颜色的阳光之上，面对它们曾经参加的一系列“有思想”的展览付之一笑。卡塞尔文献展的发生地，1708弗里德西安艺术厅（1708 Fridericianum）也出现在画作中，散发着充满希望的、超俗的光芒。
“降落”的主题最为明确地体现在两幅与飞行有关的图像中：一个梳着蜂窝发型的空姐，一架仍然飞行在阿斯蓬－丹佛路线上的螺旋桨飞机，尽管后者看来更像是冷战时期的残留品。展览中最难琢磨的一件作品，也是使整个系列具有叙事意味的作品是一幅红色色调的画作，上面有着手写的标语：“请到等候室等待角色分配”，并配以一个箭头的标志。你可以把它解读为一种指向于媒体对中国艺术家和他们在日益升级的国际艺术市场中的位置表现出的强烈关注。谁将被选出来担当成功艺术家的角色？有没有一种更为可能成功的特殊艺术类型或者艺术家？如果你想担当一个角色，那么遵从标语的命令，顺着箭头找个位子坐下。你和你的作品将接受面试。
海迪•祖克曼•雅克布森（Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson） 阿斯蓬美术馆总监、首席策展人
-
实际上中国的画廊很少为中国人持有，几乎所有画廊的所有者都是外国人。
-
我们还不清楚是否第一批人到达以后，仍有后续人选陆续前往卡塞尔。
-
2006年11月，一件中国当代作品以270万美元拍卖价成交，这仅是在第一件中国当代艺术品4年前第一次出现在一次晚间拍卖上之后。
- http://www.hkac.org.hk/calendar_en.php?id=221 2008年1月28日
海蒂·祖克曼·雅各布森（Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson）现任阿斯蓬艺术馆（Aspen Art Museum）的首席执行官、总监与首席策展人。迄今她已策划展览百余场。其位于阿斯蓬艺术馆的最新项目包括马克·曼德斯（Mark Manders）、杨海固（Haegue Yang）、史蒂芬·肖（Stephen Shore）、斯拉特·布拉德利（Slater Bradley）、马克·国骞（Mark Grotjahn）与伊恩·基尔（Ian Kiaer）的个展。之前，她曾担任加利福尼亚大学费“里斯·瓦提斯·马特里克斯”空间（Phyllis Wattis Matrix）策展人，曾任职于贝克利美术馆（Berkeley Art Museum）、太平洋影像文献库（Pacific Film Archive，1999－2004）、纽约犹太博物馆（The Jewish Museum，1993–1998）。祖克曼·雅各布森女士以艺术学士学位、欧洲历史专业毕业于宾夕法尼亚大学，以艺术硕士学位、艺术史专业毕业于纽约市立大学亨特学院（CUNY Hunter College），且曾进修于伦敦佳士得皇家学会并获得学业证书。
There is little doubt that Chinese contemporary art is an emerging force in global art.The presence of Chinese artists at major international art events is significant, while more and more members of the international art world are visiting, and acting in, China.1 What is the real impact of Chinese contemporary art in Chinese society, as well as the larger world, today?As is well documented through the international media, China is experiencing an explosive economic, consumptive, and urbanizing boom. Social democracy and justice are, however, evolving at a slower pace. Individual freedom, and creativity in particular, has not been encouraged. Artists are caught in an intense contradiction—a schizophrenic social context. Thus, contemporary art in China is highly diverse and complex.
On a trip to Beijing and Shanghai in October 2006– when I first met Yan Lei and saw his work–two themes emerged: duality and unity. The first is what curator and critic Hou Hanru terms “longing for paradise, negotiating the real.” He highlights
the tension between cultural memory and cultural reality and posits how—and if—the two can be reconciled. The second theme, unity, refers to the contrast between Chinese and Western cultures, most prominently apparent in the contrary economic strategies of communism and capitalism. The resulting quest to resolve these and other dualities is most noticeable in the slogan for the 2007 Communist Party Congress. The longstanding slogan, “Long Live Mao,” has been replaced with the concept of the “Harmonious Society.”
Classical Chinese art, writing, and philosophies are extremely influential in contemporary Chinese art. Yan Lei was trained and has a degree in traditional printmaking. Xu Bing’s Book From the Sky (1987-1991) is comprised of four thousand nonsensical Chinese characters carved into wood panels in the style of the eleventh-century Song Dynasty. Cai Guo-Qiang creates magnificently abstract works with another ancient Chinese invention, gunpowder. Other artists such as Ai Wei Wei continue to live in China and yet have a significant impact outside the country. This past summer at Documenta 12 in Kassel, Germany, Ai Wei Wei proposed to exhibit one thousand and one Chinese nationals imported for the duration of the exhibition. The people came instead in groups of two hundred at a time.2
Chinese contemporary art has made numerous headlines over the last eighteen months, as the infusion of artworks into the auction market has elicited vastly unanticipated financial results.3 While fiscal speculation accounts for much of the heightened interest in art and artists from China, a fascination with the country itself is also a factor.
The West’s fixation on China is mirrored by Chinese interest in the United States and, in particular, places such as Aspen that communicate the notion of American wealth. Sparkling-Aspen, Yan Lei’s exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum, seemingly takes Aspen as his subject, and yet is filled with images that are deeply personal.
The exhibition includes portraits of three male artists: Hong Hao, Andy Warhol, and a self-portrait of Yan Lei. Hong Hao is a frequent artistic collaborator of Yan Lei. In 1997, the date of the photograph on which the painting is based, Hong Hao and Yan Lei notoriously issued fake invitations to participate in the 1997 Documenta exhibition to a range of Chinese artists who did not know of the prank. A recent collaboration titled Taikang Project consists of a large oil painting—a revision of Van Gogh’s Ward in the Hospital in Arles (1889) with the artist’s images inserted, their heads wrapped in gauze—and original copies of insurance certificates for extremely highvalue policies adhered to the canvas.
Yan Lei chose a photograph of Andy Warhol in Aspen taken by Mark Sink in 1983 as the inspiration for Sparkling-Warhol (2007). Yan Lei fashions much of his practice, philosophically as well as productively, after Warhol. It was also significant for Yan Lei as he was planning the exhibition to learn that Warhol had spent time enjoying the splendors of Aspen. Yan Lei’s selfportrait is not glorified or self-aggrandizing despite the addition of the rays of light emanating from his head, which are comparable to those found in all of the paintings in the Sparkling-Aspen series. Instead, the image appears more as an enlarged passport photo or mugshot.
Originally known as a provocative performance artist—for one group exhibition he hung a banner at the exhibition entrance that read “Welcome Yan Lei to Shanghai,” angering the other participating artists— following the development of his Super Light series in 2004, Yan Lei has consistently made paintings that explore the relationship between art and culture, deconstruct appropriated images, and challenge the notion of painting itself. He has said, “Painting is after all a mindless re-presentation of an image you might see in a photograph. The process of making that painting has become superfluous.”4 He, like many well-known “painters” today, including Damien Hirst, does not actually paint his own paintings. Yan Lei does carry around a camera to capture images that will appear in future paintings. He also works with a factory in China to custom produce all of the paint colors that are used in his works.
WhenYan Lei landed in Aspen for the first time in July 2007, he reportedly felt a sense of closure as well as of calm. Because the airport islocated at an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet, landing seems sudden, as the plane is level with clouds and mountain peaks. Recognition of the magical nature of Aspen often initially occurs during this descent. The elevation also allows an unusual proximity to the sun and sky that causes everything to be a bit brighter and, sometimes, even to sparkle. An iconic element of the Western American landscape, the Maroon Bells is the most photographed peak in Colorado. Yan Lei employed Ansel Adams’s famous view of the Bells taken in 1951 in his painting Sparkling-Mountain (2007).
Sparkling-Aspen marries the gloriousness of Aspen light with the traditional rising sun imagery associated with Socialist Realism. Yan Lei evolves his own Pop version of a propaganda-infused style of painting found in China and the former Soviet Union, where it was the officially approved art for nearly sixty years. Socialist Realism promoted the typical, idealized, partisan, and proletarian. Yan Lei presents the artistic, mundane, personal, and pop cultural.
Yan Lei originally described the theme of the series that he was creating for the Aspen Art Museum as “landing” after a whirlwind year of exhibitions, including the prestigious Istanbul Biennial, curated by Hou Hanru, and Documenta 12, organized by Roger Buergel and Ruth Noack. Yan Lei chose an extremely lighthearted image of the Documenta curators to include here. She is shown engaged in an open mouthed laugh and he is caught in the middle of a playful gesticulation. The image, superimposed over pastel-colored sunshine, is a lighthearted counter to the serious minded exhibition they presented. The primary venue of Documenta, the 1708 Fridericianum, is also pictured emanating rays of hopeful, otherworldly light. The theme of landing is most explicitly present in two images associated with aviation: a stewardess with a beehive hairstyle and a propeller plane that still flies the Aspen-Denver route despite appearing to be a Cold War-era holdover.
The most elusive image in the exhibition, and the one that starts the series narrative, is a red-toned painting with a handwritten sign that reads, “for all castings please go to waiting room” with an arrow. It can be read as a reference to the heightened focus of the media on Chinese artists and their place in the escalating international art market. Who gets chosen to fill the role of the successful artist? Is there a particular type of art or artist more likely to be successful? If you want a part, the sign commands, then follow the arrow and have a seat. You and your work will be auditioned.
NOTES
- In fact a very low percentage, in the single digits, of galleries in China are owned by Chinese nationals, foreigners own almost all of them.
-
It is unclear if more than the first group ever arrived.
- In November 2006, a work by a Chinese contemporary artist realized a price of $2.7 million just four years after the first ever presence of a work of Chinese contemporary art at an evening auction.
- http://www.hkac.org.hk/calendar_en.php?id=221, accessed January 28, 2008.
Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson is the Chief Executive Officer and Director, Chief Curator of the Aspen Art Museum. With well over 100 exhibitions curated during her career, Ms. Zuckerman Jacobson’s recent projects at the AAM include one-person exhibitions with Mark Manders, Haegue Yang, Stephen Shore, Slater Bradley, Mark Grotjahn, and Ian Kiaer. Her career prior to the AAM encompasses tenures as the Phyllis Wattis Matrix Curator at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (1999–2004) and New York’s The Jewish Museum (1993–1998). Ms. Zuckerman Jacobson holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in European History from the University of Pennsylvania, a Diploma from the Royal Society of Art, Christie’s London, as well as a Master of Arts Degree in Art History from CUNY Hunter College.