[绘画艺术中的理性与情感] | 石磊 - 绘画的巴洛克本质

Original Dudu Du Laboratory 2022-10-20

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‍『绘画艺术中的理性与情感』是Du/laboratory以主题性策划发布的一个推送。此次我们邀请当代艺术家石磊分享他的艺术实践。Du/laboratory后续会发布不同主题性推荐。

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石磊工作室

意大利策展人 /

莫妮卡·德玛黛 Monica Dematté

我喜欢真正的画家，石磊便是一位。在他们眼里，画笔和画布并非仅仅是用来诠释概念、讲述故事的一种手段，他们是真正喜欢一笔接一笔的描绘所带来的视觉效果。他们时而用浓墨重彩，时而用轻描淡写。他们能用抹刀在画布上抹出色彩斑驳的色块，创造出丰富的质感。他们敢于挑战传统，将浓厚、强烈甚至是刺眼的色彩并置。他们还善于用细腻的色彩创造出不落俗套又赏心悦目的协调的色调。简言之，他们是美院科班出身的艺术家中的极少数异类。在他们看来，绘画表现的是一个充满了无限可能的独特世界，只要善于捕捉和利用这些可能性之间的细微差异，就能创造出无数视觉上和精神上的体验。

中国的传统观念认为，“文人”首先应当具备高尚的道德情操，他们自己的生活就像一件艺术品。能否做到这一点决定了他的艺术修养。不管书法、绘画，还是诗歌、音乐，皆是如此。换句话说，一个人的“深度”是第一位的，其他的一切皆取决于此。

鸣叫的容器之一 80cm x100cm 布面油画 2021

我不认同时下“职业艺术家”一类的说法。因为我认为艺术如果成为职业，那就必定会失去其最根本、最独特的特征：灵感以及表达和交流的需要。诚然，绘画是需要“手艺”或技能的，但我坚信这绝非绘画的全部真谛。不可否认，一个人需要掌握了某种手法才能最有效地表达自己的感受，但是“感受”的能力才是最最根本、最最必不可少的。

中国人历来对宫廷画家和文人有严格的区分。前者大都接受委托进行命题创作，这与西方的传统比较相似（如米开朗基罗和卡拉瓦乔）。并且和西方的情况一样，只有那些最具艺术天赋的少数几位才能创造出透出灵感和个性的佳作。人们一直在争论一个古老的话题，即灵感能否局限于某些特定的主题、条件或范围。有些人可以在既定的范围内大展才华，而有些人则需要自由的创作。我认为二者各有利弊。

控制者-2布面油画100x100cm2016

在中国，“现代”意义上的艺术学校只有一百年的历史，并且参照的是西方模式。最早的一批院校包括刘海粟于1912年在上海创办的美术学校，该校首次将裸体模特引进了课堂。1949年新中国成立以后，艺术成了宣传阵地，成了教化的工具。因此，在那段时间里，说教便成了艺术最主要的目的。换句话说，虽然我不喜欢将“内容”和“形式”区分开来，但在那个时候，“内容”比“形式”更重要。绘画、雕塑和版画都必须以简单易懂、大众容易接受的方式来传递信息。如今，即便是在中国，人们也早已不再倚重绘画来传播社会主义思想了。但是艺术教育和其它教育一样，充满了实用和职业化的色彩。艺术教育就是为了获得一种技能、职业或手艺。有的艺术家搞现实主义（这类人为数还不少），有的搞印象主义，有的像变色龙一样，熟练的游走于不同的“风格”之间，靠满足现代收藏家的口味作画谋生。许多中国的当代艺术家（甚至包括那些刚刚扬名海内外的艺术家）都有一大显著特征：他们都能将世界上“成功的”潮流与个人的风格融合在一起（最好能具有显著的“中国”特点），从而使自己的作品更加“吃香”。这一过程依靠的首先是提供信息，然后是对信息的理性诠释，最后（但很多时候也不一定）是优秀的技法。其实任何一个从事创意工作的人都具备这些能力，而视觉艺术家也就比其他人多了最后一种能力而已。究竟能有几个人“有话想说”并且能通过绘画或是雕刻这种非描述性、非说教性、非系统性、非分析性的语言来表达自己的想法呢？我十分质疑大部分的概念艺术（conceptual art）。因为从它本身的概念我们就能看出来，它的构思、创作、展览等全过程基本上只依赖人的智力和理性。如此一来，感性何在？作品怎能激起人们的情感？艺术品和普通的智力成果之间本该存在的难以言喻的区别又在哪里呢？

纵观大多数的概念艺术作品（不管是东方的还是西方的），大部分人都会说“有意思”或者“另类”（intriguing，我认为这是个贬义词），并且很快将它们忘掉。一旦一个人领会了作品所要传达的信息，他便不再驻足观赏。而有一类作品则不会，这类作品来源于内心的需要，处处都能透射出作者急于要表达一些什么。这类作品是艺术家用艺术感性和高超的技法精心创造出来的，表达的是内心虚构的个人世界，而不是“真实的”世界。

飞系列 011

回到石磊的作品

通常来说，我要写一位艺术家，不会去写艺术史或者描述一些艺术理论或者与这位艺术家不相干的事情。所以我希望读者不要介意我在写石磊的时候还表达了一些自己的艺术观。因为这些文字都与他有关，并且前面这个长篇的论述就是为他而作的。

我在其它文章里也说过，我很佩服石磊独立大胆的创作手法。多年以来，他的创作态度始终如一：据我所知，他完全不在意身边潮流的更迭，他一直是一位激情四溢，有一种创作本能的画家，他的每一个系列的作品都渗透着他的理念和他自己的影子。

本文的题目《绘画的巴罗克本质》旨在综合他的艺术观和本色性格当中两种基本相反的倾向：一方面，他渴望回归最基本的生活，回归人类最最元初、原始、固有的要素（生、死、爱）；另一方面，他的作品复杂、奔放、富于戏剧性。也就是说，石磊沉醉于当代现实，沉醉于这种极其复杂而又系统的语言之中，但他又表达生命中更为深刻、强大和根本的一面，追求生命的朴素本质。他曾说过：“每当我看到婴儿出世，我便感到心潮澎湃，被他的气味深深的吸引，这是生命的气息，是生命最直接的表达。” 因此，新生儿便成了他多年以来的绘画主题。我在这里不准备探讨他在2000年以前创作的作品，因为我在《意念图像》这本画册中已经探讨过了。但是，我想有一幅1999年创作的名为《传承》的作品还是有必要拿出来研究，因为我认为它涉及了许多最重要的问题。在这幅作品中，一对裸体男女各用一本书遮盖了自己的生殖器，他们的身体被一根脐带与一个悬空的新生儿连在了一起。画中的人体和背景均为烧赭石色。婴儿的头和两个成人的手臂被一个房子状的白色轮廓罩着。这说明男女之间的天然纽带一方面造就了一个新的生命，另一方面又受制于书和房子所代表的文化特征。这幅作品中的书在其它的作品中也出现过，通常是一本大书和一本小书，表明男人和女人的“戒律”是有差异的。作品中透露出来的信息是“劝戒性的”而非“聚结性”的。换句话说，它们是在拆分而非联结，正如一个系列作品的标题“劝戒的文本”所表达的一样。这个系列中的作品描绘了特定文化背景下的男女关系，一对男女处在一个封闭的房子里，但房子没有屋顶，无法保护他们。

有你-红带 160X80cm 2017

房屋结构也频频出现在石磊近期的作品中。有时房子小得容不下人，比如在2006年创作的《外部世界》中，房子只能罩住新生儿的躯干。在2004年的作品《栖身何处之一》中，房子显得轻飘飘的，一个长着猪头的男人揪着它的四个脚，生怕它被风吹走了。在同年创作的《栖身何处之二》中，房子是稳稳当当地立在地面上的，显示出了一种不同的稳定性，然而画中长着蝙蝠翅膀的女人却不再呆在房子里，而是看也没看一眼，就自信地从上方飞走了。

我发现，最近几年石磊不再以爱的艰辛为主题进行创作，这可能是随着年龄的增长而出现的必然结果。然而，新的生命仍然是他创作的重要主题。2000年他创作了一幅非常美丽的作品《父亲的怀抱》，创作手法极其朴素、直接，没有其它作品中那些有时候过多的象征手法。这是少有的几幅接近摄影的作品之一，创作的灵感可能来自作者的自拍，因为此前他曾用一只手举着照相机拍了一张自己的躯干、腹股沟和另一只手里抱着的新生儿的照片。作品似乎意在表明，父子情不是理性过程的产物，而是一种血肉相连、肌肤相亲、息息相通的关系，是身体的接触，也是本能。这幅作品中，父子俩的身体都不是通常石磊笔下标准理想的体形（通常他创作的男人身材匀称，拥有结实的手臂和腿部，上身呈标准的倒三角形；婴儿则是圆头圆脑、胖嘟嘟的，个个都有健康的体格）。但是他们看起来更真实，作品中的男人略显粗壮，作品中的婴儿也像刚出生几天的婴儿一样身体比例“不协调”：椭圆状的大头、细细的四肢、蜷缩的姿势。

石磊于2005年创作了名为“投胎”的系列作品，其创作灵感来源于中国的十二生肖。作品对人体做了一些改造。十二名女性被赋予了动物的头颅，她们的双腿粗短、体格健壮、乳房坚挺，她们手中的孩子很像意大利宗教艺术中小天使：他们最大的特点就是都看起来胖嘟嘟的。艺术家可能是将这十二幅画当成一个作品创作的，因为它们的构图都是一样的。虽然在背景颜色和人体色调方面有差异，但每幅画中人体的姿势都是一样的：母亲抱着孩子。石磊的绘画技巧高超，而创作这样的作品对于技巧的要求是比较简单的，因此他会时不时淡化一下颜色，用其它的技巧来增强绘画的效果。在我看来，象征文化传统的十二生肖是用来区分不同的年份出生的人的，这是中国人的思维方式，虎年生的人跟牛年或蛇年生的人肯定有不同。然而，不管在哪里，每个母亲对待她的新生儿都是一样的。

解说辞

人性的延伸

石磊通常会去思考国际政治中的问题，以及那些主导国际政治形势的一些极端而又无法解决的问题。他的某些作品正是描绘人性中更加“心系社会”的特征的。

他曾以复杂的中日关系为主题创作过一个系列作品，其中有一幅作品表现的是两个女性面对面的站着，手中都抱着自己的婴儿，就好像是自己的手臂或战利品一样。这个系列中的所有四幅作品看起来都像是两个敌人站在一个房子里对峙，房子就像一个隧道一样狭长压抑。这就是名为《北京-东京》的系列作品。画面中舞台化的构图形成了一种扭曲的几何透视效果，而画面背景则是一些代表中日文化的图案：代表日本的是酷似浮世绘的海浪和富士山，代表中国的则是长城和天坛。这很容易让人联想到中日战争以及当时全民皆兵的情形（有人还会想到当时的“慰安妇”）。石磊讲过一个关于他日本之行的故事。当时他受邀去日本参加一个展览，但他很不情愿，因此他申请了一个非常短期的签证，可是最后在日本期间又不得不延长。石磊自己也承认日本的社会秩序和日本人民的文明程度都是很好的。让他感到不安的是深藏心底的一种抵触，或者说是一种几乎油然而生的敌意。因此，他的绘画告诉我们文化环境会影响我们每个人，让我们无法总是理性的思考，正如戈雅（Goya）所言，我们有可能会变成魔鬼。

艺术家在他最近创作的一个系列作品“花非花”中也表达了类似的看法，这批作品是2006年他在北京的时候创作的。作品的创作灵感来源于与他同住在一个居民区的一大批伊斯兰人，这些人身着典型的伊斯兰长袍，一眼就能认出来。当时石磊非常担心巴勒斯坦、阿富汗、伊拉克和巴基斯坦的局势，尤其是自杀式袭击，遂以此为主题创作了十余幅作品。这些作品并不是在评价或是谴责当时的局势，而是表达了艺术家的疑惑：他无法理解那些极端和暴力的做法，他也无法接受被视为生命化身的女性竟然也会铤而走险地去进行自杀袭击，伤害自己和其他人。

仪式 160x200 2017

石磊画笔下的这些人物个个身着长袍、头披黑色斗篷、摆着几乎一成不变的造型（裙子被张开双腿绷成了三角形），可能他想模仿伊斯兰艺术中的重复装饰图案，在五彩斑斓或纯色的背景上创作一些人物。有的作品描绘的是一排排的伊斯兰妇女手牵着手，有时她们的头上会冒出白烟，形成一团看似阿拉伯文字的浓雾。这些妇女（但是其中也有一些酷似本拉登的男人）手里拿着武器或罂粟。她们都瞪大了眼睛，瞳孔缩成了一小团，目光呆滞，看起来要么吸过毒，要么疯了。石磊肯定认为生死离别前的一刻应该就是这样——一种病态的情形，没有任何理性的思考。罂粟所象征的毒品以及武器和妇女呆滞的双眼都预示着死亡即将来临，这一切都与她们的女性特质形成了鲜明的对比，而这种对比正是石磊要强调的。他说：“如果一种学说或宗教不能使人们尊重生命、热爱生活，那它必定不是好的理论。”他还请我在去巴基斯坦的时候搜集一下别人对他作品的看法。我完全赞同他的观点，因为我很尊重各个宗教的经典书籍，但是人们对宗教经典在不同的地方、历史时期和政治环境里必定有不同的诠释，这些主观的、带有偏见的诠释与经典本身是有差异的。

石磊像卢梭一样，呼唤“高贵的野蛮人”，呼唤没有信仰、未被冲突和分歧玷污过的“原始人”，这类人能够在任何环境里保持本色，为支撑这个世界的“原力”服务。

大花看报 130x120cm 1999

脐带

让我们再次回到生命的“本质”这个话题。2006年年末，石磊创作了一系列全新的作品，着力刻画出生以及母亲与新生儿的关系。或许是为了凸显出生是一件大事，作品的颜色十分鲜亮，以红色为主。艺术家在画布上创造了一种水滴的效果以便表现新生儿出世时浑身血淋淋的感觉。其中最粗犷的一幅作品描绘了一个看起来刚生完孩子的女人，她跪在一块大木板上，木板上满是丰收的图案（大把大把的小麦和玉米穗等等）。石磊没能亲自见证自己的独子出生的过程，但是他看过一些关于分娩的纪录片，所以对这个主题还算了解。他的有些作品就描绘了分娩的过程，而另一些则是刻画了一些近乎神圣的形象，这些形象被新生儿透射出来的能量所折服，陷入了沉思。另一方面，他们又为血红的色调所包围，暗示出分娩的过程也是同样痛苦的。

传达意念的身体-躯干 140X186cm 1996

石磊有时担心自己刚刚创作的作品与上一系列的作品风格不同，因为不少评论家批评他缺乏连贯的风格。但我却不完全苟同：艺术家是在尽可能用最有效的方式来表达自己的心境。不管是浓烈对比的色彩，水滴半透明的效果，还是厚厚的团块或悬浮静止的气氛，艺术家首先考虑的是自己表达的需要；他希望能充分利用绘画这个媒介所有可能的技巧来表达自己，他是个真正的画家。此外，他的作品所涉及的主题一直都是人性和文化之间的关系、依赖和矛盾，而如今人性和文化这两者已经变得完全不可分割了。

一个很好的例子便是他最近创作的两幅截然不同的作品。作品《飞呀飞》刻画的是一个长着翅膀的身体，身体隐约透着女性的特点，这个人长着一个酷似鸟喙的大鼻子和粗短的爪子。翅膀不是羽毛的而是毛发状的绳子拧成的，这个奇怪的形象看起来十分笨重。这幅作品与前面提到的蝙蝠女那幅完全不同。在这幅作品中，动物性（希腊人眼中“会呼吸的身体”）替代了人性：作品中的形象就像一个史前女性，粗短而朴素，一对笨重的翅膀还没褪掉。

最近石磊在香港展出的大幅作品《夜珠江系列》，则展示了进化了的文明人的“兽性”，这些文明人知道什么是残忍，并且故意残忍地对待动物（狗、鸡、兔、鸭、蛇等等），将它们做成美味佳肴。这幅画是石磊最精彩的作品之一，它描绘了一个类似于佛教、道教和中世纪基督教中地狱的场景。作品中三位厨师将动物割喉、砍死、放血，犹如冶炼厂里的技巧娴熟的炼金术士，一切无不让观者胆战心惊。画面中，远处的黑暗中鬼魂一样的身影在徘徊着，而在一个角落两个赤身裸体的人跳入了污水之中。

论情爱 180cm x 160cm 布面油画 1995

石磊似乎在告诉我们，现代人的口味太刁，似乎要吃掉其它形式的生命才能满足口腹之欲。然而他也是一个喜欢享受用餐乐趣的人，可以说是个不折不扣的美食家，并且我们都知道，广东菜不是素食。

我们如何能回归原来天真的一面？如何在当今的社会中坚守尊重生命、爱护生命的原则？如何能够保持石磊推崇的原始本能？这是伴随我们一生的矛盾，就像从我们出生的那一刻也就是最最纯洁的那一刻起，文化的复杂性就一直伴随着我们一样。

这就是石磊做人作画的特点：他的作品中既有新的形象，也有反复出现的符号，色彩永不嫌多，有复杂的结构、优美的身体，也有混合体。不管怎样，他一直在思考最最朴素、最最基本的各种问题。

石磊既是一个充满理性当代人，又不想完全抛弃内心的原始情感，当他将这些情感从理性冰存的瓶罩中全部释放出来，其艺术表达的方式也具有了某种扑朔迷离的不确定性，这使得观众仿佛对现实世界有了一种再追加的经验，从而坠入一片似真似幻的气氛里。

2007年5月16日写于Vigolo Vattaro

英/中文翻译：黄一
感谢: 罗永进

虚构的角色-王与后（现场）

Shi Lei: The Baroque Essence of Painting

I like painters who really are painters, and Shi Lei is one of them. I am alluding to those who do not consider a brush and canvas to be the mere means of illustrating concepts, so as to tell stories that could be just as aptly expressed through other means, but to those who enjoy the visual effect that brushstrokes placed alongside each other obtain. Those who feel the inexplicable need to alternate lumpy, densely colored areas with other, almost transparently veiled ones, who, by means of a the spatula, create variegated scrapings on the canvas, enriching it even further. Those who juxtapose strong, loud, sometimes aggressive, colors with great disdain for academic rules regarding the use of color, or who create harmonies made of delicate hues, which are nonetheless not commonplace and gratify the eye. In short, those - and they are few among those holding fine arts degrees the world over – who feel that painting constitutes a world of its own, a world with countless expressive possibilities whose nuances are the vehicle for numberless visual and emotional sensations for those who know how to capture and use them.

In the best Chinese tradition, a man of letters had to be, above all, a man of elevated morals who had made life itself into a work of art. The degree to which he achieved this guaranteed the quality of the art he created, were it a painting, calligraphy, poetry, or music. In other words, a person’s depth was what came first and all the rest was but a consequence of this.

I find such contemporary expressions as ‘professional artist’ to be chilling. I do not think that art can become a profession without losing its most profound and unique characteristic: inspiration; a need to express and communicate something. Painting certainly entails ‘craftsmanship’, or technique, but I am convinced that it cannot solely be limited to this. A mastery of one’s means is necessary in order to best express what one feels, but the capacity to ‘feel’ is fundamental and indispensable.

For centuries in China a distinction was made between court painters (宫廷画家) and the aforementioned men of letters (文人). The former mostly worked upon commission, just as in the Western tradition (like a Michelangelo or Caravaggio), and just as occurs in the West, only the few most artistically gifted among them were able to produce markedly inspired and personalized works. The debate about whether inspiration can be constrained within certain predetermined themes, conditions, or measures is age-old: there are those who best express themselves within clearly delineated limits and those who need to proceed freely. I believe both situations have their pros and cons.

In China fine arts schools of the ‘modern’ type (艺术学校) have existed for about a hundred years and were developed according to Western standards. The example of Liu Haisu in 1912 Shanghai, where nude models were used, is one of the first. Following the Liberation in 1949, art became a vehicle for spreading party propaganda and a means of supporting official institutions. Thus didactic and pedagogic aims prevailed above all others. In other words, as much as I dislike to make a distinction between the two, ‘content’ became predominant with respect to ‘form’: paintings, sculptures, and etchings had to serve as the means to communicate messages in a way that was simple and understandable and that the masses could widely agree with. Nowadays disseminating socialist ideals through painting is no longer a priority, even in China, but a person’s education in the arts is treated in the same way as that in other, far more practical, professions. That is as the means to acquire a technique, a professionalism, a craft. There are those who specialize in realism (and they are many) or Impressionism, and those who earn their daily bread through a chameleon-like ability to expertly execute paintings ‘in the style of’, so as to satisfy any modern patron. A salient feature of many contemporary Chinese artists, even of those who have recently achieved both domestic and international fame, is the capacity to absorb ‘successful’ trends in the art produced worldwide and to make their own personal mark upon it, (all the better if it is recognizably ‘Chinese’ as such) modifying it so as to render their work more sought after. It is a process that is primarily based on offering information followed by its rational interpretation and, lastly (but in many cases it is not even necessary), on technical prowess. These are, essentially, abilities common to any intelligent person who engages in creative work at a competent level, and not exclusively (save for the last ability) pertaining to the visual artist as I understand him. Who should, above all, have ‘something to say’ and be able to say it through the non-descriptive, non-didactic, non-systematic, non-analytical, language of painting (or sculpture). I dare here to express my profound skepticism as far as concerns much conceptual art. I think that, as the term’s definition itself states, it is an activity that almost exclusively relies upon – in its conception, production, and exhibition phases alike - the intellect, a person’s reason. Where does sensibility come into play? Where are the emotions it should elicit and all of those unnamable virtues that distinguish a work of art from simply the product of a lively intelligence?

When viewing most conceptual works (in the East and West alike), most of us say they are ‘amusing’, perhaps ‘intriguing’ (a term that I find has more negative than positive connotations), and as such they are quickly dismissed. Their enjoyment lasts merely the time the intellect requires to understand their message – after which one may move on to something else. This is entirely different with respect to a work that arises from an inner need and is pervaded by an expressive urgency – a work that is finely hewn by an artistic sensibility that needs to oppose an alternate, imaginary, personal world to the ‘real’ one – a work enhanced by a refined technical skill.

And Shi Lei?

It is not my habit, when I write about an artist, to delve into the past and dwell on general theories or historic digressions, I thus hope（读者） will not be upset with me for having taken advantage of the space dedicated to him in order to express some of my views on art. Yet these are issues that regard him and it is he that my long introduction is addressed to.

I have already stated elsewhere that I admire Shi Lei’s independent and courageous approach, which I have noted has remained unchanged through the years: I have seen him pay very little attention to the succession of trends (if not, perhaps, during the so-called ‘political pop’ period) that have unfolded around him and to remain faithful to his calling as a passionate, almost visceral, painter who calls himself and his beliefs into play with each new series of works.

The title of this essay, The Baroque Essence of Painting, is really intended to synthesize two almost opposing tendencies that I find in his vision of art and in his way of being itself: on one hand, the yearning to return to the essence (最基本) of life, to that which is most archetypal, primitive, and innate in human beings (birth, death, love), on the other, the complex, exuberant, and theatrical nature of his paintings. In other words, Shi Lei is a man who is fully immersed in contemporary reality, with its extremely sophisticated, codified languages, yet he is permeated by a great longing for the deeper, more powerful and fundamental aspects of life in its simplicity, whose distinguishing feature is, above all, death. “When I see a newborn baby I feel an inner churning of emotions, and am deeply attracted by his smell, which is the smell of life itself in its most immediate and sincere expression”, says the artist. Accordingly, newborns have for many years been a subject that has variously appeared in his paintings. I do not here intend to discuss the works preceding 2000, which have appeared and been discussed in the Conceptual Imagination (意念图象) catalogue, yet there is one painting that dates back to 1999, Heredity (传承), which I think elicits many of the most important questions. A naked man and woman are depicted covering each of their genitals with a book; an umbilical cord ties each of their bodies to a newborn lying suspended above them. The figures and background are all rendered in a burnt sienna hue. The white outline of a house is superimposed on the child’s head and the arms of the two adults. Thus, the natural ties between a man and a woman that produce the birth of a new life, are conditioned by strictly cultural issues that are symbolized by the books and the house. Books held by male and female figures also appear in other paintings and, in these as well, the books differ in size, one small and one large, probably so as to underscore the different ‘precepts’ that shape a man and a woman. These are ‘dissuasive’ rather than agglutinating readings; they divide rather than join, as suggested by the title, Dissuasive Text (劝戒的文本), used for a number of paintings that focus on the male-female relationship within a markedly culture-bound setting, which is symbolized by the frame of a house that encloses and limits a couple, yet roofless as it is, does not seem to offer protection.

The frame of a house also appears in more recent works, and sometimes it is no longer something that encloses but, as in External World (2006, 外部世界), barely covers a newborn’s torso. In a 2004 painting, Where to Seek Shelter? No. 1 (栖身何处之一) the frame is apparently light and airy and is held aloft by its four extremities by a man with a porcine head lying on the ground, as if to make sure the first gust of wind not blow it away. Or in yet another version, Where to Seek Shelter? No. 2 (栖身何处之二, 2004), the house has remained on the ground and has acquired a new solidity, yet the female figure, equipped with bat’s wings, is no longer confined within it, but confidently flies over it without even casting a wistful glance down at it as she heads towards new horizons.

I find that in the last few years the theme of love’s difficulties has ceased to be of fundamental concern to Shi Lei – I imagine as the result of a natural evolution brought about by age. Instead, the birth of a new life is still a theme of primary importance. A very beautiful painting dating back to 2000, Paternal Womb (父亲的怀抱), treats the theme with extreme simplicity and immediacy, without the sometimes excessive symbolism that burdens other works. It is one of the few works that bears a connection to photography, and is perhaps inspired by a self-photograph made by holding his free arm up and focusing the camera on his torso, groin (the artist’s head does not appear) and tiny newborn. As if to say that the relationship between father and son is all blood, flesh, skin, smell, physical contact, and instinct rather than the fruit of a rational process. Here the bodies of father and child are not standardized or idealized in Shi Lei’s usual style (well-shaped, muscular arms and legs and a slim waist for the men; round head and chubby, stylized bodies that already have a strong build for the babies), but are more real and individualized: the man is slightly thickset, while the newborn still has the “disproportioned” body common to all days-old infants: large, oblong head, thin limbs, and fetal position.

The series of twelve paintings inspired by the animals of the Chinese zodiac, entitled Reincarnation ((投胎, 2005), instead returns to a less characterized treatment of the human form. The twelve nude female figures with animal heads have short, strong legs, a robust build and firm, high breasts, while the children resemble the cherubs depicted in Italian religious art: they are, above all, chubby. These twelve canvases were probably conceived as a single work since they bear the same composition and, although the background colors and flesh tones change, the positions are identical: a maternal embrace. Essentially they are simple works with respect to Shi Lei’s painterly techniques, and this may be why the artist has diluted the color here and there, letting it bleed and resorting to other measures that enrich the painterly effects. I imagine that the twelve animals allude to cultural and traditional aspects and serve to differentiate people with different origins: in China that is how people reason, by calendar years, and tigers differ from buffaloes and snakes. Yet, despite all of this, everywhere, when a woman is a mother, she behaves in the same manner towards her newborn.

An Extended Humanity

Shi Lei often considers the problems of international politics and the many extreme, apparently unsolvable, situations that determine it. Some works are devoted to these more ‘socially conscious’ aspects of humanity.

Two women oppose each other, holding each of their newborns almost as if they were arms or trophies in one of the four canvases devoted to the complex relations between China and Japan. All four works are constructed as if the two opponents faced each other within the usual frame of a house, which here rather resembles a tunnel, given the length and oppressiveness of the space depicted. The series is entitled Beijing-Tokyo. In the background and appearing outside the fake scaffold that creates a geometrically skewed perspective, lie a few visual motifs belonging to each of the two cultures: an ocean wave reminiscent of Ukiyo-e and Mount Fuji allude to Japan, while the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven allude to China. Two episodes recall the Sino-Japanese War, which was fought by soldiers and civilians alike (one may recall that women were used to ‘comfort’ the men). Shi Lei has recounted his trip to Japan where he was invited during an exhibition. He went rather reluctantly, so much so that he requested an extremely short-term visa which he was forced to extend during his stay. Shi Lei admits that he found nothing to criticize about Japanese society or its people, considered individually. What made him feel ill-at-ease is a sort of prejudice or generalized, almost visceral feeling. Accordingly, the artist’s paintings reflect the idea that cultural conditioning influences us as individuals, making us incapable of following the light of reason and hence running the risk, as Goya reminds us, of becoming monsters ourselves.

The artist expresses a similar view in his recent series, Flowers that are not Flowers (花非花, 2006), painted during a visit to Peking with his son. Inspired by the large number of guests from Islamic countries who resided in the neighborhood he was staying in and who were identifiable by the typical garb they wore, Shi Lei, who was worried by disturbing news reports from Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, and especially upset by kamikaze attacks, painted about ten works regarding this. His is not a judgment or condemnation, but rather a perplexity; an admission that he is unable to understand such radical and violent choices. He was also deeply affected by the fact that even women, who are normally the vessels of life, should instead choose to perpetrate their own and others’ deaths.

Shi Lei depicts them wearing long dresses, their heads covered by a chador, almost always in stylized poses (a skirt becomes a triangle, held taut by a pair of outstretched legs), perhaps in an attempt to mimic the repetitive decorative motifs of Islamic art, upon solid color or floral backgrounds. Some works depict rows of women holding hands and in some cases their heads emit a white smoke that becomes a thick curtain upon which the painter traces signs that recall Arabic calligraphy. The women (but there are also a few men who resemble the legendary Bin Laden) hold weapons or poppies in their hands. Their eyes are wide open, with tiny pupils in the whites of their eyes that stare fixedly from the canvas, as if they were drugged or crazed. Certainly Shi Lei must imagine that this is what the moment before the final parting must be like – a complete rejection of any sort of rational thought, a pathological situation. The drugs symbolized by the poppies, the weapons, and the women’s fixed stares, are the harbingers of death, and are in marked contrast with their femininity and sensuality, which Shi Lei accentuates so as to render the contradiction even more apparent. “A religion that does not sustain life, but antagonizes it, cannot be something positive for the human race,” says the artist, who asked me to collect a series of comments about his works on a recent trip to Pakistan I took. Having made the rightful distinction between the sacred writings and the inevitably subjective and tendentious interpretation that is made thereof in the various places, historical periods, and political circumstances one may find oneself in, I completely agree with his view.

Shi Lei has a Rousseauan nostalgia for the ‘noble savage’, or primordial man, who, as yet untainted by beliefs, conflicts, and diffidence, lived according to his nature in every circumstance, at the service of the vital energy that underlies the world.

Umbilical Cords

Returning once again to the ‘essence’ of life, at the end of 2006 Shi Lei painted a new series of works focusing on birth and the relationship between a mother and her newborn child. Perhaps in order to stress the dramatic nature of an event like birth, the colors on the canvases are vibrant and red predominates. The painterly techniques used often create drippings on the canvas that recall the bloody bodily fluids that cover a newborn. The crudest painting depicts a woman who seems to have just given birth kneeling on a large wooden slab picturing stories with fertility motifs (ears of wheat and corn, etc.). Shi Lei was not able to attend the birth of his only child, but he has viewed a few documentaries on giving birth and he is well informed on the subject. Some canvases depict events as they are unfolding, while others depict almost sacred figures, who appear to be lost in a spiritual meditation as they are possessed by the energy emanating from the new life, while nonetheless nestled in the sanguine hues that allude to the suffering the event equally entails.

Shi Lei sometimes worries about the fact that each series he creates differs from the previous one in terms of style –he has been accused of lacking coherence and continuity. I find this is only partially true: certainly the artist does attempt to express a given state of mind in the most effective way possible. The strong, contrasting colors, the drippings and translucencies, the dense lumps, or the suspended, still atmospheres he creates, are used according to his expressive needs; like a real painter, he wishes to fully exploit the possibilities of the medium he is using. Yet the themes the artist is concerned with remain those of the relation/dependence/contradiction between human nature and cultural aspects, which have now become completely inseparable.

I find that two recent, very different paintings, serve as a good case in point. One (英文题目?飞呀飞) depicts a winged figure with a vaguely feminine body and a long nose resembling a beak and short paws that end in stumps. The wings are made of long hair-like strands rather than feathers and the strange being looks rather awkward and heavy. It is a very different painting from the aforementioned one depicting a bat-like woman. In this case animal nature (in the ancient Greek sense of ‘body that breathes’) has overtaken human nature: the figure looks like a prehistoric woman, stocky and simple, before losing her cumbersome wings.

What emerges in the large painting (英文题目?《夜珠江系列》)that was recently shown as part of a collective exhibition in HongKong, is instead the ‘beastly’ nature of evolved, civilized human beings who know what cruelty is and consciously decide to subject animals (dogs, chickens, rabbits, ducks, snakes, etc.) to ferocious treatment so as to transform them into delectable morsels for the palate. This is one of Shi Lei’s most spectacular paintings – it resembles depictions of hell, both those that are found in the Buddhist and Taoist traditions, as well as the Christian Medieval one. The sight of three cooks as they cut throats, chop, and let the animals’ bodies bleed, like grand-guignolesque alchemists in a fiery forge cannot but send chills down the viewer’s spine. Out in the dark disturbing ghost-like figures wander, while in a corner two human nudes plunge into murky waters.

Shi Lei seems to be suggesting that our tastes have become sophisticated to such an extent as to warrant our satisfying them even at the price of sacrificing all other forms of life. Yet he too is a confirmed gourmet who does not disdain the pleasures of the table – and we all know Cantonese cuisine is by no means vegetarian.

How are we to return to the innocence of our origins? How are we to live, even in the contemporary world, according to the principles of respect and love of life, in keeping with a primordial instinct that Shi Lei is convinced must be good? It is a contradiction we cannot free ourselves from, like the cultural complexities we are immersed in from birth – from precisely the moment of our greatest purity.

That is the way it is for Shi Lei, the man and painter: with his new or recurrent motifs and his chromatic excesses, with his complex structures and Junoesque bodies, or hybrid beings, the artist is really questioning himself about the most simple, basic issues.

As a contemporary person who does not want to completely deny his primordial emotions, he thus draws them out of the padded bell jar of indifference, which risks turning everything into a secondhand experience.

Monica Dematté

Vigolo Vattaro, 14 May 2007

Translated from Italian by Francesca Giusti

石磊简历

1961 出生于山东省德州市
1985 河北师范大学美术系本科毕业
1991 湖北美术学院油画研究生毕业
1991 湖北省美术院任美术师
1995 至今华南师范大学美术学院任教授

展览年历

个展
2007 为生命尊严的祷告—石磊个人艺术展（香港季丰轩）
2011    SOLO—迈阿密国际艺术博览会（美国迈阿密)
2011   隐匿的对话—石磊作品展（广州海伦堡创意园）
2015   基本面—石磊纸上作品展（广州红艺术馆）
2019   折叠时态—石磊作品展（广东美术馆)
2019   飞过 —石磊个展（广州宝珍堂）
2020    时在—石磊个展（深圳罗湖美术馆）

部分联展
1991 第一届中国油画年展（北京中国历史博物馆）
1992 九十年代艺术双年展（广州中央大酒店展览中心）
1992   国际艺术博览会（香港 ART HK ）
1992   第二届中国当代艺术文献资料展（广州美院图书馆）
1993   第二届中国油画年展（北京中国美术馆）
1993 后八九中国新艺术（香港汉雅轩—香港市政厅—澳大利亚—美国）
1994 中国当代油画展（香港大学冯平山博物馆)
1994 新介入—当代艺术展（武汉湖北美术学院）
1995 第三届中国油画年展（北京中国美术馆）
1996 首届中国当代艺术学术邀请展（北京中国美术馆—香港艺术中心）
1996 中国油画学会展（北京中国美术馆）
1997 中国艺术大展－当代油画展（上海上海图书馆刘海粟美术馆）
1997 两岸三地当代艺术展（台湾北庄画廊）
1997 创意汇萃-97香港回归当代艺术展 (香港会展中心新翼)
1998 广东省美术馆（开馆）艺术邀请展（广东美术馆）
1999 开启通道—中国当代艺术展（沈阳东宇美术馆）
1999 第十四届亚洲国际艺术展（日本福冈现代美术馆）
2000 对话—中国当代绘画展（意大利帕多瓦VILLA BREDA 基金会）
2000 社会—上河美术馆当代艺术学术邀请展（成都上河美术馆）
2001 城市俚语—珠江三角洲当代艺术展（深圳何香凝美术馆）
2001 重新洗牌—中国当代实验水墨艺术展（深圳雕塑院）
2002 城市生态—中国当代艺术展（波兰什切青老皇宫文化艺术中心）
2002 第十七届亚洲国际艺术展（韩国大田美术馆）
2002 首届中国艺术三年展（广州艺术博物院）
2003 第三届中国油画展（北京中国美术馆）
2004 环境—当代艺术展（韩国首尔）
2004 首届美术文献提名展（湖北美术学院美术馆）
2005   85致敬—当代艺术展（上海多伦现代美术馆）
2005   广州三年展（广东美术馆）
2005 首届中国当代艺术年鉴展（北京中华世纪坛）
2007   何去何从—中国当代艺术展（香港大会堂）
2007 共振—2007中国当代油画邀请展（深圳美术馆—石家庄当代美术馆）
2007 八五思潮与八九艺术（北京 798奕源庄艺术空间）
2008   广州站—当代艺术特展（广东美术馆）
2008 扮傻游戏：一次从规训社会的虚拟出走（北京798艺术空间”墨”画廊—韩国首尔画廊）
2008 互动—2008中国当代油画邀请展（武汉美术馆）
2009   85以来现象与状态系列展－两湖潮流－当代艺术展1985-2009 （广东美术馆）
2009   都市症候群－都市制造（上海多伦多现代美术馆）
2010   大漆世界—武汉国际漆艺展（湖北美术馆）
2011   中转—三官殿1号当代艺术邀请展（湖北美术馆）
2012   社会风景—金鸡湖当代艺术展（苏州巴塞当代美术馆）
2012－2013   再水墨—2000-2012中国新水墨邀请展
          （武汉湖北美术馆—北京今日美术馆）
2013   潜动力—广州当代艺术的生成线（广州 53美术馆）
2013   再肖像—2013三官殿1号（湖北美术馆）
2014   他者. 距离—两岸当代艺术邀请展（湖北美术馆—台湾高雄市立美术馆）
2014   第三届美术文献展（湖北美术馆 —美术文献艺术中心）
2014   在场.第二届中国油画双年展（北京中国美术馆）
2014   别样—当代艺术邀请展（北京虹墙画廊）
2014 下一站,广州—广州当代艺术展（广州美院美术馆）
2015 共振计划“三城记”—柏林、北京、桂林当代艺术联展（北京当代艺术馆）
2015   低温—广州当代艺术展（上海米奥艺术空间）
2015 重返山林—第三回：灵性之魂（东莞岭南美术馆）
2016 重返山林—第四回：灵痕智性（北京画院美术馆）
2016   适度张扬—广东当代艺术邀请展（厦门国际会展中心）
2017   潜存的欢愉（广州柯木朗艺术园－汇谷艺术间－汇悦台维度空间）
2017－2018 之间—中国新水墨作品展（墨西哥：圣路易·波托西比和平剧院—阿瓜斯卡连特斯市前基督学校画廊—国立世界多元文化馆）
2018   交互的未来—当代艺术展（深圳坪山美术馆）
2018   趁景—当代艺术邀请展（东莞万江一号美术馆）
2019 无问东西—第二季届中国当代艺术展（美国田纳西州立大学托德美术馆）
2019   水墨无疆—第十届深圳国际水墨双年展（深圳 OCAT）
2019   今日中国美术高峰论坛暨意.识.源—当代艺术联展（山西太原）
2019   异动—2019中国当代艺术美国展（美国旧金山卡梅尔Gallery Elite）
2019   珠江边—第四届广州艺术家之夜（广州太古美术馆）
2019 案例之案例—素描展（南京师范大学美术馆）
2020   楚才晋用—湖北当代艺术展（深圳祥山美术馆）
2020   中国当代艺术转型期水墨探索第一回展（上海宝龙美术馆）
2020   臆象—粤港澳大湾区当代水墨艺术谱系2000-2020（广东美术馆）
2021   凝视—湖北美术馆肖像艺术展（湖北美术馆）