Click Ten｜山本捷平个展《替身术》即将开幕
山本捷平
「替身术」
Shohei Yamamoto
Stuntmen
2024.5.23-2024.7.10
Click Ten Gallery
北京市朝阳区798艺术区内706北路东
706 North Road East, 798 Art Zone, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Click Ten Gallery荣幸的推出日本艺术家山本捷平在中国的首次个展《替身术》。展览将集中展示出他最常用的两种绘画策略：重复与模拟。在图像媒介视野下，艺术家对绘画的生成过程展开了深刻的批判与反思。
Click Ten Gallery is honored to present “Stuntmen” the first solo exhibition by the Japanese artist Shohei Yamamoto in China.The exhibition will focus on his two most used painting approaches: repetition and simulation. In the context of intermediationality, the artist undertakes a profound critique and reflection on the process of painting.
「 山本捷平以“替身”（Stuntman）作为起点，创作过程横跨了多个生产部门和流程：数字暗房、工业打印、手工转印、涂层制作。通过这些新的工艺、手法，并在它们之间创造新的链接，艺术家探讨了诸如文化交流史、何为视觉的真实性等与绘画直接相关的话题。」
替身术：重复与模拟
（一）
作为90年代出生的艺术家，山本捷平面对着历史所遗留下来的、前所未有的大量图像资源。对个体而言，其体量几乎是无限的：闪烁不定的屏幕、斑驳的老照片、褪色的印刷制品、精装或平装的书籍、旅行中购买的明信片、笔触中保留着时间印记的油画，等等。绘画这一最古老的制像媒介，自19世纪就开始面对其它媒介（如摄影）的挑战。到了山本捷平这里，情况变得更复杂了，艺术实践的参照对象也由过去的艺术史和图像史，转向了媒介的历史及“媒介间性”(intermediationality)。
“媒介间性”体现出现代媒体之间的相互关联性——彼此模仿、影响、吸收、竞争。在复杂的互动过程中，新的表现方式不断的涌现出来，一道构成了成为更广阔的文化环境。在不同媒介的边界处，升起了一股模糊性的云烟，在摄影、绘画、印刷品、电影……之间不断的切换，唤起不同记忆间的微妙平衡：古典的/现代的、自然的/工业的、怀旧的/未来的、保守的/激进的、手工的/流水线式的、档案式的/如画般的……
深层时间（Deep time）最早是地质学概念，但它也提出了文化上“知识考古学”的雏形：当一种“知识型”超出了个体生命所能经验的范围，我们如何感知并谈论它？为了回答这个问题，当代画家试图引入不同维度的图像技艺和程序。麦克卢汉说“媒介即信息”，据此，艺术家意识到要想有效的传达自己的观念和情感，“怎么画”（媒介形式）比“画什么”（信息内容）更重要。
本次展出的的艺术家山本捷平以“替身”（Stuntman）作为起点，创作过程横跨了多个生产部门和流程：数字暗房、工业打印、手工转印、涂层制作。通过这些新的工艺、手法，并在它们之间创造新的链接，艺术家探讨了诸如文化交流史、何为视觉的真实性等与绘画直接相关的话题。展览将集中展示他最常用的两种绘画策略：重复与模拟。在媒介间性的视野下，艺术家对绘画的生成过程展开了深刻的批判与反思。
Calcite on Myth 系列局部
（二）
「 “重复”是山本捷平对日本文化历史所作出的深刻反思。」
“重复”是山本捷平早期最常用的策略，也是形成他绘画美学语言的关键。比如《神话人物上的方解石笔触》系列，他将西方神话中的大理石雕刻形像转印到油画布上，而后，用自制的滚筒，以混合了方解石粉的颜料覆盖画面，形成了一种类似坏屏的效果。他认为绘画创新的密码在于“重复”：首先是重复的覆盖和否定。比如，方解石笔触之间的空隙隐隐透出人物的某些局部，成为了一种抽象的图像性纹理，与方解石的物质性纹理构成了对比和平衡。二者形成的美学效果，就是巧妙的利用“媒介间性”的一个例子。其次是重复的使用现有的图像资源，每次援引所造成的差异，都是对其进行的一次“再创造”。
Calcite on Myth-Eros 1，2022
acrylic on linen, panel, calcite.
455×530mm
《重述-线条》是艺术家利用滚筒创作的抽象绘画系列。在这一系列中，滚筒的作用不是覆盖和抹去形象，而是重复和强化。山本捷平以行动绘画中的“滴画法”在画布上创造一根线条，再用滚筒复制，留下了不断衰退的信号和渐弱的回声；手绘原型的信息，在复制过程中不断产生着充满噪音的副本。而在《重述-无理由的反叛》中，采用了同样的创作手法，不同之处在于抽象的线条转变为具象的卡通形象，回应着安迪·沃霍尔的波普艺术。行动绘画与波普艺术，二者在艺术史的叙事中本是对立的；不过，通过山本捷平的“媒介”调停，随机性重复与机械性重复之间的差异被抹平了，为一种更为复杂的绘画进路创造了空间。
“重复”是山本捷平对日本文化历史所作出的深刻反思。日本自古便经历着外来文化的强势输出，由此形成了日本文化独特的接受方式：保持外来文化表面上的“特异性”，而不是从深度方面加以吸收和同化。“特异性”的保持，使人一望便知这是外来的符号；这种“既认同，又排斥”的文化策略，导致了日本文化中另一种特殊现象的出现：新的文化类型可以快速流行起来，然后又快速的归于沉寂。《重述》系列中不断衰变的符号，似乎直接的反映着这种文化事实。然而，山本捷平的作品并未止步于表征文化现象，而是通过对文化现象的梳理，创造出具有个人风格的独特美学。
reiterate-Rebel Without a Cause-IIl, 2023
acrylic on cotton, panel.
652×1060mm
（三）
「 如果用绘画模仿其它媒介的实践是宙克西斯笔下的葡萄，山本捷平的实践就是帕拉西阿斯所画的幕帘。」
在最新的《无题》系列作品中，山本捷平通过模拟的方式，回到摄影和绘画之间的关系的议题上来。艺术家将古典雕塑或风景的照片置于数字暗房之中，以数字笔触模拟油画的效果；图像转印到油画布上之后，艺术家再用透明的凝胶，为其表面绘制一层物质性的笔触。作品经过了两次模拟之后，呈现出油画塑造过的笔触痕迹和表面覆盖光油的效果。
untitled-Bust of Heraculs, 2024
canvas, acrylic
530×652mm
显然，这是一种“拟像”：通过一系列工业化的材料，“调配”出无限接近于原型的图像。在以往的艺术实践中，艺术家们往往热衷于用传统的绘画材料模拟其他媒介的图像，比如，用炭铅笔模仿黑白照片，或者用油画模仿电影截图。而在山本捷平这里，则采取了相反的策略：使用其他媒介反过来模仿油画。这不禁让人联想到古希腊时期关于绘画竞赛的故事：
古希腊有两个画家，他们俩要比赛画画。有一个叫宙克西斯的画家就很自信地画了一束葡萄，鸟看见葡萄觉得葡萄像真的一样，就去啄画上的葡萄。宙克西斯就非常高兴，说我画得非常真，把鸟都给骗了。然后他跟他的对手画家帕拉西阿斯说，你把你的幕帘揭开，让我看看你画的到底是什么。但是帕拉西阿斯说，幕帘就是我画的画。在这个比赛当中帕拉西阿斯赢了，因为他画的幕帘像真的一样，把人的眼睛都给骗过了。
如果用绘画模仿其它媒介的实践是宙克西斯笔下的葡萄，山本捷平的实践就是帕拉西阿斯所画的幕帘。
通常来说，绘画的任务是通过错觉迫使人们重新看待某些特定的对象，重新思考自我与世界的关系。那么，借由对模拟的模拟，《无题》系列形成了关于错觉的错觉，要求我们重新思考绘画的幻觉本身。手工转印的过程中，会在图像上产生破损和划痕，仿佛岁月在老照片上遗留的痕迹。仔细观察凝胶形成的笔触，人们也会发现画面并非真的是由颜料绘制而成。这些破绽是艺术家刻意留下的，目的是让观众在对媒介辨识的过程中产生怀疑：它究竟是一幅写实的绘画，还是一张经过处理的摄影照片？而艺术家则趁机向我们抛出这样的问题：在现实世界与我们的视觉之间，数字模拟、图像制造、以及观看的意识形态犹如一层一层的幕布，在这些幕布的遮蔽下，肉身还能直接经验世界吗？
untitled-Park-I, 2024
canvas, acrylic
1620×1300mm
作为新生代的画家，山本捷平的视域早已同过去的画家完全不同，他以图像学和媒介学的角度介入绘画，并以此反思绘画、视觉和文化的历史。“替身”不再是“主角”光环下受到压抑的角色，它本身就站在了舞台的中央。在这种转换中，历史媒介不再是简单的“承载记忆、情感的容器”，而是从根本上质疑了最基本的认知——究竟是什么塑造了我们？我们以往的知识、看法和情感，它们是真实的，还是由特定技术所塑造的特定的意识形态？
撰文：雷鸣
Stuntmen: Repetition and Simulation
I
As an artist born in the 1990s, Shohei Yamamoto confronts an unprecedented volume of historical image resources. For individuals, the volume is virtually infinite from flickering screens, mottled old photos, faded print materials, and hardcover or paperback books, to postcards purchased during travels and oil paintings with traces of time preserved in brushstrokes. Painting, as the oldest form of imaging, has been challenged by other media (such as photography) since the 19th century. To Shohei Yamamoto, the situation becomes more intricate, as the reference points for artistic practice have shifted from the history of art and images to the history of media and “intermediationality.”
"Intermediationality" reflects the interrelationship between modern media—imitating, influencing, absorbing, and competing with each other. In this complex interactive process, novel forms of expression consistently arise, collectively forming a broader cultural environment. At the boundaries of different media, a fog of ambiguity emerges, constantly shifting between photography, painting, printed materials, film, and beyond, evoking a subtle balance between different memories: classical/modern, natural/industrial, nostalgic/futuristic, conservative/radical, artisanal/assembly-line, archival/painterly, and so forth.
Deep time was originally a geological concept, but it also proposed a rudimentary form of "archaeology of knowledge " in terms of culture: when a “epistemes” exceeds the scope of an individual's life experience, how will it be perceived and discussed? To answer this question, contemporary artists attempt to introduce image techniques and processes from different dimensions. Marshall McLuhan stated, “The medium is the message,” based on which artists realize that “how to paint” (the form of medium) is more important than “what to paint” (the content of information), in order to convey their ideas and emotions effectively.
With this exhibition, the artist Shohei Yamamoto takes “stuntmen” as a starting point to engage his creative process spanning multiple production departments and processes: digital darkroom, industrial printing, manual transfer, and coating process. Through these new techniques and methods, and by forging new connections between them, the artist explores topics directly related to painting, such as the history of cultural exchange and the nature of visual authenticity. The exhibition will focus on his two most used painting approaches: repetition and simulation. In the context of intermediationality, the artist undertakes a profound critique and reflection on the process of painting.
II
“Repetition” is the strategy Shohei Yamamoto most used in his early work, and it is key to forming his aesthetic language in painting. For example, in the series “Calcite on Myth”, he transfers images of marble sculptures from Western mythology onto canvas, before covering the surface with paint mixed with calcite powder by using a homemade roller, to achieve a result of shattered screens. He believes that the code for innovation in painting lies in “repetition”: first, there is the repetition of covering and negation. For instance, the gaps between the calcite brush strokes faintly reveal certain parts of the figures, creating an abstract pattern that contrasts and balances with the material texture of the calcite. The aesthetic effect of the two forms is a clever example of the use of “intermediationality.” Furthermore, the artist has repetitively used existing image resources, and in each reference of the image, the resulting difference is a form of “recreation”.
"Reiterate-Lines" is the artist’s abstract painting series created with a roller. In this series, the roller's role is not to cover and erase images but to repeat and reinforce them. Shohei Yamamoto uses the technique of “drip painting” in gestural abstract to create a line on the canvas, which is then replicated with a roller, leaving behind signals of ongoing diminishing and echoes of weakening; the hand-drawn prototype information continually generates noisy copies in the replication process. In “Reiterate-Rebel without a Cause,” an identical creative technique is used, but the abstract lines are replaced by concrete cartoon images, responding to pop art by Andy Warhol. Gestural abstract and pop art were originally opposed in the narrative of art history; however, through the "intermediationality" of Shohei Yamamoto, the boundary between random and mechanical repetition is blurred, creating room for a more intricate approach to painting.
“Reiterate” represents Shohei Yamamoto’s profound reflection on Japan’s cultural history. Japan has long experienced a dominant export of foreign cultures, leading to a distinct approach to their acceptance: maintaining the superficial “distinctiveness” of these cultures rather than deeply absorbing and assimilating them. This preservation of “distinctiveness” immediately identifies these as foreign symbols. This cultural strategy of “both identifying with and rejecting” has resulted in another unique phenomenon in Japanese culture: new cultural trends can rapidly rise in popularity and quickly fade into obscurity. The symbols of ongoing decline in the “Reiterate” series appear to directly mirror this cultural reality. However, Shohei Yamamoto’s work goes beyond merely representing cultural phenomena; instead, through an exploration of these phenomena, he develops a distinctive aesthetic with a personal touch.
III
In his latest "Untitled" series, Shohei Yamamoto revisits the relationship between photography and painting through simulation. The artist places photographs of classical sculptures or landscapes in a digital darkroom and uses digital brushstrokes to simulate the effect of oil painting. After transferring the images onto canvas, the artist then uses translucent gel to create a layer of physical strokes on the surface. After two rounds of simulation, the work presents brush stroke traces shaped by the oil painting process and a glossed surface.
Evidently, this presents a form of “simulation” achieved through the use of various industrial materials to “compose” images that closely resemble the prototype. In previous artistic practices, artists often used traditional painting materials to replicate images from other media, such as employing charcoal pencils to mimic monochromatic photographs or using oil paint to imitate movie stills. However, Shohei Yamamoto has adopted the opposite strategy by employing alternative media to simulate oil painting. This concept inevitably evokes the story of painting competitions in ancient Greece.
In ancient Greece, two painters competed in a painting contest. One of them, named Zeuxis, depicted a cluster of grapes with such mastery that a bird descended and pecked at the grapes, mistaking them for real fruit. Zeuxis was very delighted and proclaimed, “I have painted so realistically that even the birds are deceived.” Then he challenged his rival, the painter Parrhasius, to unveil his painting. However, Parrhasius replied, “The veil is my painting.” In this contest, Parrhasius won, for his veil was so lifelike that it deceived all who beheld it.
If the practice of using painting to imitate other media is illustrated by the grapes under Zeuxis's brush, then Shohei Yamamoto’s practice is akin to the curtain painted by Parrhasius.
Typically, the act of painting aims to use illusion to prompt individuals to reconsider specific objects and reassess their connection with the world. Therefore, in the "Untitled" series, through simulating simulation, an illusion about illusion emerges, compelling us to reconsider the illusion inherent in painting itself. Throughout the manual transfer process, the image acquires damage and scratches, resembling the marks of time on old photographs. Upon closer inspection of the strokes created by the gel medium, viewers will also notice that the image is not actually painted with pigment. These imperfections are intentionally preserved by the artist to encourage the audience to question the medium's authenticity: is it truly a realistic painting or a processed photograph? The artist seizes this opportunity to raise such inquiries: in our tangible world and in our perception, digital simulation, image creation, and the principles of observation act as layers of curtains. Beneath these veils, can the body still directly perceive the world?
As a new generation painter, Shohei Yamamoto offers a perspective remarkedly different from that of his predecessors. He engages with painting through the lenses of imageology and media studies, using them as tools to contemplate the history of painting, vision, and culture. In his approach, “Stuntmen” ceases to be a marginalized character overshadowed by the “protagonist” but rather emerges as the focal point on the stage itself. Through this transformation, historical media no longer serve merely as “vessels for carrying memories and emotions,” but rather as instruments that fundamentally challenge the most fundamental aspects of cognition—what has shaped our identities? Are our past knowledge, perspectives, and emotions real, or are they particular ideologies molded by specific technologies?
山本捷平出生于1994 年，毕业于京都艺术大学硕士学位。
在充斥着数字复制品的现代世界，山本捷平把滚筒作为画笔，以模拟的方式创作绘画，由此揭示图像和符号在重复中变化的过程。数字软件模拟着画布。不同直径的滚筒即不同型号的画笔，以动作显示时间性的同时，揭示了模拟图像生产的过程。画布上的颜料被滚筒碾压，图像和符号信息在多次重复中产生出了噪音。图像和符号高度数字化的今天，他让真实的物质在重复的过程中浮现出来，并以模拟的方式呈现出来。
《神话上的方解石：神话》（2022 年，东京 Ritsuki Fujisaki 画廊）、《飞船地球 - KUAD 2019 年度展》（2019 年，东京都美术馆，东京）、《再：重申》（2019 年，日本法国学院，东京）。
雷鸣，1986年生于青岛。2017年研究生毕业于中央美术学院未来媒体艺术方向。现为自由艺术家，策展人。策展项目包括：2015年，保利艺术中心，群展《例外状态》；2018年，Gessoisland，群展《数据·图像·异轨》；2018年，松美术馆，群展《Unfreeze》；2019年，山水美术馆；群展《孩子曰》；2020年，798艺术中心，群展《798第一届kids艺术节》；2020年，魔金石空间，管勇个展《管勇个展：内象派》；2021年，华艺术空间，群展《故事新说》；2022年，华艺术空间，皆藤斋个展《被限制的行动，心理电影》；2022年，华艺术空间，吴凌昊个展《情感算法》；2024，1974画廊，香格纳画廊，群展《湍流》；2024，十点睡觉画廊，罗庆珉个展《一种实践》。
曾任ARTLINKART中国当代艺术数据库网站编辑。撰写文章在《江苏画刊》《收藏》等多家杂志发表。与林梓、文菲共同创建“批评人Critix”。创建“TZmedium”小组。
编辑：穆涵