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Installation View, Artwork ©吴凌昊

 

" 人的造物与人本身的关系就是很微妙的，有时人会被自己的造物影响和规训。"

 

 

吴凌昊新作中呈现出大量的金属材质，它们被弧线所切割，乍一看像分割重组的器具，进而构成了人的形象，隐约显露出人体（异化）的线条。每幅画作中不止有一个形象；形象之间，不同方向的力处于临时的平衡状态。这产生了一种模糊、暧昧的效果，令人分不清是在工具之间、人之间，还是工具和人之间进行着拉锯和博弈。

 

In his new works, Wu Linghao presents an abundance of metallic materials. They are cut by curves, and at first glance, they resemble segmented and reassembled apparatus which further form human figures, subtly revealing the lines of human body (alienation). Each artwork contains more than one figure; among these figures, forces of different directions are in a temporary balance. This creates a vague and ambiguous effect, making it unclear whether the tug of war and contest are happening among tools, among humans, or between tools and humans.

 

Installation View, Artwork ©吴凌昊

"在这批作品中我讨论的内核其实是控制与规训。"

"The core of these works is actually about control and discipline."

Installation View, Artwork ©吴凌昊

吴凌昊用冰冷又富有诗意的创作呈现出工具与人间的这一紧张关系。工具的“在手性”这一神秘而原始的冲动，使人在亘久的时空中得以不断地演进——荒芜渐渐变成了历史，呼啸的风中混入了言说的声响。吴凌昊的作品似乎遵循着同样的演化过程：有些作品起初着眼于塑造一个身体形象，然而在创作过程中逐渐演变成一个工具或装置。相反，有些作品从设计一个目标装置出发，但最终却逐渐展现出人的形象。这个模糊的形象——它的易变、流动、支撑、增生和嫁接——恰恰是欲望、身体和器具三者间相互造就、生成的一幅动态画像。

Wu Linghao displays this tense relationship between tools and humans through his cold yet poetic creations. The mysterious and primal impulse of a tool being "at hand" enables humans to evolve continuously through the endless timespace—desolation gradually becomes history, and voices of speech mingle with the howling winds. Wu Linghao's works seem to follow a similar evolutionary process: some works initially focus on sculpting a human figure, but gradually morph into a tool or apparatus during the creative process. Conversely, some works start with designing a target apparatus, but eventually gradually present a human figure. This vague figure, with its variability, fluidity, support, proliferation and grafting, precisely becomes a dynamic portrait generated by the mutual constitution among desire, body and apparatus.

Installation View, Artwork ©吴凌昊

人与工具相互发明了彼此。直到当代社会，这种关系变得越来越显性，人们正越来越强烈的意识到，没有任何一种工具和发明是中性的。它们以“义肢”和“生命增强”的形式，不断侵入我们的生物学身体，同时进入潜意识和梦境。自由意志、力比多冲动，正成为“控制论”社会不断试图擦除的人类基因和天性。

Humans and tools have mutually invented each other. Up to the contemporary society, this relationship becomes increasingly explicit. People are becoming more and more aware that no tool or invention is neutral. They constantly invade our biological body in the form of "prosthetics" and "life enhancement", meanwhile entering our subconscious and dreams. Free will and libidinal impulses are becoming the human genes and nature that the "cybernetic" society is continually trying to erase.

阅读 Read, 170×140cm, 布面油画 Oil on canvas, 2023

艺术家这次试图跳脱出之前作品对“界面”——当下欲望的操纵平台——的兴趣，进而转向了一个更加具有历史感的领域：欲望、工具，二者的相互发明及由此产生的控制。欲望，它在身体和精神上得到满足和不满，主导着我们今日对科技发展的渴望和恐惧：更多的满足，更少的伤害。

In this instance, the artist attempts to jump out of the previous, the manipulation platform of current desires, interest in "interface", and turn to a more historically sensed field: the mutual invention of desire and tools, and the control arising from it. Desire, whether satisfied or unsatisfied physically and mentally, is dominating our desire and fear towards technological development today: more satisfaction, less harm.

Installation View, Artwork ©吴凌昊

展览中，吴凌昊初次使用了3D打印的画框，这既可被视为他对绘画边界的一次崭新探索，也可以认为是对绘画主题恰到好处的延伸：绘画中的主体和机器一直在生成和发明，溢出了自身的边界，从实在界不断地涌入符号界。

In the exhibition, Wu Linghao used 3D printed frames for the first time, which can be seen as a fresh exploration of the boundaries of painting, and also as a fitting extension of the painting theme: the subjects and machines in the paintings have been continuously generating and inventing, overflowing their own boundaries, and constantly flowing from the realm of the real into the realm of the symbolic.

悬臂生物#1 Cantilever creatures#1, 30×40cm, 布面油画、光固化树脂 Oil on canvas, Light-cured resin, 2023

Q：怎么看待你所讨论的工具和人之间的关系？

A：不单是工具，我认为人的造物与人本身的关系就是很微妙的，有时人会被自己的造物影响和规训。例如建筑、科技产品、服装等等，甚至思想观念本身。在这批作品中我讨论的内核其实是控制与规训，所以作品中工具与人相互融合互相使用。有的作品一开始是从建构一个身体形象为出发点，过程中越来越像一个工具或者装置。而另外一些是相反的，目标先是装置但是越画越像个人。这是一个互相融合的过程，并在结束时达到一个模糊的状态。

Q: How do you view the relationship between the tools and humans discussed?

A: Not just tools, I think the relationship between human creations and humans themselves is quite subtle. Sometimes humans are influenced and disciplined by their own creations. Like buildings, technological products, clothing and even ideologies themselves. The core discussion in this batch of works is actually about control and discipline, so in these works, tools and humans blend and use each other. Some works initially start with constructing a human figure, and become more like a tool or apparatus during the process. Conversely, others start with a target apparatus but end up looking more like a person. This is a blending process, and reaches a vague state at the end.

手术台 Operation table, 180×200cm, 布面油画 Oil on canvas, 2023

Q：为什么抛弃叙事性转而研究这种模糊的状态？

A：因为叙事会导致阅读路径的单一。像我曾经做的那部分工作一样，有很强的的言说意味。极其准确的表达某一个观点或者叙事，但是这样导致作品浅薄，容易被表面的东西吸引。而这两年不管是生活体验还是关注的问题已经不再是过去关注的幽默和批判。我更向想表达内部的个人的感受，这种感受无法再像之前那样使用符号能指和所指的游戏就能达到。它是复杂深邃的状态。如果太清晰就会缺少表达的神秘感，恰好留给观众更多的阅读空间。

Q: Why do you abandon narrativity and turn to studying this vague state?

A:  Because narrative would lead to a single path of interpretation. Like some of the work I did before, there's a strong implication. Extremely accurate expression of a point or narrative, but this leads to superficial works, easily attracted by surface things. And in these two years, whether life experiences or concerns are no longer the humor and criticism concerned in the past. I want to express more of the internal personal feelings, and these feelings can no longer be achieved by the game of signifier and signified like before. It's a complex and profound state. If it's too clear, it will lack the mysterious sense of expression, leaving more reading space for the audience.

变态者绘画指南，SIMULACRA拟像，北京

Q：你的作品不止是画布正面，而是延伸到画框四周，以及3D打印包围在画的周围，你怎么理解创作媒介上的边界？

A：这里分两点。第一，对于绘画本身来说这次我画面延伸到边框目的是让这个作品看起来更立体。边框也成为画面叙事的一部分，就像建立一个可信的语境。第二，从更大的维度谈边界的话，我认为每种媒介都有属于自己的特殊“质感”。在之后创作和展览里我也会尝试把媒介之间的边界打破，用不同的方式构建我的视觉体系。

Q: Your works are not just confined to the front of the canvas, but extend to the frame all around, and are surrounded by 3D printing. How do you understand the boundaries in media?

A: There are two points. First, regarding painting itself, the extension of the image to the frame aims to make the work look more three-dimensional. The frame also becomes a part of the narrative of the image, like establishing a credible context. Second, speaking of boundaries from a broader dimension, I believe each medium has its own special "texture." In later creations and exhibitions, I will also try to break the boundaries between media, building my visual system in different ways.

Installation View, Artwork ©吴凌昊

Q：你新的作品中好像都使用了星空，月亮和沙丘的背景，这样做的原因是？

A：为了建立画面神秘感。而我的视觉偏好超现实主义和未来主义。也有因为一些文学作品的意象。

Q: Your new works seem to all use backgrounds of starry skies, the moon, and sand dunes. What's the reason for this?

A: It's to establish a sense of mystery in the image. Also, my visual preference leans towards surrealism and futurism. Moreover, it's influenced by the imagery of some literary works.

Q： 新作主要使用蓝色和红色两种色调，有什么特殊考虑吗？

A：跟我这生活体验，各类文学影视作品有关——电子乐Techno club，新浪潮科幻，后人类叙事等等。

Q: The new works primarily use blue and red tones, is there any special consideration?

A: It's related to my life experience, and various literary and film works—Techno club electronic music, New Wave science fiction, and post-human narratives, etc.

Installation View, Artwork ©吴凌昊

Q：这次很意识流的展览名称和作品的关系是什么？

A：受到威廉吉布森小说的启发，因为我的作品在某种层面也是意识流式的，就像一种“理性地说胡话的感觉”。人的思维并不全是一条直线的，很多时候是清晰与混乱并存。这次展览作品绝大部份也是这样的状态。

Q: What is the relationship between the very stream-of-consciousness exhibition title and the works?

A: It's inspired by William Gibson's novels, as my works are stream-of-consciousness on a certain level, much like a sense of "rationally speaking nonsense." Human thinking is not always linear; it's often a coexistence of clarity and confusion. The state of most works in this exhibition is like that.

小提琴 Violin, 180×120cm, 布面油画 Oil on canvas, 2023

Q：你的作品背后杂糅了许多元素，如何保证这些元素不会使作品变得无序？

A：一是对于作品的控制力和把握媒介的能力。二是考虑清楚自己在做作品时的目标（无需事无巨细），不要在一件作品上什么都要。每件作品，每个系列，每次展览能表达的就那么一点别贪心。三是想清楚每个元素（例如造型，色彩，笔触，材料，具象图像，符号等等）在客观上的视觉感受，使用之后到底能不能从视觉上展现想表达的东西。

Q: Many elements are blended in your works, how do you ensure that these elements won’t make the works disordered?

A: First is the control over the work and the grasp of the medium. Second is to think clearly about the goal when creating a work (no need to be meticulous), don’t be greedy on one piece of work. Each piece, each series, each exhibition can only express so much. Third is to think clearly about the visual perception of each element (such as pattern, color, brushwork, material, concrete images, symbols, etc.) on an objective level, and whether they can visually display what you want to express after being used.

Installation View, Artwork ©吴凌昊

Q：后续会对这些元素做取舍吗？接下来工作的重点是什么？

A：会的。展览布置完毕后脑海里已经有些模糊的感觉。因为我从一开始的目标就是建构一个有观看深度和广度的视觉体系。必然不能长期依赖画面中单一元素。诚然这也需要每一段工作后对作品的总结和反思，时间与体验都很重要。

Q: Will there be a selection among these elements in the future? What is the focus of the upcoming work?

A: Yes. After the exhibition setup, there are some vague feelings in my mind. Because my goal from the beginning was to construct a visual system with viewing depth and breadth. It's inevitable that I cannot rely on a single element in the image for a long time. Indeed, this also requires a summary and reflection on the work after each period of work, time and experience are very important.

艺术家于上海工作室 ©吴凌昊

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现实的 “力” 场

 

文：史国威

 

对我来说一切都是现实。我的工作始于现实，并在多重现实之间、观看与观看之间，通过绘画动作，最终呈现另一个现实。

 

无论是眼见的现实还是个体的主观现实都不是最终目的，我所做的是基于现实与现实之间的工作，不断拉扯——遮蔽、篡改、歪曲、重新创造现实或埋下伏笔……在现实与现实间寻找着力点。

 

早期（2014年-2021年）的工作，我尝试散点式的平面化构图，目的是为了降低镜头带来的叙事感，我想让一片场景变得看似普通但又不太对劲，使对现实的认知产生间离。这段时间我把注意力放在色彩对感知的影响上，肉眼能捕捉的色彩远远超过相机，所有这些细微的色彩变化都在影响我们的感受。到后来，我做了更多的色彩尝试，比如把三原色分配到场景里，使鲜艳的色彩不断并列，最后就变成一片没有个性的灰色调。

 

 

草场地，2018，激光银盐纸基，液体颜料，181×145cm

 

过去三年中（此次个展），我在延续之前工作逻辑的基础上，加强了绘画的部分。如果说图像是舞台，绘画就是演员，它可以演绎或遮蔽图像，甚至编造另一个现实。

 

夏季的新疆阿勒泰地区，有着美丽的自然风光，但我并不想太多地关注“她们”，因为实在太美了，如同一块甜的有些发腻的糖，在嘴里只有甜的味觉，显得单调甚至有些失望。我隐约觉得在这美丽的外表下一定藏有更能触动我的东西，直到一天我看到了牧民们的羊毛，确切地说应该是羊毛堆。那是他们的主要生活来源，他们把剃好的羊毛打成捆，一大堆一大堆地摞在一起，等着贩子们来收。那些羊毛堆一堆一堆的在草地上，就像一个个默默的墓碑。这些伤感的羊毛堆，在我心中留下了深刻的不安。我没办法解释为何会有如此感受，但我确实感受到了那种悲伤的震动。于是我拍摄了那些羊毛堆。然后就像一面碑似的将这件作品“羊毛”展示出来，它的尺幅必须足够大，才能具有那样的气场，碑文就是这些羊毛，这些曾拥有生命的皮毛，我要一笔一笔的把每张羊毛都画出来。它就是一面由羊毛组成的纪念碑。

 

 

羊毛，2021，激光银盐纸基，液体颜料，180×198cm

 

现实的相互作用之间会产生多重语义，而现实本身也包含了记忆、立场、文化、认知等多重维度。毕竟现实本身就是主观的，随心动。

 

“山体”的背景图像是岩浆流淌冷却后，形成的一种普通的岩石结构。画面充满了岩浆流淌的痕迹，如同血管。绘画中我保留了一部分岩石的面貌，用暗绿和蓝色为基础衬托类似血液和骨骼的形态。似乎是某种未知生物的皮肤一般，它是活着的。

 

 

山体，2022，激光银盐纸基，液体颜料，150×201cm

 

虽然“山体”和“肉山”都取景于几乎相同的地质地貌，表达的却是“死”和“生”的两种生命的状态。

 

 

肉山，2021，激光银盐纸基，液体颜料，184×154cm

 

时间是现实的容器，“场景A B”双联作品，图像记录于美国加州地区的一处山野。当时我对这片地区有着莫名的感触，记录下来后放大成片，但一直迟迟未下笔。由于时间拉的很长，记忆逐渐淡化，几次面对画面，仍不知所措，直到从大兴安岭归来。那次旅行是参加了见地的一次驻地项目，考察了中国东北地区大兴安岭的鄂温克族的生存状态，旅途中很多东西对我有所触动，回来后再次面对画面，便有了动笔的冲动。我把画面做了无序的打破常规的分割，用流淌的蓝色填补曝光过度的岩石表面，用血红描绘了树木和岩石，用驯鹿的毛皮代替了原来的苔藓，用动物的内脏覆盖了原来的岩石表面……最终得到了一个残酷、虚幻、错乱的场景。如同那个被遗忘的部族，他们生活在一个错综复杂的现代社会的夹缝里，被无限的拉扯、挤压、改变……

 

这两件作品共同再现了一场狩猎。

 

 

场景A B，2023，激光银盐纸基，液体颜料，130×171cm

 

“考古”是我延续基本的工作逻辑下的另一种材料途径。

 

我首先使用光化学反应把一个真实存在的场景转印在亚麻布上，再用油彩覆盖图像后慢慢的用笔刷抠出我记忆中的图像，如同用刷子小心翼翼地去除文物周边的泥土。经过漫长的劳作，最终我得到了这场特殊的结果。它既是一处客观存在的场景，但又被人为地覆盖了本不属于它的颜色，却又符合逻辑。这种模糊的，不好被定义的结果，正是我关注的焦点。

 

基于此，媒介或工作方法之于我并不是最重要的，而现实和现实之间如何通过我的介入产生裂隙和关系是我感兴趣的，所以每层现实都是必不可少的，均须被显现，这样现实之间才能相互生成一个“力”的场。

 

 

考古A，2023，亚麻布面蓝晒工艺，油彩，230×196cm

 

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光·迹 —— 陈开 & 布拉德·布朗

Shimmer and Stain: Chen Kai and Brad Brown

上海狮語画廊 Leo Gallery Shanghai

 

艺术家｜Artists

布拉德·布朗 Brad Brown

陈开 Chen Kai

展期｜Duration

2023.09.23-10.29

地点｜Venue

武康庭｜上海徐汇区武康路376号，狮語画廊

Ferguson Lane｜Leo Gallery, 376 Wu Kang Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai

 

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Scroll down for English

 

连续的世界、相邻的绘画

—— 展览《 光·迹 —— 陈开 & 布拉德·布朗》

 

文/于潍颖

 

布拉德·布朗 Brad Brown

《Piece 454 (错误的风景)》 Piece 454 (Faulty Landscape)

2019

木板油画、胶合板、胡桃木墨水、钢丝钉

Oil, Plywood, Walnut Ink, Wire Brads on Cradled Panel

48.3 x 48.3cm

 

阳光穿过迷雾洒落在旧金山的海湾, 越过广阔的太平洋, 千重浪的另一岸是上海缓流入海的黄浦江与苏州河。布拉德·布朗（Brad Brown）与陈开的抽象绘画创作在旧金山与上海并行、交汇、构成流动的对话。他们的系列绘画创作是画布上的时间累积与视觉档案、是笔触与颜料间流淌的诗意与想象力的有机物。

 

布拉德·布朗于1987年开始创作他的纸本绘画系列“The Look Stains”，于2001年开始创作木板油画“Piece”, 并且至今保持“未完成”的状态。不再龃龉于“完成”与“未完成”的二元对立, 画家的日常创作所生成的变化如植物般生机盎然地生长。系列中上千幅画作编织成一张视觉信息网络, 通过装订、剪贴、重组变化着形态。它们如同连环画或幻灯片, 每幅画作中的事物以奇妙地方式产生关联、轻柔地说笑。之于布拉德·布朗, 他的画作之间相互独立，但从不孤单。

 

 

布拉德·布朗 Brad Brown

The Look Stains (4298-4382), 2021

纸本油彩, 木炭, 石墨, 钢笔与墨水

Oil, Charcoal, Graphite, Pen and Ink on Paper

193 x 193cm

 

陈开的布面丙烯绘画不仅局限于大尺幅抽象画作所展现的崇高感, 更为明晰的是, 点彩绘画和对细节的体验是画家与画作材料产生情感驱动的一部分。在“重复与差异”中, 重复是新, 是细微的差别、也是超越基础规则的尝试。点彩画的笔触与变幻的色块之间是游牧式的流动与安营。陈开曾在旧金山湾区附近的萨利托（Sausalito）海岸国家公园进行了一年的艺术家驻留项目, 工作室窗外, 毗邻太平洋的晨昏雾霭, 风中摩挲舞蹈的桉树, 成为记忆流转于画布上层叠的光影。

 

无论是布拉德·布朗根茎般生长的画作，还是陈开非中心化的“星图”, 都指向艺术对人内心世界与日常生活的表达与突破。你可以理解一幅画, 而无需知道它被固然定义为何。

 

 

陈开 Chen Kai

《科西嘉之星》 The Corsican Stars, 2023

150 x 200 x 4cm

布面丙烯

Acrylic on Linen

 

局部·星尘

 

布拉德·布朗的画作大多是小尺幅的木板油画系列或版画。经过数十年的连续创作累积, 几千幅画作之间产生着动态地视觉互文。在名为“Piece”的木板油画系列中, 每幅画作的局部之间彼此成为伙伴, 越过画框的边界互相致意。这些抽象的形象是日常的事物（蘑菇、鸟、人物）, 也充满寓言的象征（微表情、时间、恶魔）。画面中的抽象形态流露着米罗（Joan Miró）般的稚气未脱、纯真游离; 日常中任何物体都能够自由行走、变幻形态。细窄的画框与每幅画的主色调相协调, 成为画作的一部分, 画面空间的边界在消失、移动、融合。布朗用“stain”来代表他长期以来的绘画系列。stain译为污渍或斑迹, 它们不对美做诠释, 而是日常生活所赋予的动感和生命力。它们像是画室中颜料不经意在地板或任何地方洒下的斑点, 也可以存在于画框之外, 自然地留存或消逝。布朗对抽象绘画的内容与形式或许像他喜欢的一位诗人罗恩·帕特（Ron Padgett）对生活意象的传达: 帕特的诗总以简洁词语和平实的语调透露平凡生活里日常的瞬间、无望中的希望、孤独间的自由。

 

 

布拉德·布朗 Brad Brown

The Look Stains (4177-4195), 2021 

纸本油彩, 木炭, 石墨, 钢笔与墨水

Oil, Charcoal, Graphite, Pen and Ink on Paper

94 x 91.4cm

 

布拉德·布朗曾长期于旧金山艺术学院（San Francisco Art Institute, 简称SFAI）绘画系任教。SAI于1871年建校, 主校区位于俄罗斯山街区的栗子街800号, 是美国历史上最为悠久的现当代艺术学院之一, 乌托邦式地延续着纯艺术教育。SFAI校园建筑的一部分为意大利与西班牙殖民风格, 另一部分是英国建筑师Paffard Keatinge-Clay设计的现代主义风格。塔楼、拱廊、马赛克喷泉与延展向海湾的露台、望向天际的锥形混凝土天窗, 共同诠释着旧金山交融而迷幻的气质。SFAI记录了二战前后当代艺术在美国的蓬勃发展、兴盛与演变以及一个艺术家群星闪耀的时代。在近150年的校史中, 安塞尔·亚当斯（Ansel Adams）于1945创立了艺术摄影系; 亨利·马蒂斯（Henri Matisee）、马克·罗斯科（Mark Rothko）、约翰·凯奇（John Cage）等艺术家造访、举办讲座或任教于此。艺术流派与新的尝试在加州西海岸不断出现, 从抽象表现主义到摄影现实主义、波普、极简以及具象画派, 如同迭戈·里维拉（Diego Rivera）在SFAI校园创作的室内壁画《展现城市建设的壁画》（The Making of Fresco Showing the Building of a City, 1931）所描绘的那样: 脚手架上设计师、工程师、艺术家、工人共同建造开启一个城市的历史和未来; 同时另一面, 在资本的旋涡中（1929-1933的大萧条）, 艺术如何成为看到个体的劳动和搭建生活希望的脚手架。

 

 

展览现场 Installation View

 

旧金山的海湾风景对画家们有着独特的感染力: 万物的色彩在灿烂明丽的阳光下如此饱满。在SFAI, 布拉德·布朗与陈开成为师生, 讨论绘画创作的方法与理念。更确切地说, 作为画家, 面对一幅画和其发展的可能性, 需要问的是, “这是你想要的吗？”

 

陈开的抽象画作交汇于“光、色彩、自然与宇宙”之中。在画作《最后的光》（Last Light）中，黑色打底的画布上, 无数散落铺陈的黄色点彩画域既是金色日光的温暖, 同时也意涵人造光源的视觉温暖。画作的题目致意了菲利克斯·冈塞雷斯·托雷斯（Felix Gonzalez-Torres）的同名装置作品。两者共同表达了希望和陪伴在现实重力中的闪现: 一串灯泡的暖光与星夜的光是色彩温度所寄与的温柔情感。而作品《最初的光》（First Light）的点彩构成更为复杂: 灰色、紫灰色、黄灰色以及蓝灰色。黑暗与光线在轮替与交界, 如果宇宙与死亡的基底是永恒的黑色, 光线与其反射的种种是人类感知自然万物存在、空间、自我的基本方式。大尺幅的抽象画作在时间与精力的投入外, 是对一层层画面铺陈的重复、把握与判断。尺度成为容纳画家创作的界面, 同时也被继续分隔、再现与重组。而每种色彩或色块所产生的力量都在缓缓地爆发出新的疆域。使用点彩画的笔触与技法, 层叠的色点不再描绘具象的轮廓, 而是成为情感地图的坐标。陈开的画作中, 整体的色彩具有聚集能量的力度, 同时点彩的画法也在瓦解所有具有中心的意象。点彩画的技法与抽象表象主义所展现的色彩, 如同旋涡或河流吸引观者的注意力。技法之上的审美表达，是密度与色彩所抵达纯粹情感的居所。

 

 

陈开 Chen Kai

《最后的光》 Last Light, 2023

150 x 200 x 4cm

布面丙烯

Acrylic on Linen

 

绘画的空间: 画面、画室、展览

 

如同陈开在旧金山艺术学院学习绘画, 在海德兰艺术中心（Headlands Center For the Arts）艺术家驻地项目发研习和展系列创作; 2023年, 布拉德·布朗受邀来到上海的驻地空间进行创作。大洋的两岸, 他们或许有各自对地景和文化陌生感的体验和全新表达, 也将再次成绘画中的抽象元素, 成为画家之间友谊的延续。画面承载的信息与信念是画家主体性的表现。画面本身是创造的载体, 而画面传达的感受与引发的感情无法被占有, 而是在下一段过程中得到延续, 保持“未完成”的状态。画室作为画家创作的日常空间, 也是一种“港湾”的存在——抽象中构造秩序、拥抱混乱或丰富。从画室到展览空间, 观众对绘画的观看激发或唤醒不同个体的主体性。在绘画的空间里, 世界仍是实际可以感触的: 布拉德·布朗与陈开的近期绘画创作提供了关联但又迥异的一种共鸣, 内容和形式的丰富、拥抱有趣而温柔的情感。

 

 

开幕现场 Opening View

 

---

 

Unfinished Space, Fellowship of Painting

–Shimmer and Stain: Chen Kai and Brad Brown

——

Text by Yu Weiying

 

Sunlight pours through the mist on San Francisco Bay, illuminating the vast Pacific Ocean. On the other side of the waves lie Shanghai's Huangpu and Suzhou River, which flow tranquilly into the sea. Brad Brown and Chen Kai's abstract paintings engage in a fluid dialogue between San Francisco and Shanghai. Their series of paintings represent an accumulation of time, the painters’ visual archives on canvas, and organisms of poetry and imagination that flow between brushstrokes and colors.

 

 

展览现场 Installation View

 

Brad Brown began his series of works on paper, The Look Stains, in 1987; and a body of oil paintings on cradled panels titled, Piece, in 2001. Both projects have remained “unfinished” ever since. No longer restricted by the dichotomy between the states of "completed" and the "not completed", the artist's daily creations grow and thrive like plants with vitality. The series comprises thousands of paintings arranged into a network of visual information that undergoes constant transformation through the painter's assembling, cutting, pasting, and reorganizing. The objects in each painting are splendidly connected and interact with each other like a comic strip or slide show. Each of Brown's paintings is independent, yet never alone.

 

 

开幕现场 Opening View

 

Chen Kai's paintings go beyond the sense of sublime arising from large-scale abstraction. What stands out is Chen’s persistence in experiencing details through pointillism, which partially provokes the painter’s emotion towards his painting materials. In “repetition and difference,” the “repetition” highlights novelty, nuance, and an attempt to go beyond the ground rules. Nomadic flow exists between brushstrokes and shifting colors in pointillism. Chen Kai spent a year in an artist-in-residency program at the Marin Headlands in Sausalito near San Francisco where he could view morning mists, the gentle twilight of the Pacific Ocean, and eucalyptus trees dancing in the wind from his studio window. These eventually transformed into layers of light and shadows on his canvas.

 

 

展览现场 Installation View

 

Whether it's Brad Brown's paintings, which grow like rhizomes, or Chen Kai's paintings, scattered like "starry nights", they all ultimately lead to the expression of one's inner world and a breakthrough from mundane life. You can appreciate a painting without necessarily knowing how it's defined.

 

Piece Stardust

 

Brad Brown's paintings are mostly small-scale oil on wood panel series or prints. After decades of continuous creation, thousands of paintings have generated dynamic visual inter-texts. In the series of oil paintings on wood panel titled Piece, different parts of the painting are partnered with each other, referencing each other across the borders of their frames. These abstract images are of everyday objects (mushrooms, birds, people), but also full of allegorical symbols (micro-expressions, time, demons). The abstract forms in the painting are similar to the childishness and innocence of Joan Miró’s works; any object in daily life can move freely and change its shape. The narrow frames are in harmony with the primary color of each painting and thus become a part of the paintings. The boundaries of the image constantly disappear, move, and merge. Brown uses the word "stain" to represent his long-running series of paintings.Although "Stain" is translated as "taint" or "marks" in Chinese, it does not seek to convey the concept of beauty. Instead, it captures the essence of movement and vitality found in everyday life. These stains are akin to random paint splatters on the floor or in the studio. They can also exist outside the frame, naturally remaining or disappearing. Brown's abstract paintings, both in terms of content and form, may be similar to how one of his favorite poets, Ron Padgett, represents life. Padgett's poems use concise words and plain tones to capture the mundane moments in ordinary life, the hope in despair, and the freedom in loneliness

 

 

布拉德·布朗 Brad Brown

《Piece 574 (意大利人)》 Piece 574 (The Italian)

2012-2021

木板油画、钢丝钉

Oil, Wire Brads on Cradled Panel

25.4 x 21.6cm

 

Brad Brown has served as a Richard C. Diebenkorn Teaching Fellow at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). Established in 1871, SFAI is one of the oldest schools of modern and contemporary art in the United States. The main campus is located at 800 Chestnut Street in the Russian Hill district. The institute offers fine arts education and fosters a utopian art community. Parts of the SFAI campus architecture are in Italian and Spanish colonial style, while other parts are in the modernist style designed by British architect Paffard Keatinge-Clay. The campus features towers, arcades, mosaic fountains, terraces extending toward the bay, and tapered concrete skylights that collectively embody the ever-changing psychedelic temperament of San Francisco.  SFAI records the vigorous development, prosperity, and evolution of contemporary art in the United States before and after World War II, an era when artists were shining brightly. In the nearly 150 years of the school’s history, Ansel Adams founded the Department of Art Photography in 1945; Artists such as Henri Matisse, Mark Rothko, and John Cage visited or gave lectures here. Art schools and new movements were constantly emerging on the West Coast of California, from Abstract Expressionism to Photographic Realism, from Pop Art to Minimalism and Figurative Painting. Just as Diego Rivera's mural The Making of a Fresco, Showing the Building of a City (1931) on the SFAI campus portrays, a diverse group of designers, engineers, artists, and workers collaborated on the scaffolding to unveil the future of a city. Simultaneously, amidst the challenging times of the Great Depression (1929-1933), art served as a “scaffold” for people to witness the dedication of individuals and the optimism being cultivated for a better life.

 

The landscape of San Francisco Bay Area has a unique appeal to painters. The colors of everything around are incredibly vibrant under the bright sunshine. At SFAI, Chen Kai took tutorial classes with Brad Brown, discussing painting methods and concepts. More accurately, they explored how to determine what is truly desired and necessary when faced with a painting and its possibilities.

 

 

展览现场 Installation View

 

Chen Kai's abstract paintings intersect at the crossroads of "light, color, nature, and the universe". In his painting Last Light, the yellow points scattered on the black canvas not only represent the warmth of natural golden sunlight but also imply the visual warmth of artificial lights. The painting’s title is a nod to Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ installation of the same name. Together, they express a flash of hope and companionship in the lonely gravity of reality: the warm light from a string of light bulbs and the light of a starry night are the tender emotions conveyed by the color’s temperature. The structure of the points in the work First Light is more complex: there are layers of gray, purple-gray, yellow-gray, and blue-gray. Darkness and brightness alternate and intersect – if the foundation of the universe and death is eternally black, light and its reflections are the basic ways for humans to perceive existence, space, and ourselves in nature. Large-scale abstract paintings require not only investment of time and energy, but also repetition, and a grasp of the layer-by-layer layout of the artwork. Scale accommodates the painter's creation, and meanwhile, the image is continuously separated, re-presented, and reorganized. The power generated by each color or color block is slowly breaking out into new territories. With the brushstrokes and techniques of pointillism, the layered color dots no longer outline concrete figures, but become the coordinates of an emotional map. In Chen Kai's paintings, the overall color has the capacity to gather energy, while the pointillism used also disintegrates all central images. The techniques of pointillism and the color presented by abstract expressionism draw the viewer's attention like a vortex or a river. Aesthetic expression beyond techniques harbors pure emotions led by the density and color of the paintings.

 

 

展览现场 Installation View

 

The Space of Painting: The Canvas, Studio, and Exhibition

 

Between San Francisco and Shanghai, Chen Kai pursued his passion for painting at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) and worked for a residency program at the Headlands Center for the Arts. In 2023, Brown received an invitation to participate in Leo Gallery's residency program in Shanghai. On both sides of the ocean, artists have their own unique experiences and interpretations of foreign landscapes and cultures. These experiences become abstract elements in their paintings, strengthening the bond between the painters. Each artwork carries the information and beliefs of the artist, expressing their subjectivity. The artwork itself is a vessel that conveys emotions and evokes feelings – it cannot be possessed, but rather transitions into the next creation, maintaining an "unfinished" state. The studio, as a daily creative space for the painters, also acts as their refuge – bringing order to abstraction and embracing chaos or complexity. When viewers observe the paintings in the exhibition space, their own subjectivity is awakened. Within the realm of painting, the world remains tangible: the recent works of Brad Brown and Chen Kai resonate with each other but also retain distinct qualities, offering a vibrant blend of concepts and form that subtly and refreshingly embraces emotions.

 

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