开幕 | 郭警个展《独唱团》5月16日开幕

独唱团 

 Silent Spring

郭警

Guo Jing

开幕时间：5月16日 下午 3：00 – 5:00

Opening：May 16，3 - 5 pm

 展览时间： 5月16日 – 6月14日

Duration：May 16 – June 14 

地点：红门画廊，798艺术区，北京

Venue：Red Gate Gallery，798 Art Zone，Beijing

展览由Artand主办，红门画廊协办

Artand and Red Gate Gallery

艺术家郭警的个展《独唱团》将于 2020年5月16日于北京开幕，以纪念2020年这个特殊的春天。在新冠病毒肆虐下，全球发展停滞，生活秩序被打破，全人类陷入危机和伤痛。这个春天的到来，显得格外迟缓而静寂。

展览名字源于疫情期艺术家对于艺术能量的反思，一方面切身感受到艺术的无力，另一方面又试图突破这样的拘囿。在回答象外采访时，郭警提到"艺术表达并不能直接对事件本身产生影响。……艺术与现实的链接，只能以潜移默化的形式呈现。它不是一记重拳，而是一种纪念、缅怀、警醒，……，它的作用并不在当下。”

Guo Jing 郭警

Windows 窗们, 2019

Oil on canvas 布面油画

150 × 200 cm

黑色幽默与荒诞性反讽是近几年郭警作品的一个鲜明符号，尽管如此，郭警的作品基本都与现实主义题材保持一定距离。他通过一定的情节或者场景构架展现反秩序性或者断裂的逻辑，引发遐思或者会心一笑。这种精巧的设计时常借由静物来实现，偶尔出现人物，人物身份大抵也是模糊的、非指向性的，亦或者干脆是西方面孔。

然而，说不定从2020年的这个春天开始，这一切即将发生变化了。一个超现实主义风格的艺术家，一旦开始认真思考眼前的现实问题，会发生什么呢？

展览将持续至2020年6月14日。这是艺术家郭警的第二个个展，上个个展《泥牛入海》举办于2018年。

Guo Jing 郭警

Life Buoy 救生圈, 2020

Oil on canvas 布面油画

80 × 100 cm

Silent Spring by Guo Jing opens in Beijing on May 16, 2020 to commemorate the special spring of 2020. Due to the new coronavirus, global development has stagnated, the regular order has broken down, and humanity has fallen into crisis and pain. This spring seems particularly late and quiet.

The title of the exhibition comes from there flection of artists on artistic energy during the epidemic period. Guo Jing feels the power lessness of art, and tries to break through such constraints. In an interview with Xiang Wai, Guo Jing said "artistic expression does not directly affect reality. The link between art and reality can only be presented in a subtle way. It is not a heavy punch, but a kind of commemoration, remembrance, an alert. It’s meaning will not be found now but in the future.

In recent years, black humor and absurd irony are the distinctive symbols of Guo Jing's art. However, Guo Jing's works keep a certain distance from realistic themes. Through a certain plot or construction, he shows an aberration in the logic, creating amusement. This delicate design is often achieved through still life. Occasionally there are characters whose identities are vague, directionless, and sometimes Western faces.

However, from this spring things will change. What will happen to a surrealist artist once he starts to seriously think about reality? Silent Spring will run until Sunday June 14, 2020.

Guo Jing 郭警

Red Balloon No. 2 红气球之二, 2019

Oil on canvas 布面油画

40 × 50 cm

艺术家自述

 Artist Statement

写在前面的话
      
本来的二月份个展计划，因为疫情推迟到了五月份。以下的“黑处有什么”是疫情前写的。现在看有一种“故作深沉”之感。就如之前暂定的展览名字——勾股。想了想，我决定留下这些文字只字不改，而这部分其实应该是“写在后面的话”。这两段文字就像两个时代，有点荒诞。这中间跨越了时间和灾难。

写这两段文字时的心境截然不同，此时，我几乎没什么意愿去阐述创作理念。那就妄谈一下我对艺术的理解吧。

在疫情最激烈的那段时间，仿佛谈论艺术，谈论疫情之外的任何事都带着一种罪。一切意义和作用都被怀疑（这也是我作品讨论的一贯主题）。即使现在，办一个展览也显得不合时宜，往年此时可是艺术圈最火热的时候，现在偶尔出现的零星几个展讯，就像大合唱散场后依然杵在台上抹着红脸蛋的孩子。艺术重要吗？除了对艺术家，艺术不那么重要，不仅不重要，杜尚之后艺术连高贵都不高贵了。艺术解决不了问题，治不了大病，顶多算是安慰剂。但安慰剂也是药，人需要安慰剂。而且有时候不止能安慰，还能提神。

过去的几个月，人们的悲伤，爱，愤怒，愚蠢，分歧，残暴交替上演。在我相对平静的三十多年，第一次以第一人称真切感受到历史和时代的重量。显然，我们将身处一个更激烈的世界。对于创作，也许会有新的东西自然生长出来。对于展览，我想做那个红脸蛋的独唱团孩子，以纪念2020年的春天。

黑处有什么

好像只有这个时候，我才会格外认真地回看自己的创作，去找出一些线索，梳理出创作脉络。

这个过程像重走一遍过往的路，路上蒙了厚厚的灰土，需要我耐心的清理擦拭直至见到路基的本色光亮，才慢慢看清自己经过的一路；也才能在这其中更进一步的了解自己，例如求变、例如对新东西的渴求，这些在思考落笔之前，是不怎么自知的，我想这是个展对于我的意义。我不是一个有着明确创作方向的人，但之于画面我知道什么是对的，什么是我要的。上一个阶段，我更像一名舞台剧导演，给各种元素换上超现实的外衣，放入某个虚构场景中，他们遵循我制定的秩序，整齐而重复。而这次展览的二十多张作品，主观构建外在秩序的意愿减弱了，更像是对某种内在规则的挑战，我试图去消解，比如门、泡泡糖、气球、快餐、海、合唱团等这些被大众熟知事物的日常属性，赋予他们新的意义。这个转变在我看来是更现实主义也更有趣的，有一些达达艺术的影子，但离我自己更近。

再进一步讨论，其实这中间是对于“意义”的消解，一方面我通过带有符号化、信号化的物象来抓住观者的眼睛、突出画面的焦点，另一方面在场景或者关系的呈现中我又把这个最形象化的物拿掉或者弱化，以此制造“反问”。讨论意义本身是否有意义。拿《名作》举例，一个正式隆重的拍卖场景，端画的俩个人物被描绘的越细致，越能突显手中艺术品的昂贵价值，当所有人都聚焦后，我把艺术品本身拿掉，替换成了一块纯黑。绘画上越写实可信，被消解的力度越大，观感冲突性也更强。

黑处有什么？

黑处其实什么都没有。

郭警

Guo Jing 郭警

Him 他, 2019

Oil on canvas 布面油画

150 × 200 cm

Foreword

My exhibition has been postponed from February to May due to COVID-19. Before the outbreak of pandemic, I wrote a statement about the exhibition called “What is in the DarkSpace?”. The words seem to be wilfully deliberate when I review them now, after this worldwide catastrophe (not to mention a previous title – Pythagorean). The foreword and the statement seem to contradict  each other, yet both represent myself from pre and post epidemic periods respectively.

My state of mind has shifted drastically. Rather than directly delivering a creative explanation of my art today, I would firstly offer a brief understanding of ART…..

It seems to be sinful to talk about arts or anything other than the pandemic in the heat of epidemic. Every subject and every object are denied, not questioned and not challenged. Even for now, orchestrating an art exhibition is still considered as inappropriate. Compared to previous years when Spring should be bustling and chaotic for artists, there are few promotional notices for exhibitions. This lone stance makes me feel like the little performers with red cheeks who wait for the very last curtain call of the cantata.

Is Art essential? Maybe only for the artists. Art is not an elixir curing physical illness, but it provides relief for pain, as we may need it now.

The epidemic and the changes it brought, is triggering a series of emotional responses in people — sorrow, love, indignation, silliness, annoyance and inhumanity all coexist, disrupting the world order. In the first three decades of my life, I have never been a witness to a major event of history. We are about to live in a world with more chaos and confusion. Should there be any spontaneity in my future creation? Or would I be that little performer with the red cheeks—standing stubbornly on stage, because of the silence of Spring in 2020.  

What is in the Dark Space?

Only by writing, do I carefully reflect on my work, searching for clues and to organise the train of thoughts during the creative process. It is like walking down a deserted lane from the past, covered with dust and dirt. Only with patience do I see clearly through the shade and cover to see that light ahead, appreciating the journey that I have weathered.

This is also a process of self-discovery. Without putting down these notions into words, my inner desire for change and for novelty would otherwise lie unnoticed and unenlightened. This is the essence of this exhibition for me personally. I am not someone who creates with a clear direction in mind, but who only knows what is right at the time, knowing what I want.

In my previous phase, my artistic role was more analogous to a stage director, dressing the elements with fashions of surrealism and placing them in my constructed scene. They play out according the rules I stipulate, repetitive and orchestrated.

However, in this exhibition, there is less of my eagerness to stipulate an intrinsic order, but rather more of a challenge to internal order. I attempt to dissolve and deconstruct the mundane attributes of commonly known objects - like doors, bubble gum, balloons, fast-food, oceansand choirs, assigning new meanings to their existence. To me, such transformation is more surrealistic and more interesting, adding a tinge of Dadaism with a personal touch!

Further, beneath this transformation lies the deconstruction of so-called "meaning". On one hand, I use symbols and signal-like imagery to capture the viewers' eyes; on the other hand, inpresenting a scene or a relationship, I would diminish or remove the subject of this imagery, in order to pose a "rhetorical question", and to explore whether the discussion itself carries meaning.

As an example, in the grand auction of The Masterpiece, the two figures who carry the artwork are illustrated in greater detail, bringing more credibility and prestige to the value of the artwork in their hands. Yet, when everyone focuses their eyes on the artwork, it is displaced by a block of sheer blackness. In this process, greater realism and sincerity confirm the extent of deconstruction, which in turn creates more conflict in viewers' perception.

Therefore, to the question: What is in the Dark Space? The answer is: Only the Void.

【My thanks would go to my beloved friend Chloe (Niu Xinyue), an independent curator of Chinese art at APEC, for providing excellent translation of this statement】

Guo Jing

关于艺术家

About the artist

郭警 (Guo Jing), 1985年出生于山西，2009 毕业于中央美术学院版画系第五工作室，目前生活工作在北京。 

个人展览：

2020，独唱团，红门画廊，北京

2018，泥牛入海，Artand Space, 北京

主要群展：

2018，亮相，Artand Space, 北京

2017，薛定谔的猫腻，Artand Space, 北京

            野蛮生长，Artand Space, 北京

            追光，Artand Space，北京

Guo Jing was born in Shanxi in 1985, Graduated from Central Academy of Fine Arts, Printmaking Department (5th Studio) in 2009 and currently lives and works in Beijing.

Solo Exhibitions:

2020, Silent Spring, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing. 

2018, Fallen on Barren, Artand Space, Beijing. 

Major Group Exhibitions: 

2018, Appearance, Artand Space, Beijing

2017, SCHROEDING'S TRICKY, Artand Space, Beijing

          Wild Growth, Artand Space, Beijing

           Follow the Time, Artand Space, Beijing

图片来源为红门画廊

版权归红门画廊和艺术家所有      

Images courtesy Red Gate Gallery

Copyright Red Gate Gallery and the artist

Red Gate Gallery @ 798 

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