戚永曄
繆惠新被海外藝術(shù)界譽(yù)為“中國(guó)的畢加索”,也被列入“亞洲十位藝術(shù)家”之列,他最得意的是這幅名為《鄉(xiāng)情》的畫作。
Acclaimed as Chinas Picasso and one of the top ten Asian artists, Miao Huixin is proud of his Home Nostalgia.
農(nóng)歷六月的杭州,悶熱多雨。唯一能讓人覺得一絲神清氣爽的,大概只有抽空去城市的各處欣賞藝術(shù)品。
在浙江美術(shù)館,我在一幅作品前駐足:這是江南的水鄉(xiāng),雪白的鴨子在密密的河道里悠閑嬉戲,周圍是鵝黃色小橋、人家,莫名的親切撲面而來。細(xì)細(xì)看之,卻不似傳統(tǒng)的手法,畫作以素描切入,繼而上色,只以蠟筆或彩筆之類的畫具直接“涂鴉”,奇怪的是,并無任何斷節(jié)、不和諧之處。
我把征詢的目光投向文字介紹的看板,才知道,原來這是嘉興秀洲農(nóng)民畫家朱建芬的作品《鴨鄉(xiāng)春雨》。
而這場(chǎng)浙江新農(nóng)民畫展覽的主角,是十位浙江優(yōu)秀農(nóng)民畫家。主辦方為畫展取了一個(gè)貼切、又富于詩(shī)意的名字:水生土長(zhǎng)。
水生之事:傳承原色文化
在畫展現(xiàn)場(chǎng),我幸運(yùn)地遇到了中國(guó)美術(shù)學(xué)院院長(zhǎng),也是這次畫展的主辦方浙江省美術(shù)家協(xié)會(huì)的主席—許江。
談起這次畫展舉辦的緣由,許江就回憶起3年前的故事來:當(dāng)時(shí),也是在浙江美術(shù)館,一次全國(guó)農(nóng)民畫展正在舉辦。作為嘉賓出席的許江,正站在展廳的尾端,贊嘆幾幅大膽而狂野的彩畫,忽然腦后傳來一個(gè)粗酣的嗓門:“許院長(zhǎng),咱們?nèi)ズ染疲 ?/p>
一位粗獷的漢子正扎著馬步向他嚷。
“這便是漁民畫家徐重芳。站在那里,就帶來了大海的陽光和風(fēng)浪。我知道自己遇到了酒神?!边@個(gè)瞬間讓許江永久記憶,而浙江農(nóng)民畫家的形象在他腦海里烙下了深刻的印記。也是從那時(shí)起,許江萌生了辦一場(chǎng)浙江人自己的農(nóng)民畫展的想法。
徐重芳的名字,我聽聞過多次:先是2010年,全國(guó)十大民間繪畫畫家名單揭曉時(shí),一位專業(yè)畫家對(duì)他的作品評(píng)價(jià)道:“結(jié)構(gòu)、用線、用色無章可循,甚至肆無忌憚,畫面瑰麗超群,斑斕脫俗?!边@樣的話語落在一位只有小學(xué)學(xué)歷的漁民身上,堪稱傳奇,可不讓人心生敬仰與好奇。
后來,2012年,我前往舟山采寫海洋文化的稿件,我知道了這位出生于1943年、家鄉(xiāng)在定海金塘的老漁民的故事:他曾經(jīng)經(jīng)歷過海上漁民生活,積累了豐富的創(chuàng)作素材和想象空間??晌覜]見到他,只能想象他那充滿天賦、灑脫不羈、原鄉(xiāng)原味的形象。
在這次畫展上,我見到了徐重芳。在談到對(duì)繪畫的理解時(shí),徐重芳覺得,構(gòu)思是最重要的:“除了有真摯的情感、夸張的造型、絢爛的色彩外,更需要獨(dú)特的構(gòu)思才能令人眼睛一亮?!毙熘胤颊f,他有一幅作品,講述的是上世紀(jì)90年代初,村里男人出海捕魚,結(jié)果漁船不幸沉了。盡管就是簡(jiǎn)單地想表達(dá)家人對(duì)失去親人的痛苦和村民對(duì)此的同情,徐重芳卻遲遲無法構(gòu)思出該怎樣將這些內(nèi)容在畫紙上表現(xiàn)出來。后來,他用了近20年的時(shí)間來思索,最終才得以創(chuàng)作完成這幅《漁島之夜》。
與徐重芳一樣,浙江漁民畫家不少都有過親身出海捕魚或是與漁民朝夕相處的經(jīng)歷。這次畫展的10位農(nóng)民畫家,有5位來自舟山、1位來自洞頭。他們對(duì)漁家生活的理解就像藝術(shù)一樣艷麗鮮活。再經(jīng)過長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的積累和構(gòu)思,怎么能不畫出好的作品呢?
而這,也是“水生”兩個(gè)字的由來,發(fā)展到如今,浙江多地的漁民畫已經(jīng)形成群體氣候,不僅成為當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)民致富的新途徑,還成了當(dāng)?shù)匕l(fā)展旅游文化的品牌。譬如舟山,當(dāng)你踏上東海最東面的東極列島,當(dāng)?shù)貪O民會(huì)自豪地告訴你,最藝術(shù)的地方是漁民畫創(chuàng)作室。
土長(zhǎng)之情:畫出斑斕藝術(shù)
和未曾謀面、只慕大名的徐重芳不同,這次畫展中另一位“重量級(jí)”畫家,我在幾年前就曾聽他侃侃而談。他叫繆惠新,來自嘉興秀洲的優(yōu)秀農(nóng)民畫家。
2010年,我去嘉興參加當(dāng)?shù)孛磕暌欢鹊摹靶阒蕖ぶ袊?guó)農(nóng)民畫藝術(shù)節(jié)”,第一次認(rèn)識(shí)了脫胎于傳統(tǒng)年畫、灶畫、剪紙、刺繡的秀洲農(nóng)民畫。在藝術(shù)節(jié)上,展出了上千幅或瑰麗、或淡雅、或明媚、或古樸的農(nóng)民畫,內(nèi)容大都是水鄉(xiāng)農(nóng)民生活中的鍋碗瓢盆、雞鴨魚羊、捕撈耕種、婚喪嫁娶,雖然平凡,卻讓人倍感親切。
在那次活動(dòng)上,我到繆惠新的畫室里參觀。這位個(gè)子不高、講話文縐縐,卻又讓人覺得穩(wěn)重踏實(shí)的畫家,一一為我介紹了他的作品。從畫風(fēng)來看,他的筆調(diào)和多數(shù)農(nóng)民畫家的淳樸不同,讓人覺得已經(jīng)漸漸結(jié)合了西方元素,嘗試用造型上怪誕、夸張、奇幻、抽象的手法和艷麗色彩來表現(xiàn)現(xiàn)實(shí)的生活??娀菪伦畹靡獾淖髌肥且环麨椤多l(xiāng)情》的畫作,背景是江南水鄉(xiāng),畫的主體部分是一位農(nóng)婦的發(fā)髻,大塊的墨色嵌以紅色小塊、藍(lán)色細(xì)線,視覺沖擊力很強(qiáng)。圍繞發(fā)髻,點(diǎn)綴著稻穗、樹木、家畜、日、月、蠶、魚等,分別對(duì)應(yīng)著農(nóng)、林、牧、副、漁各業(yè)。
事后我才知道,原來畫風(fēng)獨(dú)特的繆惠新,已經(jīng)算得上國(guó)內(nèi)首屈一指的農(nóng)民畫家,代表作《鄉(xiāng)情》曾多次獲得國(guó)際大獎(jiǎng),而他本人,也被美國(guó)《時(shí)代周刊》列入“亞洲十位藝術(shù)家”之列,被海外藝術(shù)界譽(yù)為“中國(guó)的畢加索”,并在法國(guó)、美國(guó)多次舉辦個(gè)人作品展。
今天,在“水生土長(zhǎng)”新農(nóng)民畫展上,我又一次看到了《鄉(xiāng)情》,見到了繆惠新。他一如既往的謙遜,他說:“我的作品只是如實(shí)地將深耕于鄉(xiāng)村的美,用畫筆畫下來而已。今天,我的內(nèi)心很溫暖,農(nóng)民畫一路蹣跚走來,首先要感謝的是各界的呵護(hù)?!?/p>
“他們并不是傳統(tǒng)意義上的農(nóng)民—‘鄉(xiāng)野村夫,他們是扎根于農(nóng)村的藝術(shù)家,同樣吸收著全球化時(shí)代來自于世界各地的藝術(shù)養(yǎng)分,不斷與時(shí)俱進(jìn)地進(jìn)行著創(chuàng)作。農(nóng)民畫為什么感人?因?yàn)橐环N沒有功利的、原發(fā)性的熱情,希望這種原始的感情能夠保留下來?!边@是許江院長(zhǎng)的話。
如他所言,以繆惠新為代表的新農(nóng)民畫家,在傳承原生態(tài)的同時(shí),已經(jīng)慢慢走上了國(guó)際化的大舞臺(tái)。他們不受任何形式的束縛,創(chuàng)作上有著很大的自由空間,這正是由于對(duì)生活的愛才會(huì)引發(fā)的創(chuàng)作上的沖動(dòng)。在現(xiàn)代社會(huì)高速化、技術(shù)化的背景下,這才是藝術(shù)的動(dòng)力之源。
(本文圖片由作者提供)
Rural Artists Display Their Imagination
By Qi Yongye, our special reporter
For me, the best way to escape the hot damp days of June in Hangzhou is to escape to art exhibitions. That is how I find myself stroll into Zhejiang Art Museum and admire masterpieces by ten self-made rural artists. The exhibition is aptly called Out of Water and Earth.
I meet Xu Jiang, president of China Academy of Art and chairman of the Zhejiang Artists Association, which is also the sponsor of the exhibition. The inspiration for the exhibition had come to him three years before while he was visiting a national exhibition featuring artworks by rural artists across the country at Zhejiang Art Museum. While admiring a painting in extremely bold colors, he suddenly heard a loud voice behind him, “President Xu, lets go and have a drink.” Turning his head, he saw Xu Chongfang, a fisherman-turned artist. Standing there, the rough-looking artist brought all the sunshine, winds and waves of the sea into the exhibition hall. At that moment Xu felt as if Xu Chongfang were the very incarnation of the god of wine. That moment inspired him to envision an exhibition for rural folk artists of Zhejiang at the museum.
It is not the first time that I heard of the name Xu Chongfang. In 2010, Xu Chongfang was voted one of the top ten rural folk artists of China. A professional gave such a comment: “Composition, line, and color in his art follow no rules at all. They are unscrupulous and unbridled. The result displays an overwhelming grandeur. Such an analysis might not fit a fisherman who has only primary-school education, but it certainly inspired my curiosity.
I visited Zhoushan Archipelago in 2012 to write an article on local sea-centered culture and learned more about Xu Chongfang. Born in 1943, Xu Chongfang had worked as a fisherman on the sea for decades before he turned to express himself in art. His wild imagination and themes can be traced to what he experienced on the sea during these decades. But I did not have a chance to see him during my visit.
It is at the exhibition this time that I finally meet Xu Chongfang. We have a conversation. When we are talking about how we understand art, Xu Chongfang says originality matters most. “In addition to authentic feeling, exaggerated form, bright colors, originality is what makes ones eyes shine,” he observes. One of the paintings he created is about the sinking of a fishing boat in the early 1990s. The men who died in the sinking were all from his village. He had wanted to create a painting about the tragic losses, but he failed to find a way to express pain and sympathy in image. It was not until nearly 20 years later that he found a way to do it.
Zhejiang has many rural artists who once fished on the sea. Of the ten representative artists at the exhibition, five are from Zhoushan Archipelago and one from Dongtou, an island county in southern Zhejiang. They are partly described by the title of the exhibition: they grow out of water. Nowadays, artists of the sea across Zhejiang are a phenomenon. Many make a living out of their art and their art is part of local tourism.
Another heavyweight rural artist featured at the exhibition is Miu Huixin from Jiaxing, whom I first met in 2010 while I was covering an annual folk art festival in Jiaxing. At the event were about 1,000 paintings by rural folk artists, featuring everyday life and work in villages. I visited Miu Huixins studio while I was in Jiaxing. A middle-height man who uses some highbrow words and phrases in his talk, he pursues his art in a different way. Most fellow folk artists prefer an unadorned style that offers simple charm. He incorporates western elements into his paintings: absurdity, exaggeration, magic, abstraction can be found in his portrayal of his imagination and his understanding of everyday life. Home Nostalgia, his masterpiece, is widely recognized internationally. He has held solo exhibitions in the United States and France.
Xu Jiang comments that these artists are not farmers or fishermen in the traditional sense of the words: uneducated louts living in rural wilderness. They are fine artists with their roots in rural areas. While retaining the rural quintessence, they are gradually known internationally. Not confined to conventional dos and donts in art, they have created a space for their imagination.