蔡广斌 / 水墨依然存在
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蔡广斌
1988年毕业于中国美术学院中国画系人物专业
现为华东师范大学美术学院中国画与书法系主任、教授
华东师范大学美术学院当代水墨研究中心主任
上海中国画院画师
水墨、影像宣纸70cm×90cm、2010.蔡广斌
自诉
“我们都处在一个非常关键的时间节点”这是去年我在威尼斯奎里尼基金会博物馆个展开幕期间，接受威尼斯艺术新闻访谈时讲的话。因为中国当代艺术和欧美艺术都处在新旧交替的转折期——你如果深究当下艺术的国际性、社会、人的个体心理。
所以我坚持观念至上，觉得无论是在社会还是个人的层面里都应该去尝试一种新的或在可知与陌生之间的东西，并且对于你已有的习惯性的艺术内容、形式进行一种革新以及建立能够刺激自己的现在“模式”。
我非常了解自己的处境以及关注点，持续对中国水墨艺术进行实验，形成及递进我的艺术观念和强化相应的影像水墨艺术形式。
在我的作品当中，我与社会关系非常紧密，而且中国也处在一个非常关键的时间点，因为中国社会体系和经济体系仍在改变。
今天，当代艺术不仅仅只是要表达你的观点，它必须与观众进行更为直接和轻松的心理交流，这也是为什么我去融合数字图像、数字文化与我的水墨绘画进行结合或组合。我以探索的手工绘制的水墨形式去平衡我所拍摄制作的图像，无论是融汇混合还是并置组合，以此来表达我的情感以及我对于现实和数码世界的关注。
当然，我目前的艺术实践还扩延至对中国文化里层“敦煌莫高窟壁画中的山的原始符号形式进行当代视觉与心理转换”。
源于对莫高窟壁画“山”的新理解，也是打捞被经典艺术史置之度外的传统基因，为它们的美学尊严和文化意义重新赋值，更重要的是，恢复被定义异质文化的“中国性”的多元多义的内核。还有绘制过程中的个人化体验——对文化重构的理解，使作品充满人文和社会力量！所指清晰。
蔡广斌
2019、11、5
水墨依然存在
——蔡广斌之路
文/ 鲁 虹
从艺术家蔡广斌的《艺术自述》之中，我们并不难发现，在1984年考入著名的浙江美术学院中国画系后，他曾经接受了系统而严格的教育，一方面对潘天寿、陆俨仯、林风眠、黄宾虹等大师所创立的艺术传统进行过非常认真的研习；另一方面在一些知名度极高的优秀教师的悉心指导下，他对浙美的新意笔人物画传统亦有着较为深入的认识。本来，作为浙美84级写意人物班的成员，他应该在自己所学的专业领域里不断深入探索，进而形成自己的艺术面貌。只要了解浙美新意笔人物画传统的人都知道，浙江美院与中央美院的新意笔人物画传统，在艺术表现上是稍有不同的，即在引入西式写实造型方法的同时，不仅反对对自然光线的过分表现，而且十分强调将传统花鸟的笔法与墨法巧妙地移至具体创作之中，这明显与潘天寿的相关教育思想有关，因为这位大师一向反对用西式写实素描改造水墨人物画，主张中西绘画应该拉开距离。浙美新意笔人物画代表性艺术家当是方增先。改革开放以后，浙美意笔新人物画在整体上更着重以诗意化的手法表现艺术家的个人感受，并不满足于按主流意识形态的需要进行遵命性的创作，有了新的推进。优秀代表无疑是画家吴山明、刘国辉等人。但是，有三个重要情境因素却使蔡广斌尚在读书期间，便已与他的老师分道扬镳了，并开始进行比较出格的艺术探索：第一，1979年10月，浙江美院图书馆从“北京国际艺术博览会”上定购了所有国外出版的西方现当代的画册与哲学、理论书籍，于是，蔡广斌与当时在校的许多渴望与时代、世界接轨的同学一样，自觉经受了西方现当代哲学思想与艺术的洗礼；2、1985年，旅法艺术家赵无极受邀在浙江美术学院讲习班教学；3、蔡广斌于上学期间，不仅深受85艺术新潮的巨大影响，也深受杰出校友谷文达、王广义、张培力、耿建翌等人艺术实践的影响。在他看来，既然世界已经发生如此深刻的变化，加上当下人拥有全新的感受与对新意义的理解，那么在今天，我们就不能再延用传统的方式解决今天的问题。实际上，古往今来也并不存在唯一正确的创作方式。所以，他当时给自己设定的艺术目标就是“走出浙派的形式束缚”。[1]如果追根溯源的话，我们还可以体会到当时反传统思潮在他身上的反映。
当然，要探寻到新的表现方法决不是一件容易的事情，这需要艺术家在艺术史中去寻求借鉴。艺术史告诉我们，介于画家心手之间的艺术语言(分图式与技巧两个方面)是相对独立的系统。它的组成与发展，有着漫长的历史演变过程，同时也依赖于自身的内部结构和自我完善的规则。正因如此，任何艺术家在创立自己的艺术语言时，除了要找到合适的艺术问题外，还必须从艺术史中选择若干惯例作为自己在某个阶段的出发点，然后按照需要予以偏离、重构。凡·高也好，毕加索也好，八大也好，齐白石也好，概莫能外。难怪美国艺术史家乔伊斯·布鲁特斯基在《论艺术史的模式》[2]一文中不无风趣地说，艺术家根本不是创新者，更像考古者，他们在情境的压力下，竟然能通过“连接再连接已知的视觉方式，创造出无穷多的作品来。”换言之，任何艺术品的新样式，无非是在传统惯例中选择、攫取某些部分，然后再通过变形、重构或组合而成的，并最终使它们偏离以往的艺术母题或类型。在艺术交流十分频繁，时尚及趣味潮流正在发生重大变化的今天，一个渴望在当代画坛上生效的画家，提出或解决某个艺术问题时固然要从自身的知识结构、主观爱好出发，但他绝对不可能不对当下的艺术情境做出必要的反应。这意味着，从对某一观念的表达到学术问题的提出，从被借鉴的传统惯例到相应的实验方案，无不是艺术家认为有可能在当下文化环境中生效的东西。一般来说，当艺术家发现自己的设想不足以达到预定目标时，就会逐步修正自己的设想，转而提出更新的实验方案。而循着这样的思路，人们肯定可以通过种种线索去理解画家不断发生风格变化的原因。
这样的线索肯定不是无迹可寻的。从蔡广斌于1985年创作的巨幅中国画《构造-街头》（图1）看去，他在强调中国画的用笔用墨法时，明显借用了立体主义的手法与观念，结果，画面上就出现了好多被分割的小面，人物也随之变形。我猜测蔡广斌也许是受毕加索与勃拉克的影响，希望以此一实验方案来实现水墨的现代转型；而在1988年创作的另一巨幅作品《自然规律》（图2）中，蔡广斌则修正了实验方案，即在用立体主义手法改造传统山水画的局部时，还大胆揉进了抽象与泼彩的元素。大约是仍然不太满意，在1993年创作作品《融》（图3）时，他主要是以传统没骨渲染手法处理画面，其中还有着人与宇宙的图像融合。在很大程度上，这幅作品不仅受到了谷文达相关作品的影响，也对他自己后来的作品影响很深。只可惜，蔡广斌在1995年以后突然中断了对这一手法的深入探索，而是改用了兼工带写加色彩的实验方案，而且，他此时不仅以表现现实生活中的人物为主；也多以大特写的摄影式构图处理画面。（参见《卫生间·墙》图4，《寒江独钓图》图5）
《他拍-西郊公园A》水墨宣纸、画布.180 cm ×120cm.
2010.蔡广斌
应该说，对蔡广斌而言，有逻辑的艺术实验是从新世纪以后才开始的。2000年，蔡广斌及家人从哈尔滨移居上海，并在上海理工大学工作。作为一个初来窄到的外地人，他很快就敏感的发现，由于上海那密集的“水泥建筑森林”长年处于浓重的云层之下，所以总是显得灰蒙蒙的。此外，在这个十分商业化的地方，不但人性被扼杀，人与人的沟通也特别困难，每个人好像都在防范别人。这样的感觉虽然让他非常困惑与不安，却使他对不断映入眼帘的窗子印象很是深刻。经过很长时间的思考与摸索，他开始了《窗》系列的创作。在这些作品中，他常常以超现实的手法将许多“窗”堆积或排列起来，并在其中表现了一张张既孤独、压抑、忧郁、紧张，又渴望与人交流的脸，从而充分显示了人们渴望进行社会交际的本能或在异化社会中所遭遇的一份尴尬。在艺术处理上，他既很注意对传统水墨中渲染手法的恰当运用，亦十分强调对影像的借用。就前者而言，他这是与1993年创作《融》时运用的手法接上了关系，而不是以勾线为主、皴染为辅的传统方式去进行艺术表现；就后者而言，他这是让水墨与影像这两个不相干的领域产生了紧密联系。《窗·隔层》（图6）按我的理解，恰恰是在巧妙的相互交融中，蔡广斌才找到了一条真正属于他自己的艺术道路。用传统的标准看问题，这显然是大逆不道的。但蔡广斌却有着自己的看法，在《艺术自述》中他这样写道：
“一种文化延续下去，要有一个文脉，这个文脉既要从里面走出来，同时要续写文脉的下文，就是要建立它的上文和下文的关系。所以既必需把水墨这条文脉的上文接续上，又要续写下文，所谓下文就是‘文化批判精神’，其应该表现在艺术观念更新与艺术创作形式及风格的革命性上，不能只是认同我们传统一再强调的笔墨价值，而要植入一种文化批判性，并通过这样一种方式使之呈现出一种当代水墨文化的思想深度，当然，这里有很多复杂的技术性、技法性的问题，是一个艺术家毕生需要解决的问题……” [3]
蔡广斌的看法非常有道理，从本质上看，水墨材料的潜质是多方面的，因此，作为一个当代艺术家，他有充分的权利从新的感受出发去探寻水墨表现的新空间。至于如何在创造的过程中与传统接上关系，再续写下文则完全可以想办法加以解决。决不能认为按千古不变的既定方式作画就是有“传统”，而以新的方法创作就是没有“传统”。这样也太简单化了。其实，“传统”是一个不断发展着的概念，它需要一代又一代艺术家去创造，而不是守成。在一个多元化的时代，每位艺术家都可以按照自己的想法去探索，根本没必要搞大一统。
我注意到，蔡广斌的《窗》系列作品只延续了几年，从2005年开始，他创作的作品发生了很大的变化，其基本可以分为两类：一类以水墨方式描绘了人们用手机自拍的图像；另一类则以水墨方式描绘了人们用手机或相机为他人，此外还有为外景拍摄的图像。而巧妙地借用手机图像正是他这一阶段创作的主要特点。虽然有些画中的图像以摄影标准看相当“业余”，有的还出现了形象晃动与暴光过度的情形，但与无所不在的手机拍摄现象却很好地联系了起来，这也很好突出了高科技时代将许多人转化为“形象瘾君子”的事实。记得在2013年“艺术中国”的评选会上，著名摄影评论家李媚曾大胆预言一个“手机拍摄的时代”即将到来。[4]难得蔡广斌从手机“拍摄”现象中寻找到了新灵感与新手法，所以我对他这批作品特别感兴趣。我认为，手机“拍摄”现象的泛滥不仅与手机功能的不断开拓，以及微信的相继出现相关，也应和了一些人希望保留当下或确证自身经历的朴素想法。正如许多学者指出的那样，由于更易携带、更易操作，手机拍摄已经为普罗大众提供了面对现实与记载现实的全新方式。于是，新的摄影图像如雨后春笋大量涌现，以致让人们目不暇接。与所谓的专业摄影完全相左。这些来自民间的手机图像既表达了以前被人忽视的下层经验，又显示出了许多新的图像呈现方式。结果造成了对所谓专业摄影的强大冲击。正是基于以上理由，我曾经建议蔡广斌干脆以“自拍”为名去做2013年的个人展览，以与过去的创作拉开更大距离。只可惜他当时的此类新作太少，并不足以撑起一个展览。加上时间太紧，也来不及赶画作品，经商议，只好改而将那一次在北京今日美术馆举办的个展定名为“自拍与他拍”。
那么，作为一个当代水墨艺术家的蔡广斌为何十分热衷于从手机、相机与网络影像中寻求灵感呢？
显然不能简单地将原因归结为他是想赶时尚、出风头，更不能根据传统标准将其全盘否认。如果进行认真的分析，这里面显然有更加深层的内在原因：
首先，当今已是数码时代，任何成像都可归结为“0，1”的数字，事实上，在计算机之父冯·偌依曼以“0，1”作为数字技术虚拟一切的基础后，又有人以这两个数字构造出无限复杂的世界，并应用到各个方面，以致深深影响了我们的生活。而水墨与新影像，即与新媒体、网络与手机的结合则将更容易表现全新的艺术观念、艺术主题、艺术信息与艺术内容，进而深入到以往水墨表现范式所不能达到的新领域。蔡广斌的艺术实践充分证明了著名美国艺术史家阿诺德·豪塞尔说过的名言，即艺术“发展的内部逻辑自己不可能产生任何新的形式，每一种新奇的东西都需要来自外部的刺激，而且这种逻辑在某些时期还干脆拒绝某些成果的可能性。”[5]从我对艺术史的学习中，我有一个深刻的体会，即一部艺术史就是不断提出问题与解决问题的历史，所谓优秀作品都是对不同问题的有效解决。而且，在艺术史中大致有两类问题：一类是强性问题，一类是弱性问题。什么是强性问题呢？实践证明，凡是为前人已经解决得非常好，并使某些领域的发展空间变得不大的艺术问题，都是弱性问题或没有前途的问题。那些在新时代出现的新艺术问题，即那些开辟出新的领域并具有较大前景的艺术问题，就是强性问题与有前途的问题。而水墨与新影像的关系问题就属于后者。理由是：这个问题古人没有碰到过，尚属于水墨创作的前沿课题，作为当代水墨艺术家，将可以利用自己的知识优势，也就是从对现实的感受，对历史的领悟，由跨界入手，去探索水墨新的表现题材、新的文化图像与新的表现方式。在这方面，还有着巨大的发展空间，当代水墨艺术家将大有可为；
其次，水墨与新影像的结合将更容易表达新的审美趣味与审美经验。这是因为生存于现代科技世界之中的艺术家，无论是经验感知的能力，还是经验感知的方式都有别于过去的艺术家。按照加拿大理论家麦克卢汉的说法，是由于新的世界模式造成了人们新的感知模式，新的感知模式又造成了新的表现模式。而人类的艺术发展史就是一部由媒介与感觉不断发展并产生变化的历史，这是不以人的意志为转移的；
再其次，数码时代出现的大量图像符号在以无法回避的姿态渗入到生活之中时。既彻底改变了人们认识世界、获取知识、了解事态、掌握规则的基本方式，也使绘画的图像内涵与形式语言经历了重大的冲击。这也正是许多艺术家要借用数码影像的深层原因。毫无疑问，当代油画在这方面远远走在了当代水墨的前头，因此，我们绝对不能仅仅从形式主义的角度来思考当代绘画中的图像变异问题。
在我看来，蔡广斌的成功远不止于对新图像的运用。因为他在呈现新图像的过程中，不仅把水墨的特点发挥得淋漓尽致，还找到了一种属于自己的笔墨表现方式。具体说，他一方面把数码图像巧妙地转换成了水墨图像，另一方面又用特殊的笔墨方式将其呈现出来。画过水墨的人都知道，这很不容易。现在有些艺术家为赶时髦，总喜欢找一个图像去重复表现，好像有了图像就有了一切，但艺术史告诉我们，仅仅依靠图像而没有成功表现的艺术品是经不起推敲或站不住脚的，更不可能进入艺术史。
蔡广斌的创作年表表明，“他拍”类作品明显要早于“自拍”类作品，而“他拍”类作品不外乎为两种处理方式：一种采用了水墨与影像并置的方式，另一种仍然是以独幅创作的方式出现。也可以说，“影像”的元素在作品里出现不仅和“真实感受”、观念表达、具体认识建立了某种内在的联系，也为艺术表现提供了一种全新的可能性。
2013.蔡广斌
如同大家所见，在较早的并置类型作品中，艺术家一般是将深色调的夜风景放在左边或上边，而将浅色调的头像或肢体局部放在右边或下边。此种类型的作品总是让人有一种压抑和不安的感觉，可这恰恰是当下许多人埋藏在内心深处的潜意识。据艺术家介绍，深色调的夜风景全都拍自上海崇明岛的黄昏，因为他感到，那荒凉、落漠的感觉正好与他想表达的意境相吻和，而且在与画有头像或肢体局部的作品并置之后，既解决了水墨独幅作品过于含蓄的问题，同时也带给了人们无尽的联想。不过，人们现在所看到的夜风景，并不是纯粹的照片，乃是由画过的水墨与照片在电脑中合成后的效果，故也具有水墨画一样的特殊感觉。那与夜风景并置的头像，则大多取自于网络与手机。在进行艺术处理时，蔡广斌有意把传统水墨中的笔墨因素降至最低极限。作画时，他首先会采用喷水的方式将宣纸打湿，然后再趁湿进行表现，每一幅画都反复过多次。由于画中笔与笔的衔接非常微妙，所以很好地表达了皮肤感、光影感与模糊感。可这既有利于他去制造虚幻迷离的叙事空间，也有利于他借助一张张粉嫩的面孔或一个个肢体的局部，精致而具诗性的传达出敏感、脆弱、隔膜、虚无、孤寂、苍凉、冷漠与忧郁的情绪意识。在解释他为什么如此重视对皮肤质感的表现时，他强调指出，第一是因人而异的皮肤具有表情性；第二是随着画面上表现皮肤的肌理与起伏变化，也会引发观众相应的心理感受与联想。与这一特点相映成趣的是，《他拍_旧去·60A》（图7）等作品还采用了水墨头像拼贴与堆积的形式，结果便以众多小孩头像形象地提示出人类生存状态的困境，非常具有震撼力。相类似的情况也可在《堆积》与《热点》系列中看到。由此可见，和同代实验水墨艺术家相比，蔡广斌的水墨探索走的并不是纯形式主义的路子。恰恰相反，他是希望以水墨媒材来表达他对当下社会的文化体验，进而表达他个人对当下社会精神的剖析。他所创立的新艺术表现形式不过是一种附产品而已，这无疑很值得同好们加以很好的借鉴。此外，我还感到，在近些年的“他拍”类作品中，蔡广斌比较关注社会事件与人的心理关系，比如，《2016.2.22-中环高架》（图8）就是依据对现场拍照——塞车、车祸、人命案等创作的，从而揭示了现代都市的社会性病灶；而《长海医院-2016. 1.16》（图9）则是依据他本人在长海医院急诊病室的拍照创作的，作品通过拥挤的求医人群突出了求医难以及相关社会性问题的存在。毫无疑问，作品中以水墨绘制的图像只是外衣，里面却是本质性的东西，艺术家是希望由前者引发有相同背景观众的互动，以理解后者。因此类作品甚多，在此就不一一解说了。
2013.蔡广斌
相比之下，蔡广斌的“自拍”系列尽管与“他拍”系列有逻辑上的紧密联系，但显然出现了新的特点。具体言之，在构图上，有部分作品常常是将多幅影像与水墨并置，如《自拍-2016，5，8，23》（图10）就将多幅表现自拍内容的手机照片与多幅水墨作品并置，而《自拍·我 2013》则将多幅表现自拍内容的手机照片与独幅水墨作品并置。的确，还有另一部分作品仍然是以独幅创作的方式出现，但在那朦朦胧胧的图像中却有意安放了处理过的写实性手机照片。而在艺术表现上，除延续与丰富了以往的表现技法，也以虚幻的光线强调了人在科技时代的虚幻性存在。这是极有兴味的。（参见《自拍·iphone·NO,A13》，图11）总的来看，蔡广斌的“自拍”系列比较关注对私密的认识和阐释，这是因为在他看来，“私密的东西一直都会伴随着每一个人，而且在一个人的一生中都会占有非常大的比重。它甚至会左右你的情绪和心理活动。包括人在现实中的欲望等等。” [6]在这一点上，他与艺术家庞茂琨绝对有异曲同工之妙！
蔡广斌给我们的巨大启示性是：在数码时代的大背景下，当一些人认为水墨媒介已经没有意义，无法再与丰富多变的新生活相匹配，而只能往抽象水墨方面发展时，他不但坚持探索这种传统媒介全新的可能性，而且通过对影像元素的巧妙引入，创造性地赋予了水墨以新的文化属性与表达方式。事实足以表明，构成水墨图像与笔墨的表现方式在传统之外还另有新径。因此，倘要说蔡广斌结合新文化观念与视觉经验所进行的探索具有巨大的启示意义并不为过。这也恰恰是我要以《水墨依然存在》作为本文标题的原因。当然，我决不是指一个传统画种按老面貌继续于今天存在，而是指其在观念、图像、手法上都有了脱胎换骨的转换。“巨鳄”收藏家查尔斯·萨奇的前夫人多利丝·洛克哈特曾经说过，中国当代艺术向传统的学习，重要的并不是完全从形式上去模仿，而是从韵味上回归到传统的精神。[7]正如蔡广斌曾经对我说过的那样，水墨其实有着无限的可能性和潜在性。它有待新时代的艺术家去发现、去探索，从而赋予它全新的生命力。与此相反，任何僵化的观点、止步不前的观点都是错误的，不足为取！以此出发，我们有充分的理由认为，蔡广斌的画与既传统是有内在联系的，也是有所发展的。蔡广斌的艺术探索彻底颠覆了传统水墨、现实主义水墨与抽象水墨的入画标准、意境构成方式、笔墨呈现方式，相信对其他艺术家会有启示，进而引发更多、更新的探索。
我们已经进入一个充满生机的新世纪。每一个有使命感的水墨艺术家都应该根据当代文化提供的新线索、新问题来探寻艺术发展的新方向，进而创造属于我们这个时代、这个民族的艺术。
2017年2月6日于武汉东湖华侨城
（作者为合美术馆执行馆长）
注：
[1]蔡广斌：《艺术自述》，未刊稿。
[2]乔伊斯·布鲁特斯基：《论艺术史的模式》载《美术译丛》1992年第2期。
[3]蔡广斌：《艺术自述》，未刊稿。
[4]批评家杨小彦并不同意李媚的这一看法，这显然值得我们认真讨论。
[5]阿诺德·豪塞尔：《艺术史的哲学》121页，社会科学出版社，1992年2月版。
[6]蔡广斌：《艺术自述》，未刊稿。
[7]赵力：《艺术不是赛马》，载《艺术财经》2008年12月号。
此刻与记忆
——蔡广斌影像水墨艺术展
文/ 张晓凌
无论遭受过多少质疑与冷眼，当代水墨的胜利都是一个不争的事实.作为最具原创性的艺术形态，它已毫无愧色地站在了当代艺术的主体位置上。促成这一事实的原因是多重的——20世纪以来的以“反叛”、“创新”为核心的文化逻辑，复杂社会现实所导致的反思精神，本土文化的自觉以及新技术革命所激发出的想象力，如此等等。作为这一领域的杰出代表，蔡广斌的影像水墨创作不仅暗喻着当代水墨所走过的荆棘之途，而且还昭示着水墨在当代转型过程中所取得的累累硕果。
可以非常有把握地说，广斌的影像水墨更像一个隐喻：古老的水墨与现代影像技术在这里不期而遇，并以和解互融的姿态达到了高度默契；同时，一个真理由此显现：艺术家可借助传统资源来完成艺术的原创性伟业。
回溯起来，影像水墨的发生可谓源自于广斌自创的方法论：以智能手机拍摄、选择、整理、绘画或制作，部分作品还深入探索了手感化的涂绘之后，二次对作品所进行的影像化处理。水墨与图像的互侵与重构，让作品的视觉形式始终徘徊于人性化与智能化相互交叠的语境之中，也由此宣告了一种新型美学范式的诞生。
主体、智能手机镜头与社会性典型场景三者之间构成的“此刻”，成为广斌影像水墨的核心词汇，它复杂、含混而多义：既指广斌对社会场景、个体存在现实的瞬间感知与片断感受，也包括由此带来的忧患意识与内心焦虑，即“私密化的个人内心深处的思考”；尤为重要的是，它指向了当代社会生活与个体存在的密码——拥有了“此刻”，便拥有了存在。对精神迷失的社会与个体而言，“此刻”似乎成了唯一的宗教。显而易见，在广斌的影像水墨作品中，“此刻”是一个即时性概念，既无过去，也无未来。然而，它却是广斌影像水墨的起点，也由此决定了主体创作行为的双重性质：以哲学家的方式释读“此刻”存在的性质；以艺术家的方式探寻影像水墨对“此刻”的呈现方式。
有趣的是，在另一类型的创作中，广斌又试图重建“此刻”的历史与未来维度。近年来，广斌持续性地摘取敦煌及各类传统绘画中的图像，以此为原型，通过抽象、修正的方式进行再绘制，广斌将这类创作方式称之为“一种新的中国式的意境表达”。令人惊奇的变化在于，在这类作品中，时间不再是即时性的，不再单一地指向当下，而是过去——现在——未来所组成的新的时间星座。换言之，过去、未来均镶嵌于“现在”之中。孤悬而青绿闪耀的敦煌图像意味着什么？经过高度抽象的虚化，图像在吸收了现代影像技术的同时，又以墨彩的再构而复归其古老的根脉与宇宙观。细读图像，可以感受到作品背后的两种交替相生的力量：广斌的本土文化自觉和水墨对文化记忆的自我修复能力。作为对“此刻”现实的补偿，敦煌母题的创作无疑具有了某种救赎意识。
《自拍-2016，5，8，23》水墨宣纸3 影像2，256x111cm.125x210cm.110x145cm.111x192cm.98×182cm，2016,蔡广斌
总之，在蔡广斌的作品中，我们可以寻觅到一位卓越艺术家所拥有的禀赋与能力：哲理般的思考，对现实的过度敏感，渴望历史的内心自觉，对未来语言形态的建构欲望……所有这一切，足以让人们坚信：蔡广斌是中国当代艺术领域中最具影响力的艺术家。
不仅如此，广斌还是中国当代水墨国际化的有益实践者与积极推动者。将于2018年7月在意大利威尼斯奎里尼基金会博物馆举办的“蔡广斌影像水墨艺术展”，便是一个极好的例证。事实上，蔡广斌的作品早已超越国家、地域和族群的羁绊——每一位来自于不同族群的观者，只要对人类普遍的生存状况稍有感知，便可以自由地阅读他的作品。
2018.6
部分个展
2018 “此刻-水墨意境与当代图像”蔡广斌艺术展”，奎里尼基金会博物馆，威尼斯
2017 “智能图像的水墨表达——蔡广斌艺术研究展”，合美术馆，武汉
2015 “来源于拍摄”——蔡广斌水墨作品展，香港会议展览中心，香港
2014 “再造新墨韵”——蔡广斌水墨艺术研究展，华府艺术空间，上海
2014 “自拍.他拍-蔡广斌水墨艺术展”，新加坡国际展览中心，新加坡
2013 “自拍他拍”蔡广斌水墨艺术展，今日美术馆，北京
2013 “拍! ”2013蔡广斌水墨艺术展，天仁合艺艺术中心，杭州
2011 “数码-墨像”蔡广斌艺术展，上海美术馆，上海
2010 “水墨前线”——蔡广斌水墨作品展，新艺塑美术馆，新加坡
2009 “蔡广斌艺术展”，汉堡当代美术馆，德国
2007 “手工影像”蔡广斌作品展，苏河艺术北京、苏河艺术馆、上海
2006 “窗”蔡广斌作品展，上海中国画院，上海
近年部分群展
2019
“新艺术史”2000-2018年中国当代艺术,银川当代美术馆,银川/ 第二届当代中国艺术展“无问东西”,克利夫兰州立大学美术馆,美国/ “星象-五年”水墨艺术研究展,刘海粟美术馆，上海/ “上合组织”成员国“肖像”画展,清华大学艺术博物馆,北京/ “多维生成-当代艺术”邀请展,长春国际会展1号馆,长春/ “水墨是一种哲学”YI画廊，上海/“对话”2019高平国际艺术展，开化寺，山西高平/ 第二届当代中国艺术展“无问东西”,克利夫兰州立大学美术馆,美国/“当下的水墨艺术 ”,南海艺术中心，旧金山，美国 /
“视墨湖-共振”，八号桥艺术1908粮仓，上海/ “中华人民共和国七十周年”“七十位著名艺术家”作品展,中国国家博物馆,北京
2018
“前卫.上海——上海当代艺术三十年文献展”第三单元展:重构当代.明圆美术馆,上海/“墨.非墨”中国当代水墨邀请展，贵州美术馆，贵阳/“第五届杭州.中国画双年展”，浙江美术馆，杭州/“生活链”中国艺术展,，荷兰国立美术馆，阿姆斯特丹/“水墨作为一种文化姿态”2018中国当代水墨展，鼎元国际艺术中心，北京/“先锋之路-当代艺术展”，深圳南山博物馆，深圳/“锋向:水墨新意象——2018当代水墨艺术邀请展”，明园美术馆，上海/“中国水墨艺术四十年：1978-2018”，民生美术馆，北京/“2018上海艺术”，俄罗斯国家博物馆，圣彼得堡/“墨变”，实验水墨艺术作品邀请展，中国国家画院，南京师范大学美术馆，南京/“第六届广州三年展:框架-当代绘画邀请展”，华南美术馆，广州/“第六届广州三年展:未来进行时-当代艺术邀请展”，紫泥堂当代艺术中心5号馆，广州/“在东方”2018新媒体艺术展，北京电影学院美术馆，北京
2017
“昔墨如今-当代水墨艺术展”, 上海喜玛拉雅美术馆, 上海/ “之间”，中国当代水墨艺术展, 墨西哥国家美术馆, 墨西哥/“水墨中国-叙事中国”香港回归二十周年艺术展, 香港会议展览中心,香港/“跨媒介现场系列：沉浸的灵光”上海ba艺术中心, 上海/“墨攻-首届武汉水墨双年展”武汉美术馆, 武汉/“并非水墨的十种可能-当代水墨10”麓山美术馆, 成都/“潜存的欢愉”创作展, 柯木朗尚艺空间，广州/ “中国当代水墨年鉴展2016-2017”， 广东美术学院美术馆，广州/“态度”中国-德国当代艺术家展，云艺术中心，上海/“海上延伸”上海艺术家大展，中华艺术宫，上海
2016
“第九届深圳国际水墨双年展”, 深圳美术馆, 深圳/“中国当代艺术年鉴展2015”，北京民生现代美术馆，北京/“中国当代水墨艺术文献展(2001-2016)”, 红砖厂美术馆, 广州/“中国当代水墨年鉴展2015-2016”, 今日美术馆,北京/“第三届当代水墨空间：变相——水墨的维度”，广东美术馆，广州/“沪港当代艺术展”, 香港艺术中心, 香港/“多重性——来自中国的艺术”, skurup艺术博物馆,瑞典
水墨宣纸矿物质颜色 .97x150cmx2. 2018.蔡广斌
2015
“中国当代艺术年鉴展2014”，北京民生现代美术馆，北京/ “复兴路”中国当代艺术作品展，天仁合艺美术馆，杭州/ “以心接物”中国艺术作品展，中国国家画院美术馆，北京/“当代进行时”2015中国当代艺术邀请展,明园当代美术馆,上海/“中国当代艺术展”,克利夫兰州立大学美术馆,美国/“水墨作为一种材料”上海艺术邀请展，面粉厂美术馆，上海/“新朦胧主义”,东京画廊+btap，北京；红专厂当代艺术馆，广州/ “水墨”,龙美术馆，上海/“水+墨：人物画的发展”，宝山国际艺术博物馆，上海/“平流层”中国当代水墨大展，朵云轩艺术中心，上海/“极光墨海”，中国当代艺术家作品展，今日美术馆，北京/“我思-我在——纪念85美术思潮30周年展”,更思美术馆，南京/ “海上繁花”上海当代艺术三十年，佘山当代艺术中心，上海
2014
“入选aac艺术中国年度水墨艺术家”,获提名大奖。参加 “aac艺术中国影响力巡回展”/“上海当代艺术展”,香港大会堂，香港/ “融•汇”天仁合艺美术馆开馆展，天仁合艺美术馆，杭州/ “新朦胧主义2014”,东京画廊+btap，北京/ “游心虚淡”新水墨邀请展，先锋当代艺术中心，南京/ “西云东语——中国当代艺术研究展”，合美术馆，武汉
2013
“时代肖像——当代艺术30年”，上海当代艺术博物馆，上海/ “再肖像”，湖北美术馆，武汉/ “后移”当代水墨艺术展，贵点美术馆，北京/“群珍荟萃、海派画家”——全国十大美术馆藏精品展，中国美术馆，北京/“中国2013国际艺术展”，VE美术馆，斯德哥尔摩，瑞典/ “上海与巴黎之间”，中华艺术宫，上海/“锋向——2013中国当代水墨经典艺术展”，明园美术馆，上海/“水法与墨道——三十年回望、2013中国水墨学术邀请展”，今日美术馆，北京
2012
“中国今日艺术”，NV艺术中心，柏林，德国/“东亚艺术展”，丽水世博馆，韩国/“水墨的维度——当代水墨艺术邀请展”，中徳文化年、汉堡当代艺术馆，德国/“无界之醉”2012中国当代艺术家提名展，山当代艺术馆，南京/“中国水墨艺术百年”，卢浮宫，巴黎，法国/ “水墨的远界——上海美术馆藏当代水墨艺术展”，上海美术馆，上海 /“超写意--中国版本”新艺术代表性艺术家展，三川当代美术馆，南京/上海“新水墨”艺术展, 多伦现代美术馆，上海/中国“新艺术”展，联合国日内瓦总部、日内瓦现代美术馆、巴塞尔艺术博物馆，瑞士
2011
“水墨”中国艺术家作品展，斯里兰卡国家文化中心，斯里兰卡/“中国版本”新艺术代表性艺术家展，北京当代艺术馆，北京/“上海与巴黎之间”-上海现当代绘画展，上海市政府，巴黎艺术中心，法国/“多伦多国际影像展”，加拿大当代艺术陈列馆，加拿大多伦多
013禅修.2018.6901》
水墨宣纸矿物质颜色.120x200cm.2017.蔡广斌
2010
“巴黎 Sylvain中国当代艺术展”，法国/ “FACE—中国当代绘画展“，瑞德贝克博物馆，赫尔辛堡，瑞典/ “水墨现场”-中国水墨艺术邀请展，上海美术馆，上海/ “纸墨2010上海世博”，上海世博会零碳馆，上海/“时空的经维-中国当代艺术邀请展”，上海2010艺术中心，上海/“第三届2010当代水墨双年展”，台湾国立历史博物馆，台北
2010 “亚洲艺术”，新加坡国际展览中心，新加坡
2009
“中国当代艺术展”，白俄罗斯国家美术馆、塞尔维亚国家美术馆/“亚洲 @ 亚洲：展现多元化——第24届亚洲国际美术展”， 马来西亚国家美术馆，吉隆坡，马来西亚/“溢出东方”-中国当代艺术家作品展，东伦敦安•布莱恩特艺术馆，南非 / “水墨方向”，喜玛拉雅美术馆，上海/“改革开放三十周年长三角优秀美术作品展”，上海美术馆、江苏省美术馆、浙江美术馆，上海、南京、杭州
2008
“21世纪水墨学术邀请展”，中国国家画院美术馆，北京/“和谐亚洲”第23届亚洲国际美术展，广州美术学院美术馆，广州/ “釜山国际现代水墨艺术展”，乙淑文化艺术馆，釜山广域市，韩国/ “现代中国”艺术展，切尔西美术馆，纽约/ “上海现代艺术展”，长野现代美术馆，日本/ “奥林匹克”收藏艺术展，中国美术馆，北京/“过程与现场-当代版画艺术邀请展”，苏河艺术馆，上海/ “数风流人物2160当代展”，江苏省美术馆，南京/ “中国水墨年度汇展”，北京环铁时代美术馆，北京/“多维度”上海当代艺术展，张江美术馆，上海/“上海经典当代艺术邀请展”，上海大学美术学院艺术馆，上海
水墨宣纸矿物质颜色.102x123cm.2019.蔡广斌
2007
“中国当代艺术30年“截点•当代艺术的中国形象”绘画邀请展”，文化部，重庆三峡博物馆，重庆 / “成都艺术双年展”，四川省文化厅，成都现代艺术馆，成都/“文脉当代•中国版本”综合艺术展，今日美术馆，北京/ 王川、孙良、蔡广斌、王劲松新作展，紫禁轩画廊，北京
2006
“第二届今日中国美术大展”，中国美术馆， 北京/“水墨·性情”2006邀请展，新艺塑馆，新加坡/“水墨再生——2006中国新水墨艺术大展”，上海多伦现代美术馆，上海
2005
“60视线文献展”，北京今日美术馆，北京/ “上海中国画院珍藏精品展”，香港大会堂，香港/“草草社二十五周年纪念展”，海上山艺术中心，上海/“幻象与现实”，上海东大名仓库艺术馆，上海/“非常笔墨”中国当代水墨艺术家邀请展，北京当代美术馆，北京/“城市农民”中国当代水墨艺术邀请展，刘海粟美术馆，上海
水墨、宣纸、矿物质颜色.180x98x3cm.2020.蔡广斌
2004
“渴望与焦虑——当代新现实中的水墨人物”，上海美术馆，上海/ “点·辐射与深入——来自纸墨的视觉表达”中国当代水墨艺术提名展，马来西亚国家美术馆，马来西亚/“龙族之梦”中国当代艺术展，上海美术馆，上海；爱尔兰当代美术馆，都柏林，爱尔兰/“上海第二届当代艺术邀请展”，上海东岸美术馆，上海
2003
柏林亚太艺术节“水墨E计划国际艺术邀请展”，柏林国家新闻局，柏林/“多元视点”中国当代艺术邀请展，上海莫干山艺术景画廊，上海/“第二届广州艺术双年展”,广州美术馆，广州/“折中主义的选择”艺术作品联展，上海泰康艺术馆，上海
1998
“世纪反思.中国视角”艺术展，芝加哥大学艺术馆，芝加哥，美国
1997
1997 “1997香港回归-中国现代水墨邀请展”朵云轩，上海
附：水墨依然存在——蔡广斌之路 英文版
文/ 鲁 虹
Ink Painting Still Exists
---Road of CaiGuangbin
By Lu Hong
From The Personal Statement of Artwritten by Artist CaiGuangbin, we can find without difficulty that after he was admitted to Department of Chinese Painting of Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts in 1984, he was educated systematically and strictly. On one hand, he studied seriously the art traditions set up by masters such as Pan Tianshou, Lu Yanmiao, Lin Fengmian and Huang Binhong. On the other, under the guidance of some well-known excellent teachers, he had in depth recognition of the tradition of figure painting with new freehand brushwork in Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts. Originally, as a member of the 1984class of freehand of figure painting, he deserved to continuously explore in depth in his professional field in order to form his own art feature. Whoever understands the tradition of figure painting with new freehand brushwork in Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts knows that there is some difference between the tradition of figure painting with new freehand brushwork proposed by Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts and Central Academy of Fine Arts. When introducing the western realistic modeling method, Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts not only opposes the over-presentation of natural light but also emphasizes the moving of traditional use of brushwork and ink to paint flowers and birds into specific works, which is obviously relevant to Pan Tianshou’s education thought. Because this master always opposes the transformation of water and ink figure painting with western realistic sketches, urging to keep a distance between Chinese and western painting. Fang Zengxian is the representative artist of figure painting with new freehand brushwork in Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts. Since the reform and opening policy was implemented, figure painting with new freehand brushwork in Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts has emphasized more on the expression of personal feeling of the artist with poetic technique on the whole. It wasn’t content with the obedient creation according to the mainstream ideology but made new progress. Undoubtedly, the excellent representatives are Wu Shanming, Liu Guohui and other painters. However, three important situation factors made CaiGuangbin depart from his teacher when he was still in college, and from then he started exploring relatively unconventional art. First, in December 1979, the library of Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts bought all the western contemporary picture albums and philosophy and theoretic books from “Beijing International Art Exposition”. Therefore, as with schoolmates on campus who were eager for connections to the times and the world, CaiGuangbin was naturally baptized by the western contemporary philosophy and art. Second, in 1985, artist Zhao Wuji touring in France was invited to teach in the workshops in Zhengjiang College of Fine Arts. Third, when CaiGuangbin was in college, he was not only strongly influenced by the 1985 new fashion of art but also by the artistic practice of the outstanding alumni such as GuWenda, Wang Guangyi, Zhang Peili and GengJianyi. In his opinion, now that the world had changed so deeply and people at that period had a brand new feeling and understanding of new meaning, we should not resolve the present problems with the traditional methods any more at the present time. In fact, there has never been an only right way to create works since the beginning of history. Therefore, he set himself an art aim at that time, which was “to break away from the formal restraint of Zhengjiang School.”[1] If dating back to the origin, we can still appreciate the reflection in him of the anti-traditional trend of thought.
Of course, to explore a new presentation method is certainly not easy. It calls for the artist seeking reference among the history of art, which tells us that the art language (including scheme and technique) between the painter’s heart and hand is a relatively independent system. Its composition and development have a long history of transformation progress and in the meantime depend on its own internal structure and self-perfect regulations. Therefore, when creating his own art language, any one artist not only needs to find a suitable art problem but needs to select some conventions from the art history as his starting point at certain stage, and then he makes deviation and reconstruction according to his needs. Artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, the eight great artists and Qi Baishi are no exceptions. No wonder Joyce Brutesky, the American art historian, said humorously in On the Pattern of Art History[2], that artists are far from a creator but more like an archaeologist, who can go so far as to “create boundless works through connecting again and again to the given visual methods” under the stress of situation. In other words, any new style of art works is just selected from the traditional conventions, then transformed, reconstructed or composed, and finally deviated from the past art motives or types. Nowadays, with frequent art communications and great changes in fashion and fun trade, a painter who desires to stand out in the contemporary painting field may have to start from his own knowledge structure and subjective preferences when proposing or solving a certain problem, but he can never avoid making necessary reactions to the present art situations. This means that, from the expression of a certain idea to the proposal of an academic problem, and from the referred traditional convention to the correspondent experimental solution, these are all what an artist considers possible to come into effect under the present cultural circumstances. Generally speaking, when an artist finds that his assumption cannot reach the set target, he will gradually modify his assumption and then propose a newer experiment solution. And when following this path of thought, people can certainly understand the reason for a painter’s constant change of styles through all kinds of clues.
This kind of clue is never untraceable. From Configuration -- The Street (picture 1), a huge Chinese painting created by CaiGuangbin in 1985, he obviously borrowed the technique and concept of cubism when stressing the brushwork and use of ink of Chinese painting. As a result, there appeared many divided shots on the picture and the figures were deformed along with it. I guess that maybe CaiGuangbin was influenced by Picasso and Braque and therefore hoped to realize the contemporary transformation of ink and brush paintings through this experimental solution. However, in another work Natural Law (picture 2) created in 1988, CaiGuangbin revised the experimental solution, which included the transformation of a part of traditional mountain and water painting with cubism technique and the introduction of elements such as abstraction and tachisme. Maybe because he was still unsatisfied, so in the work Melt (picture 3) in 1993, he processed the picture mainly with the traditional technique of Mogu rendering (painting without outline), in which there was the melting image of human and universe. To a great degree, this work was not only influenced by GuWenda’s relevant works but also much influential on his later works. However, it is a pity that after 1995 CaiGuangbin suddenly stopped the in-depth exploration of this technique and changed to the experimental solution in which there was both fine brushwork and free style with colors painted. Moreover, at that time, he not only mainly presented figures in realistic world, but also processed the picture with close-up photographic compositions much often. (Cf. Picture 4 Bathroom -- Wall, and picture 5 Lone Fishing on Snow River)
Honestly speaking, as CaiGuangbin is concerned, the logic art experiments started after the new century. In 2000, CaiGuangbin with his family moved from Harbin to Shanghai and he worked in University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. As a new comer from other place, soon he sensitively found out that Shanghai always seemed grey due to the thick clouds which shrouded the densely built “forest of steel and concrete buildings.” Additionally, in the commercial place, humanity was stifled and communication between people was difficult because everyone seemed to keep watch on others. Although this feeling made him confused and uneasy, he was much impressed by the windows he saw. After a long time of thinking and exploring, he started the creating of the series of Window. In these works, he always packed up or arranged many “windows” with surrealistic technique, presenting many faces which were lonely, depressed, nervous and anxious for communication, thus fully demonstrating people’s instinct of desiring for social activities or their embarrassment encountered in an alienated society. In the processing of art, he paid much attention to the suitable application of the rendering technique in ink and brush tradition, and also highlighted the borrowing of photo image. In terms of the former, he connected with the technique applied to Melting in 1993 instead of expressing art in the traditional way to mainly outline and assist with tinge. In terms of the latter, he made close connection between ink and brush painting and photo image, which were not relevant. In my opinion, as in Window -- Interlayer (picture 6), it was in the wonderful melting that CaiGuangbin found an art road truly belonging to himself. If seen with the traditional standard, it was obviously rebellious, However, CaiGuangbin had his own view. He wrote in ThePersonal Statement of Artthat:
“The continuity of a culture needs a cultural context, which not only needs to go out but needs to have a connection between its history and its future if it is to continue. Therefore, we should connect the cultural context of ink and brush to its history and also to its future, which means ‘cultural critical spirit’. It should be presented in the updating of art concept and the revolution of the creation and style of art. We should not just identify with our traditions to repeatedly highlight the value of ink and brush, but implant a kind of cultural critical spirit and present a depth of thought on the contemporary ink and brush culture through it. Of course, there are many complicated problems of techniques and skills, which are the problems to solve with a lifetime for an artist.”[3]
CaiGuangbin’s view is quite reasonable. In terms of its nature, ink and brush materials have various potentials. Therefore, as a contemporary artist, he has the full right to explore the new space of ink and brush from a new feeling. As for the way to connect to the tradition in the creating process and to the future, there are always ways to solve it. It is not right to have the thought that to paint in the given way lasting for thousands of years is “tradition” proved, while to paint in the new way is “tradition” lost. It is too simplified. Actually, “tradition” is a developing concept, which needs creations by artists from generation to generation instead of maintaining the predecessors’ achievements. In a multi-element period, every artist can explore with his own thought and there is no need to obey uniformity.
I note that the Window series lasted for only several years. Since 2005, his works have had great changes, which can basically be categorized into two types. One type, with ink and brush technique, describes the photos selfied by people with cellphone. Another type with ink and brush technique describes the photos which people shoot for others or the outdoor scenes with cellphone or camera. The skillful use of cellphone photos is the main feature of his works at the stage. Although some photos in the painting appear quite “amateur” under the photographic standards and some even have shaking and over-exposure, they are connected to the reality in which cellphone shooting is everywhere. It also highlights the fact that high technology turns many people into “image addicts”. I remember in the selection conference of “Art China” in 2013, Li Mei, a well-known photography critic, predicted straight that a “time of cellphone shooting” was arriving.[4] It is valuable of CaiGuangbin to find the new inspiration and new technique from the phenomenon of cellphone “shooting,” and so I am especially interested in this type of his works. In my opinion, the deluge of cellphone “shooting” is not only relevant to the continuous developing of cellphone’s functions and the appearance of Wechat, but also echoing to the simple thought of some people to preserve the present and witness their own experiences. As many scholars have pointed out, due to easier carrying and operating characteristics, cellphone shooting has provided the public with a brand new way to face and take note of the reality. Therefore, new shooting photos spring up like mushrooms, which are too many for the eye to take in. And they are completely different from the so-called professional photography. These cellphone photos among the folk people not only express the lower experience neglected before but also show many new ways to present photos. As a result, the so-called professional photography has been strongly impacted. Based on the reasons above, I once advised CaiGuangbin to make a personal exhibition in the name of “Selfies” in 2013 in order to keep a longer distance from his previous works. However, it was a pity that his new works of that type at that time were not enough for holding an exhibition. With a tight schedule, he didn’t have enough time to paint more, either. Therefore, after discussing, we changed the name of the personal exhibition held in Beijing Today Art Museum into “selfy and be photos by others.”
Then, as a contemporary ink and brush artist, why is CaiGuangbin quite fond of seeking inspiration from the photo images in cellphones, cameras and network?
Obviously, we can’t simply attribute the reason to that he wants to catch up with the fashion or show off himself, nor can we negate all of his works according to the traditional standard. If we make serious analysis, we can find deeper internal reasons:
First, nowadays, it is the digital times, any imaging can be summarized to numbers of “0, 1.” Actually, after the father of computer John von Neumann turned “0, 1” into the digital technology to virtualize everything, someone formed a boundless and complicated world with the two numbers and applied them to all aspects, which deeply influenced out life. However, the combination of ink and brush with new photo images, i.e. the new media, network and cellphone, will make it easier to present the brand new art concept, art theme, art information and art content, and then will go deep into a new field which the past ink and brush form could not reach. CaiGuangbin’s art practice fully proved the well-known saying of Arnold Hauser, the famous American art historian, that “art’s internal logic cannot produce any new form by itself; every new thing comes from the outside stimulation and this logic sometimes refuses the possibility of certain achievements.”[5] From what I studied in art history, I have an impressive feeling that an art history is the history to continuously propose and solve problems, and the so-called excellent works are effective solutions to different problems. What’s more, in art history, there are mainly two kinds of problems: one kind is strong problems and the other is weak problems. What are strong problems? It is proved in practice that art problems which are solved quite well by the predecessors and leave little developing space in certain fields are weak problems or unpromising problems. The new art problems appearing in the new times, which can create a new field and have good prospect, are strong problems or promising problems. And the relationship between ink and brush and new photo images belongs to the latter. The reason is as follows. People in the past never came across it and it belongs to the edgy topic in ink and brush creation. A contemporary ink and brush artist can take advantage of his own knowledge, crossing the boundary and exploring the new presentation subjects, new cultural image and new presentation method through his feeling of the reality and his understanding of history. In this aspect, there are still huge developing spaces, where the contemporary ink and brush artists can go a long way.
Second, the combination of ink and brush and new photo images will make it easier to express new aesthetic interest and experience, because artists who are in the modern technological world are different from the past artists on both the ability and the method of experience perception. According to the Canadian theorist, Mcluhan, it is the new world pattern that causes people’s new perception pattern, which then leads to new presentation pattern. And human’s art development history is a history in which media and feelings are continuously developing and changing, which cannot be changed by human’s will.
Third, when a large number of new image icons in the digital times are unavoidably filtering into people’s lives, they have completely changed people’s basic method to learn the world, acquire knowledge, and know the situation and master regulations. Thus, the inclusive meaning of images of painting and the formal language are strongly impacted. It is also the deep reason why many artists want to borrow the digital images. Undoubtedly, the contemporary oil painting has gone far ahead of the contemporary ink and brush. Therefore, we can never think of the deviation of images in the contemporary paintings from a formalistic perspective.
As I can see, the success of CaiGuangbin lies not just in the application of new images. Because in the process of him presenting new images, he not only elaborated the feature of ink and brush painting to the full, but also found an expression method of ink and brush painting belonging to himself. Concretely, on one hand, he skillfully turned the digital images into ink and brush images; on the other, he presented them with special brushwork. Whoever has painted ink and brush paintings knows that it is not easy. To date, some artists prefer to seek an image and repeatedly present it in order to catch up with the fashion, fancying that the image is everything. But the history of art tells us that a work with just an image instead of successful presentation is indefensible and can never enter the history of art.
The chronological table of CaiGuangbin’s works indicates that works of photos “photos by others” are obviously earlier than works of “selfied” photos. And there are mainly two ways of treatment of photos “photos by others.” First, it is the way to collocate the ink and brush work and the image. Second, it is the way to create one independent painting. It can be said that the element of “images” not only sets up some inner connection with “true feelings,” concept expression and concrete recognition, but also provides a whole new possibility for art.
As we can see, in the earlier collocation works, the artist always put the darker night scenery on the left or the upper side while put the lighter head portrait or part of the body on the right or the lower side. This kind of works always makes people feel depressed and anxious, but it is just the subconsciousness buried deep in the heart at present. It is introduced by the artist that all the dark night scenery was shot at dusk in Chongming Island of Shanghai, because he felt the deserted and lonely feeling coincided with the artistic conception he wanted to express. Moreover, when collocated with works with a head portrait or a part of the body, it solved the over-inclusiveness of an independent ink and brush work and might bring people boundless thinking. However, the night scenery people see now is not the original photo, but a composed effect of the painted ink work and the photo in computer. Therefore, it has a special feeling of ink and brush painting. The head portraits collocated with the night scenery are mostly taken from the network and cellphones. When doing artistic treatment, CaiGuangbin purposefully reduced the element of ink and brush in the traditional ink and brush paintings to the lowest level. When painting, he would first spray some water to make the paper wet and then paint on it, which was repeatedly done on every piece of painting. Since the connection between every trace of brushwork is very subtle, it finely expresses the feeling of skin, light and shadow as well as vagueness. It can enable him to create illusory and misted narrative space and to express delicately and poetically feelings like sensitivity, fragility, partition, void, loneliness, indifference and gloom by virtue of the pink faces or the parts of body. When explaining why he stressed so much on the quality of skin, he emphasized that first, different people’s different skins are like different expressions; second, with the change of the texture and outline on the skin, the audience will have corresponding psychological feeling and thinking. Contrasted finely with this characteristic, works like Photos byOthers -- the Past -- 60A (picture 7) also applied the form of tiling and piling of ink and brush head portraits, which vividly indicated the dilemma of people’s living state through many children’s head portrait, leaving a shocking effect on others. The similar situations also appeared in the series of Piling and Hot Spots. This shows that compared with other contemporary ink and brush artists doing experiments, CaiGuangbin’s ink and brush exploration is not just formalistic. Quite on the contrary, he hopes to express his cultural experience of the present society through the media of ink and brush painting, and then express his own analysis of the spirit of the present society. Moreover, I also feel that in works of photos “photos by others” created in recent years, CaiGuangbin focuses more on the psychological relationship between social events and people. For instance, 2016.2.22 -- Elevated Mid-Ring Road (picture 8) was created according to the photos on the spot -- the traffic jam, the car accident and the murder of life, which revealed the society’s lesion in the modern city. AndChanghai Hospital -- 2016.1.16 (picture 9) was created according to photos of the emergency room of Changhai Hospital shot by himself. Through the crowded people seeking medical care, it focused on the difficulty of getting medical help and the related social problems. Undoubtedly, in the work, the images painted in ink and brush paints were just an outerwear while the inside was the substantial matter, and it was the latter that the artist hoped audience with the same background to understand through the interaction triggered by the former. Since there are so many similar kinds of works, I will not explain in details any more.
Although the series of “Selfies” has close relation to the series of photos “photos by others,” the former still indicates new features when compared with the latter. Specifically speaking, in the aspect of picture composition, some works always include the collocation of several images and ink and brush paintings. For example Selfies -- 2016, 5, 8, 23(picture 10) collocates several selfied cellphone photos and several ink and brush works while Selfies -- Me 2013 collocates several selfied cellphone photos and one ink and brush work. Indeed, some other works still appear as one single piece of work, but the misty image purposefully includes a disposed realistic cellphone photo. And in art presentation, apart from the continuity and enrichment of the past presentation skills, he uses illusory lights to stress the illusory existence of people in the technological times, which is extremely interesting. (Cf. Selfies -- iphone -- NO, A13, picture 11) In general, Cai’s series of “Selfies” focuses more on the recognition and interpretation of privacy. Because in his opinion, “something private will accompany one all the time and will account for a large proportion in his lifetime, which will even decide one’s emotions and mental feelings, including one’s desire in the reality, etc..”[6] On this point, he has achieved the same effect with different means with the artist Pang Maokun!
CaiGuangbin has given us huge enlightenment. Under the grand background of the digital times, while some people have considered that the media of ink and brush is senseless and cannot match the rich and variable new life any more, but have to develop toward the abstract ink and brush paintings, he still insists on exploring the new possibility of this traditional media, and through the wonderful introduction of the element of images, he has creatively given ink and brush a new cultural property and expression method. It can be proved that the composition of ink and brush images and the presentation method of brushwork have new approaches apart from the traditional ones. Therefore, it is not exaggerate to say that CaiGuangbin’s exploration of combining new cultural concept and visual experience has a huge sense of enlightenment. This is why I write Ink Painting Still Exists as the title of this passage. Of course, I am definitely not referring to the existence of a traditional painting style with an old appearance, but that with reborn transformation in the aspect of concept, image and technique. Doris Lockhart, the ex-wife of Charles Saatchi, the collector called the “huge crocodile,” once said that instead of simulating the form, the learning of its own tradition for China’s contemporary art should be back to the traditional spirit. [7] Just as CaiGuangbin once said to me, the art of ink and brush actually has limitless possibility and potentials. It remains to be found and explored by artists of the new age and to be given a brand new vitality. Contrary to this, any rigid or stalled opinions are wrong and should be unworthy. Starting from this, we have full reason to believe that CaiGuangbin’s paintings have inner connection to the tradition as well as certain development. His art exploration has thoroughly overturned the painting standard, prospect composition method and brushwork presentation method of the traditional, realistic and abstract ink and brush paintings. I believe it will inspire other artists and then promote more and newer explorations.
We have entered a new century full of vitality. Every ink and brush artist with a sense of calling should base on the new clues and problems provided by the contemporary culture to explore the new direction of art development, and then create the art which belongs to our times and nation.
In Overseas Chinese Town, East Lake, Wuhan in February 6th, 2017
(The author is the executive director of United Art Museum)
References:
[1]CaiGuangbin: The Personal Statement of Art, not published
[2]Joyce Brutesky, On the Pattern of Art History published in Translated Series of Art, the Second Issue, 1992
[3]CaiGuangbin: The Personal Statement of Art, not published
[4]The critic Yang Xiaoyan didn’t agree with this opinion of Li Mei, which is obviously worth our serious discussions.
[5]Arnold Hauser: The Philosophy of Art History, Page 121, Social Science Press, February, 1992.
[6]CaiGuangbin: The Personal Statement of Art, not published
[7]Zhao Li: Art is not Horse Racing, published by Art Value, December, 2008.
来源：艺术家本人
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