Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆

2010·Zeng Fanzhi, featuring the latest works by the artist, opens at the Rockbund Art Museum on August 12, 2010. “Seminar on 2010·Zeng Fanzhi”, a parallel event, will also be held at Shanghai Library to discuss Zeng’s work in the course of his artistic career, as well as the status of Chinese contemporary art.

As one of the leading figures in Chinese contemporary art, Zeng already enjoys an international reputation. The continual evolution of his style and imagery over the past two decades has been the subject of study and avidly followed by scholars, critics and collectors in China and overseas. A pursuit of the contemporaneity is one of the main themes of Zeng Fanzhi’s exhibition 2010. It is an aim supported by the works on show being recent and new pieces that have not previously been on public show. This exhibition brings together works that show in the present tense how Zeng is exploring his themes, and it may serve as an important document of both the artist’s own current creative activity and the present development of Chinese art.

The most striking difference between this exhibition and the previous can be easily found in the diverse art form/media applied in Zeng’s work. Fresh on the scene are a myriad of sculptures, engravings, pencil drawings and installations, all arranged and displayed artistically that interact with the museum space. Thus the whole exhibition can be seen as a visually intoxicating symphony, allowing viewers to set their imagination free.

The following is remarks by Wu Hung, the curator, on this exhibition:

“The single work in oil by the entrance of gallery provides the opening sonata of this symphony. It is a painting that creates a huge visual impact: the massive body of a just-slaughtered bull lies flayed and still bleeding. The rapid and unruly brushwork reveal the artist’s agitation and absorption. This prelude work serves two purposes here: first, creating suspense and firing visitors’ interest and imagination for what they are about to see inside the exhibition; and second - since in terms of image and concept the painting recalls Zeng’s earlier works, in particular the ‘Meat Series’ (1992) and ‘Human Being and Meat’ (1993) – establishing a dialogue across time and space, implicitly suggesting the historic dimension of this exhibition.

Following the staircase beside this painting on up to the second and third floors, the works in oil displayed here continue to be in the painterly medium, but as we shift through space they come to constitute two groupings, each with its particular content and visual logic. Two ten-meter canvases span the entire width of the gallery’s second floor, to date the largest paintings the artist has created; these can be viewed as the first movement of the symphony that is this exhibition. In both paintings random brush strokes depict an abstract landscape – or more accurately, the image of a landscape that is in the artist’s mind. The two paintings here show wildernesses scorched by wildfire on canvases extended widthwise to the very limit. Withered tree branches contorting skyward create a screen across the foreground. Beyond, white-hot flames leap and play, leaving dull-red coals shimmering in the deep places of the dense thicket. But it is the different primary hues of the two works — one all silver gray, the other in reds, yellows, blues and greens — that create such a powerful contrast between them, and each expresses a quite different creative concept. Hung across from each other, viewers are compelled to study the detail in the works. This is the traditional way of appreciating scroll paintings and also how these two works were hung in the artist’s studio while he created them. Stood between them, as you contemplate one work you lose sight of the other.

The oil paintings on the third floor continue the mode of landscape rendered in unruly strokes but now a new theme appears – creatures – and this theme continues in the works on show on the fourth and fifth floors. In the paintings on the third floor, the animals appear behind the screen of convoluted tree branches, often staring directly at the viewer as if they have something they wish to tell us. Amid the sullen desolation their sorrowful eyes seem to reveal loneliness and despair. This gloomy mood is seen still more clearly in the works on show on the fourth floor. Two giant mammoth tusks hang from the ceiling, the absent body suggestive of the tragedy of these great beasts that in prehistoric times roamed our earth but are now long extinct. A collection of woodcarvings depict animal remains covered with felt. The flowing folds of the felt resemble the brushwork of some master of old, the embodiment of serene beauty andsolemnity and hence serving to further emphasize the sorrow and cruelty concealed beneath. The woodcarvings - including the two mammoth tusks - have been crafted using traditional lacquering techniques. After meticulous painting and polishing, the carved surface has a texture as smooth as ancient ivory, suggestive of accumulated time and the depositions of history. Finally, displayed on the top floor of the gallery are Zeng’s copperplate etchings and pencil sketches. Replicating the twin themes of landscapes of intertwined strokes and animals, these smaller works show the artist progressing to a more personal take on his subject matter.

Thinking back over the works on the third through fifth galleries with animals as their theme, we find they form an aggregate that transcends their various media and styles, like a musical movement played with rich instrumentation and variety of sound. These works include Zeng’s first-ever works in sculpture and copperplate etching, revealing a new dimension to his artistic endeavor. Blending imagery of animals and figurative evocations of ‘death’ and ‘remains’, these pieces are both a reflection of the artist’s ongoing contemplation of the relationship between Man and Nature and also an interaction with the development over time of the venue itself. The Rockbund Art Museum building occupies what was originally the Royal Asiatic Society Building, then also known as the Shanghai Museum, which a century ago was famous for its collection of animal specimens.

In this light we are able to understand the message of the final piece shown in this exhibition, an installation work in a nearby church, which constitutes the final movement of our symphony. By utilizing the narrow vertical windows that line the old Union Church building, Zeng has created a multiplicity of luminescent virtual stained glass mosaics, transforming the church into a wonderland of light and shadow. Here, the only sculpture on display on this site – one depicting cloth-covered, ‘hidden’ Virgin Mary and Christ – provides a focus for the entire space; gloom and depression give way to something imposing and sublime; auguries of death are ultimately transformed into a presage of hope.”

Apart from “Seminar On 2010·Zeng Fanzhi”, the Rockbund Art Museum is going to host lectures by renowned art critics and theorists, including Lv Peng, Yao Jiashan and Pi Li, on topics such as the artworks by Zeng Fanzhi, art museums and public art biweekly.

2010年8月12日（周四），曾梵志将携其新作亮相上海外滩美术馆，带来《2010·曾梵志》。同时，“《2010 ·曾梵志》学术研讨会”也将在上海图书馆举行，探讨曾梵志的艺术和中国当代艺术现状，以及曾梵志的艺术经历和新的创作方向。

作为中国当代艺术领军人物之一，曾梵志以其极具张力的绘画作品享誉国际艺坛，其以往20年间不断演变的风格和图像已成为国内外学者、批评家和收藏家持续研究和跟踪的对象。本次《2010·曾梵志》展览集中呈现艺术家在现在时态下的探索以及对于当代艺术此时此刻的理解，这种对于当代性的追求成为了展览的一条主线。为此，本次展出的所有作品都是曾梵志未曾公开展示和发表过的近作和新作，提供了有关他的当下艺术创作和当前中国艺术发展状态的一份重要材料。

《2010·曾梵志》与其以往的展览最大的区别在于，展出作品除了大家比较熟悉的油画外，还包括了雕塑、版画、铅笔画和空间装置。多种媒材、丰富形式以及与空间之间的有机联系，宛如一首用眼睛观看的交响诗，引导观者步入一个想象的旅行。

在这里，策展人巫鸿先生就展览进行了导读：

“展览起始处的一张单幅油画构成这首交响诗的序幕。这是一幅极富视觉冲击力的绘画：一只刚被屠宰的硕大猪身，剥去皮肤的躯体尚流血不止。快速、狂放的笔触透露出艺术家的激动和专注。“序幕”在这里显示为两个意义。一是它造成悬念，引起观众对展览的兴趣和想象。二是这张画在图像和概念上都与曾梵志的早期作品---特别是《肉》（1992）和《人类与肉类》（1993）---形成跨越时空的对话，含蓄地指示出目前展览的历史维度。

沿着画旁的楼梯走上二楼和三楼，这里展示的油画延续了“绘画”的媒介，但随着空间的转移形成两组，各自具有特定的内容和视觉逻辑。两幅10米长的巨幅横亘二楼展厅，是艺术家至今为止所创作的最大画作，也可以被看成是这个展览中的第一乐章。两画都以乱笔绘出抽象风景---更确切的说是艺术家脑子中的风景意象。本次展出的这两张画都以极度拉长的画面表现野火焚烧的旷野。干枯的枝条痉挛地伸向天空，构成悬挂在画面前方的屏幕。白炽的火焰在屏后跳跃，在丛林密布的大地上留下颤动的暗红积碳。但是两张画的不同基色---一张以银灰贯通全幅，另一张以红、蓝、黄、绿构成强烈的色比---传达出相当不同的意境。相对竖立在展厅中，这一展示方法迫使观众观察画面的细部---这是传统手卷的观赏方法，也是艺术家创造这两张画的方式。夹在两画之间，处于“顾此失彼”的状态。

三楼上的油画持续了乱笔风景的模式，但是一个新的主题---动物---出现了，并进而延伸到四楼和五楼的展厅。在三楼的画作中，动物出现在痉挛枝条所组成的屏幕之后，常常直视观者，似乎在倾诉着什么。在沉重悲凉的氛围中，它们忧郁的目光似乎透露出孤独和绝望。这种悲怆的情绪在四楼中得到了更明确的体现。这里，两支粗大的猛犸象牙从上方垂下，消失了的肢体暗示着这种荒古猛兽曾经存在但终于灭绝的悲剧。其它一系列木雕表现毡布覆盖的动物遗骸。毡布的流畅皱褶如同出自古典大师手笔，体现了一种宁静的美与庄严，因此更突出了隐藏在下面的悲哀和残酷。这些木雕---包括那两支猛犸象牙---都以传统的漆器工艺制成。经过反复地髹涂和打磨，雕刻的表面形成如老象牙一般细腻柔润的质地，暗示着时间的积累和历史的沉积。最后，在展馆的最高一层陈列着曾梵志的铜版画和铅笔素描。重复着乱笔风景和动物的主题，这些小型作品反映出艺术家对这些题材更为个人化的进入。

回顾陈列于第三、四、五层展厅中的这些以动物为主题的作品，我们发现它们形成一个超越艺术媒材和风格的集合体，有若一个具有丰富乐器和音响的乐章。这些作品包含了曾梵志的首批雕刻和铜版画，显示出他的艺术创作中的新的维度。融合了动物的形象和对死亡、遗迹的隐喻，这些作品一方面反映了艺术家对人类与自然关系的思考，一方面又与展场的历史发生互动---外滩美术馆原址上的亚洲文会大楼—也称为上海博物院---正是在一世纪前以其自然科学陈列中的动物标本而著称。

我们因此也可以懂得这个展览中最后一件作品的意义：位于美术馆外一座新建教堂中的这个空间装置构成了展览的第三乐章或尾声。利用教堂的排排竖窗，曾梵志以其绘画为素材创作出一组组亮丽的模拟玻璃镶嵌画，将教堂造就成一个光与影的灵境。教堂中陈放的唯一雕像---一个以布覆盖的“隐含”的圣母和基督像---给这个境域提供了一个焦点。在此处，忧郁和压抑让位给凝重和崇高，死亡的讖语终于转化为希望的预示。”

围绕本次展览，除了“《2010 ·曾梵志》学术研讨会”以外，上海外滩美术馆还特别邀请到吕澎、姚嘉善、皮力等专家和学者，就曾梵志的创作、美术馆与公共艺术等话题展开一系列讲座活动，计划每两周举行一次。