喬?達瓦爾：會講故事的藝術家

王思萌

對喬·達瓦爾來說，創(chuàng)作作品和講述故事是有內(nèi)在聯(lián)系的。對故事的摯愛激發(fā)著她的熱情，使她迸發(fā)出源源不斷的靈感。

每個人都有愛聽故事的天性，能講一個情節(jié)跌宕起伏，引人入勝又直達內(nèi)心深處的故事，便可以在瞬間縮短人與人之間的距離；喬·達瓦爾就是一位能用她的畫作講故事的藝術家。她的畫作是一種初見動人，再見傾心的美。特別是在了解了故事的始末后，就會是“初見不識畫中意，再賞已是畫中人”的感覺。

喬·達瓦爾是西澳大利亞的著名畫家，每每提及澳大利亞，絕美的碧海沙灘，獨特的野生動物，神秘的艾爾斯巖，以及傳奇的庫克船長便會浮現(xiàn)眼前。作為曾經(jīng)的英屬殖民地和移民大國，澳大利亞的近現(xiàn)代藝術深受當時歐洲的影響?？墒窃缭谑攀兰o末至二十世紀中葉，澳大利亞的女藝術家所取得的社會地位和認可度是完全不能和同時代男性藝術家相提并論的。說到這里，不得不提及藝術家凱瑟琳·奧康納Kathleen OConnor （1876-1968），她生活和經(jīng)歷的種種不僅是這個時代的縮影，更對喬·達瓦爾的創(chuàng)作產(chǎn)生了深遠的影響。

在過去的十年間，喬不斷地挖掘、解讀這段歷史，最終演繹出兩場精彩的個人畫展。 2014年名為“沿著水路直至盡頭”的個人畫展，講述的是凱瑟琳·奧康納的父親老奧康納的故事。老奧康納來到西澳大利亞時正直西澳發(fā)展的關鍵時刻，金礦的開采帶來了史無前例的基礎設施拓建。作為總工程師的奧康納在天鵝河的入海口設計并修建了港口，重建了鐵路系統(tǒng)，并且設計了長達550公里的生命水源線，從珀斯綿延至東部炎熱地帶以滿足數(shù)以千計為了實現(xiàn)黃金夢的淘金人。奧康納從一位馬背上的翩翩少年，一路從愛爾蘭到了新西蘭，最終來到西澳大利亞，然而在人們非理性的期待和媒體的惡意扭曲之下，1902年老奧康納結(jié)束了自己的生命。這個帶著挑戰(zhàn)和極具震撼力的畫展讓人們情不自禁的想去探究老奧康納給西澳大利亞留下的遺產(chǎn)到底分量幾何？他的遺孀和他的女兒何去何從？

2015年“巴黎之血流入印度洋”的個人畫展，凱瑟琳·奧康納的余生被呈現(xiàn)出來；早先在珀斯學習藝術的她，1907年隨家人前往歐洲，先后居住在巴黎和倫敦，并往返于兩者之間，1911-1940年間，她的作品經(jīng)常會在巴黎秋季藝術沙龍、法國藝術沙龍和倫敦展出，其中包括女性藝術家的專展。隨著二戰(zhàn)中倫敦的淪陷，她趕上了德國鐵騎入侵前的最后一班列車返回巴黎。20年代之后的十余年間，她嘗試過織物繪畫并從事過一些商務活動。1948年，她的29幅畫作和70余件藝術品在珀斯美術館展出。然而由于經(jīng)濟的窘迫，在輾轉(zhuǎn)歐洲、澳洲后，于1955年，這位“堅毅并自持己見”的女人不情愿地回到了西澳大利亞。也許是因為永遠無法原諒這個冷酷無情的城市對她父親的傷害，亦或是因為社會環(huán)境的窒息，1968年，在終老之時，她選擇將她的骨灰撒入印度洋而非埋葬在澳大利亞的土地上。時至今日，凱瑟琳的作品依然遍及澳洲的國立美術館。

對喬·達瓦爾來說，創(chuàng)作作品和講述故事是有內(nèi)在聯(lián)系的。對故事的摯愛激發(fā)著她的熱情，使她迸發(fā)出源源不斷的靈感。每一次畫展都是一個契機，讓人們在享受視覺刺激的同時，有空間有氛圍，可以在一起，或傾聽、或領略、或感悟、或批判這些故事里的事。正如喬所說的：“我們的年輕人沒有任何創(chuàng)造性的抱負如何來應對未來的挑戰(zhàn)？我試著通過視覺刺激的過程來創(chuàng)造適于討論的環(huán)境。我思考的問題很多，我想讓其他人熟悉我們的歷史，引發(fā)討論，為什么不呢？在創(chuàng)意空間里有什么可害怕的？”

敏感是喬作為藝術家的特質(zhì)?；壑堑乃朴诎盐崭鞣N介質(zhì)，通過不同手法和技術搭配場景來滿足主題，以獲得平面和空間的多樣性。比如：精致、發(fā)光的版畫用來營造空靈的感覺，而大尺度的尤金·馮·格爾德斯克油畫則是她表現(xiàn)沉重歷史題材時的選擇。她精通各種各樣的技術——從水彩、丙烯、水粉、油畫到單次印刷的蠟畫、直至雕塑和安裝——并嘗試在教堂、長廊、背光倉庫墻壁和白墻畫廊等不同的地方展出。更讓人驚嘆的是她甚至將音樂、香氣和味道融入到畫展中，充分調(diào)動了人類的所有感官。

2013年，當喬·達瓦爾帶著她的入圍雕塑參加廣場雕塑展時，邂逅了為她開啟她新加坡藝術之旅的伙伴，并隨之結(jié)識Marjorie Chu——新加坡最古老的當代藝術畫廊ArtForum的擁有者和主理人，以及姚詩韻——新加坡藝術空間INSTINC主理人，隨之2014年新加坡個展應運而生。2017年，喬又與姚詩韻合作，名為“所有一切都在改變”的聯(lián)展在新加坡舉辦。

在新加坡訪問期間，一個偶然的機會，喬在Art Forum畫廊展廳里被一幅作品深深打動，作者的名字叫做陳荔英，一位中國出生，歐美長大，漂至南洋，在新加坡終老的傳奇華裔女畫家。之所以傳奇，是因為出生于1906年的她，生命中有四個節(jié)點，而每一個節(jié)點都是由戰(zhàn)爭“塑造”的。陳荔英本姓張，由于孫中山與她父親張靜江是至交朋友，發(fā)生在1911年的那場革命“大大改變了張家的命運”。二次大戰(zhàn)之間時期，她在巴黎習畫，在孫夫人宋慶齡牽線下嫁給正流亡巴黎的陳友仁（Eugene Chen），自后改姓夫姓。日軍侵華時期，丈夫陳友仁在香港被拘押，繼而軟禁上海，1944年因病辭世。那年張荔英才38歲。至于第四個節(jié)點，說的是40年代末中國的那場內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。也是那場戰(zhàn)爭，把陳荔英帶到了新加坡。更為偶然的是，喬在研究她作品、拜讀她私人信件時發(fā)現(xiàn)，陳荔英與凱瑟琳這兩位藝術家的作品在1930年竟同時出現(xiàn)在曾見證過二十世紀最善于運用色彩的偉大畫家——野獸派代表人物亨利·馬蒂斯的巴黎秋季藝術沙龍上。雖然兩人是否相識已無從考證，但是兩位女性藝術家對歷史和藝術的貢獻卻值得尊敬。

名為“所有一切都在改變”的新加坡聯(lián)展，正是喬·達瓦爾與姚詩韻聯(lián)袂打造的，通過對凱瑟琳和陳荔英作品的揣摩和借鑒，升華出的一系列新作。作品試圖通過揭示那個獨特的年代下女藝術家奮斗的個人足跡，反襯出變化中的女藝術家的創(chuàng)作生活。雖然橫亙歷史，但卻綿延流長。

現(xiàn)實中作為一位自籌資金的女藝術家喬·達瓦爾如是說：“我是一個自籌資金的藝術家，我必須去運作——這是一種成本效益。一個藝術家到一個新的環(huán)境，并打造一個沒有預期結(jié)果的新工作。對我來說，是一種難以承受的奢侈。然而我在實踐中給了自己一種方法，為最大的結(jié)果創(chuàng)造最新的作品，創(chuàng)造最好的作品，接受嚴格的辯論、放之網(wǎng)絡并完成研究，任何展覽都不例外?！眅ndprint

其實很多偶然都有必然，仿佛冥冥中注定一樣，2014年，“沿著水路直至盡頭”中奧康納與他的駿馬“暮光”震人心魄，當時正值中國馬年；2017年，“所有一切都在改變”中出淤泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖的荷花氣質(zhì)清新；加之對華裔女畫家陳荔英女士的敬畏，喬·達瓦爾真的應該帶著她的作品來中國了！

2017年12月2日，中國北京馬奈草地，我們等你！

喬·達瓦爾，出生于澳大利亞維多利亞州的Yarram，在維多利亞藝術學院學習，1998年獲得了美術學士學位。在20世紀90年代喬與其他的Roar藝術家一道創(chuàng)立了兒童文化信托，并為慈善項目募集了超過100萬澳元的捐款。自2009年移居西澳大利亞Fremantle后，一直致力于通過發(fā)掘歷史，提煉素材進行創(chuàng)作。其中備受關注的是以西澳大利亞的歷史人物奧康納和他的女兒凱瑟琳·奧康納為題材的兩個銷售系列和一個巡回展。這些作品都在她位于Fremantle Pakenham街藝術工作室創(chuàng)作完成。此外她還在Fremantle藝術中心任教。

喬曾憑借油畫Gorge Landscape 獲得Mandjar Art藝術獎，2015年獲得Belmont公開藝術獎。2016年取得澳大利亞文化部和藝術協(xié)會資助，開始在國際范圍內(nèi)辦展。2017年接受亞洲藝術新聞專訪。她的多幅作品被收藏于珍妮特·霍姆斯法院、澳大利亞藝術銀行、西澳大利亞水資源公司、珀斯皇冠塔、西澳大利亞皇家兒童醫(yī)院、維多利亞州立圖書館、瑞士信貸集團、新加坡華樂酒店等。

Author Wang Simeng （Australia）

Translator Jin Zi（Beijing）

Everyone loves to listen to a good story： a story that has a twisted plot， fascinating and direct to your heart that you can instantly shorten the distance between people； Jo Darvall is one painter that can use her paintings to tell such stories. Her paintings are touching， delicate and have an alluring beauty. Especially after understanding the beginning and ending of the story behind her painting， you will have the feeling that “when you first admire the artwork you do not see the meaning of the painting and the second time you admire it， you are embedded within the painting”.

Jo Darvall is a famous painter from Western Australia. Often when people refer to Australia， the beautiful blue sea， golden sandy beaches， unique wild animals， the mysterious Ayers Rock and the legendary Captain Cook will emerge in front of their eyes. As a former British colony and a powerful nation with diverse influx of immigration from around the world， Australias modern art was deeply influenced by Europe. But as early as the end of nineteenth century to the middle twentieth century， the social status and recognition of female artists in Australia were not completely comparable to male artists from the same era. Speaking of this， we must mention the artist Kathleen OConnor （1876 - 1968）， her life and experience are not only the epitome of this era， but also have a profound impact on the creation of Jo Darvall.

In the past decade， Jo has been digging and interpreting this part of history and her final result are two wonderful personal exhibition. Named “along the water until the end” personal exhibition held in 2014， told the story of Kathleen OConnors father. The old OConnor came to Western Australia in a critical time in the development of Western Australia， the mining of gold brought unprecedented infrastructure. As the chief engineer of the design of Swan River estuary and construction of the port， the reconstruction of the railway system and the design of 550 km of water lifelines from Perth to the eastern hot areas to fulfil the dream of thousands of gold rush people. OConnor was a charming young man when he moved all the way from Ireland to New Zealand， and ultimately to Western Australia. Unfortunately， under the pressure of the peoples irrational expectations and malicious distortions from the media， old OConnor ended his life in 1902. This challenging and shocking exhibition let people can not help but want to explore exactly how much is the legacy of old OConnor left to Western Australia？ And what happened to his widow and daughter afterwards？endprint

In 2015， personal exhibition “Blood of Paris flew into the Indian Ocean"， the remain of Kathleen O'Connor's life was presented； Originally studied art in Perth， in 1907， she travelled to Europe with her family， first living in Paris and then London， she also travelled frequently between these two cities. Between 1911 to 1940， her works are often exhibited at the Fall Art Salon in Paris， the French Art Salon and London， including the special exhibition of female artists. With the fall of London in World War II， she caught the last train ride back to Paris before the German cavalry invasion. After more than ten years after the 1920s， she had tried fabric painting and engaged in some business activities. In 1948， her 29 paintings and more than 70 pieces of art were exhibited at Perth Art Museum. However， due to economic distress， after moving among different places in Europe， in 1955， “the perseverance and independent-minded” lady reluctantly returned to Western Australia. Perhaps because she could never forgive the cruelty of this city towards her father， or perhaps because of the choking social environment back then， in1968， she chose to have her ashes thrown into the Indian Ocean rather than buried on Australian land. Today， Kathleens works are still displayed in the Australias National Museum of Art.

For Jo Darvall， creating art and storytelling are interconnected. Out of her love for stories inspired her enthusiasm and provided endless inspirations for her artworks. Every single exhibition of hers is an opportunity for people to enjoy the visual stimulation， at the same time together listen， taste， percept and criticise these stories. As Jo said： “ Our young people do not have any creative ambitions to cope with the challenges from the future？ I try to create a suitable environment for discussion through the process of visual stimulation. I think a lot of questions. I want other people to be familiar with our history， lead discussions. Why not？ In a creative space， what are we afraid of？

Sensitivity is the character for Joe as an artist. The intelligent lady is good at grasp a variety of media， through different techniques and combinations with scene to meet the theme， in order to obtain the diversity of space. For example： exquisite， glowing prints used to create the feeling of ethereal. Large-scale Eugene Von Geldesk painting is her choice of heavy historical themes. She is skilled in a variety of techniques - from watercolour， acrylic， gouache， oil painting to a single printed wax painting， to sculpting and installation - and she tried to display and install her artworks in different places from churches， corridors， backlighting warehouse walls to white walls of galleries. Even more amazing is that she even incorporate music， aroma and taste into the exhibition， fully mobilise all the senses of mankind.endprint

In 2013， when Jo Darvall took her finalist sculpture to attend the Square Sculpture Exhibition， she met her partner who would opened her art tour in Singapore and met Marjorie Chu - owner of Singapore's oldest contemporary art gallery and the director of ArtForum， as well as Yao Shiyun - principal of Singapore Art Space INSTINC. As follows， the Singapore Solo Exhibition was held in 2014. In 2017， Jo and Yao cooperated and held the joint exhibition "everything is changing" in Singapore.

During her visit to Singapore， at an accidental opportunity， Jo was deeply touched by a work showed in the Art Forum Gallery exhibition. The painters name is Chen Liying. She was born in China， grew up in Europe and America， drifted to Southeast Asia and ended up in Singapore. Chen is a legendary Chinese-Singapore female painter. Her legendary life consists of four crucial turning points — each point is “shaped” by a war. Chen Liyings maiden name was Zhang. Sun Yat-sen and her father Zhang Jingjiang were close friends. The revolution occurred in 1911 "greatly changed the fate of Zhang family." During the second world war， she was studying painting in Paris. Suns wife Song Ching Ling introduced and married her to Chen Youren （Eugene Chen） exiled in Paris. She changed her name to Chen. During the Japanese invasion of China， her husband Chen Youren was detained in Hong Kong， and then under house arrest in Shanghai， died in 1944 due to illness. That year Chen Liying was only 38 years old. As for the fourth turning point， it was the civil war of China at the end of 1940s. That war brought Chen to Singapore. More surprisingly， when Jo was studying her work and her private correspondences， she found that both works of Chen and Kathleen have shown on the Paris Art Salon by Henry Matisse — one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century. Although we are unable to verify whether they were acquaintances， but it is worth respect that the two female artists contribution in art in history.

Singapore joint exhibition “Everything is changing” was created by Jo Darrell and Yao Shiyun side by side. Through their study of artworks by Kathleen OConnor and Chen Liying， they created a series of new works. The works attempt to reveal the personal footprint of female artists in that unique age and reflect their creative life.

In real life， as a self-financing female artist Jo said： “I am a self-financing artist， I have to work — its a cost-effective. When a artist come to a new environment and create a work that has not met the expected results. For me， it is an unbearable luxury. However， in practice I gave myself a way to create the latest works for the greatest results， to create the best works， to accept rigorous debate， put them on internet and complete the study， any exhibition is no exception.endprint

In fact， many accidents are inevitable， as if somewhere destined， in 2014， in the "along the water until the end” exhibition， old O'Connor and his horse “twilight” is shocking people， and it happened to be the Chinese horse year； in 2017， " Everything is changing” has the temperament of fresh lotus came out from the mud but was not dyed. Coupled with the tribute to the Chinese female painter Chen Liying， Jo Darrell should really bring her artworks to China！

On December 2， 2017， in Manai Gallery， Beijing， China， we are waiting for you！

Artist Profile：

Jo Darvall was born in Yarram， Victoria， Australia， studied at the Victorian Art Institute and received a Bachelor degree of Fine Arts in 1998. In the 1990s， Jo founded a children's cultural trust with other Roar artists and raised more than $ 1 million in donations for charity projects. Since moving to Fremantle， Western Australia in 2009， she has been committed to discovering history and refining material. The two sale series and a tour show focused on Western Australian historical figure OConnor and his daughter Kathleen OConnor have drew many attentions. All these works are completed at her art studio in Fremantle Pakenham Street. In addition， she is also teaching at the Fremantle Art Center.

Jo has won the Mandjar Art Prize by oil painting “ Gorge Landscape” and she also won the Belmont Open Art Award in 2015. In 2016， funded by the Australian Ministry of Culture and Arts Association， she began her exhibitions internationally. She also received an exclusive interview with Asian Art News in 2017. Her works are collected at the Janet Holmes Court， the Australian Arts Bank， Western Australian Water Company， the Perth Crown Tower， the Royal Australian Children's Hospital， the Victorian State Library， Credit Suisse Group， Singapore Hua Le Hotel and so on.endprint