陳航：一路向西27年

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Article | Chen Kelong Li Tingting Pictures | Interviewee

2017年12月的一個(gè)午后，法國(guó)南部小城阿爾比陽光甚好。

圖盧茲?勞特累克博物館內(nèi)，一位來自重慶的畫家，背著手，彎著腰站在一幅油畫前，盯著一幅油畫看得入神。

畫家名叫陳航。那幅油畫，出自西方現(xiàn)代繪畫立體主義先驅(qū)保羅?塞尚之手。親眼看到“偶像”的真跡，陳航興奮得忘記了時(shí)間，看了整整一天。

It was a sunny afternoon in Albi, southern France, in December 2017. In Musée Toulouse-Lautrec there stood a man. Hands behind his back and bending, he fixed his eyes at an oil painting, quite entranced.

The man is a painter named Chen Hang from Chongqing, and the oil painting enchanted him is a work of Paul Cézanne, the modern western cubism painting pioneer. Chen Hang was so excited to see the authentic masterpiece of his icon that he planted himself there for a whole day.

把“家”安在敦煌Settling in Dunhuang

到法國(guó)之前，陳航剛在重慶辦完個(gè)人創(chuàng)作展。第一次見到陳航，正是展覽開幕那天，2017年11月18日。

瘦瘦高高的陳航從人群中走來，笑容滿面。一副無框眼鏡，一身黑色衣褲，邁著大步走進(jìn)了重慶兩江美術(shù)館，與來賓一一寒暄。

一樓的展廳面積不大，不過每面墻上都掛著陳航的作品。它們有一個(gè)共同的主題：“西部”。

正廳的墻上，一幅長(zhǎng)2米、高1.2米的國(guó)畫《岡仁波齊》，尤為攝人眼球。畫面中，白紅黑三種色彩，層次分明，明快筆直線條下的岡仁波齊，巍峨雄壯。

國(guó)畫上方，懸掛了一條紅色橫幅——禹跡西望，逐夢(mèng)絲路：陳航西行寫生創(chuàng)作展。

2016整整一年，以及2017年近半年的時(shí)間，陳航流連忘返于遙遠(yuǎn)的大西北。不但自己西行，

他還帶著妻子和年幼的兒子，把家安在了敦煌， 過起了日子。早上，妻子出門買菜，陳航就把兒子送到飛天幼兒園，然后自己帶上畫筆，游走在敦煌。

行書對(duì)聯(lián)

Before heading for France, Chen Hang just finished the exhibition of his own works in Chongqing.

The first time we saw him is the very day of the exhibition’s opening, November 18, 2017.

Chen Hang, slim and tall, wearing rimless glasses and in all black, strode into the Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art and greeted the guests one by one with all smiles.

Over 40 Chinese paintings were hanging on each wall of limited exhibition space at the first floor. All of these paintings have a same theme, “Western China”.

On the wall of the main hall hangs a quite eyecatching one—Mt. Gang Rinpoche, with a length of 2 meters and a height of 1.2 meters, which depicts the majestic and magnificent mountain with white, red,and black, distinct layers and straight lines.

Over the painting hangs a red banner saying “Pursuit along the Silk Road: Chen Hang’s Sketch in the Journey to Western China”.

From 2016 to 2017, Chen Hang spent a year and a half lingering in Northwest China.He even took his wife and son to settle in Dunhuang. In the morning, his wife went out for groceries, and he went out for sketching around the city alone after sending his son to kindergarten.

浪漫的西行寫生Romantic Sketching Journey to the West

陳航從法國(guó)回來后，我們?cè)谝患铱Х瑞^再次相見。聊得最多的，是他那些西行途中的故事。

第一次入藏，是陳航跟隨畫家段七丁先生去寫生。那是1991年的夏天，陳航還是個(gè)28歲的小伙子。年輕跳躍的心，一到了西藏，便沉靜了下來。

《經(jīng)行》

見我們對(duì)西藏很陌生，陳航主動(dòng)拿過我的本子，翻開一頁白紙，簡(jiǎn)單幾筆就勾畫出了一張地圖。

地圖上有四根彎曲的線條，分別是滇藏線、川藏線、青藏線和新藏線?！八臈l進(jìn)藏線，我都跑過?！标惡椒隽朔鲅坨R，略帶自豪地說。

“這里，岡仁波齊雪山。”陳航在地圖上圈出來，回憶起了與岡仁波齊的相遇，“2016年，我到岡仁波齊，前后經(jīng)過四次，前三次都沒見到雪山，云霧太大了。第四次，返程路上，我才有幸見到它的真容?！?/p>

談起西部的風(fēng)土人情，陳航更是眉飛色舞?！瓣栮P(guān)外，看著蒼茫的塞外，我真是不自覺就念出了‘前不見古人，后不見來者。念天地之悠悠，獨(dú)愴然而涕下’這首詩?！?/p>

浪漫與摯愛，溢于言表。

玉門關(guān)的蕭索、古格王朝遺跡的悠遠(yuǎn)、岡仁波齊的神圣、托林寺的古拙……寫生路上的每一處，對(duì)他來說都是生命的奇遇。

After his trip back from France, we met up again in a café. He talked most about the stories of his journey to western China.

He first went to Tibet in the summer, 1991,following painter Duan Qiding sketching there.As a 28-year- old boy, young and restless, he surprisingly felt calmness down upon the entrance into Tibet.

Noticing that Tibet is strange to us, Chen Hang took my notebook and drew a fairly simple map.

On the map were four curving lines, showing four highways to Tibet from Yunnan, Sichuan,Qinghai and Xinjiang. “I tried all of them.” He raised his glasses, and said somewhat proudly.

Chen Hang outlined Gang Rinpoche on the map.He recalled that he missed any sight of it for the first three time and made it till the fourth time.

He went into raptures at the mention of landscape in western China.

Indeed, his love for the west is beyond words.

For Chen Hang, every single place on the sketching journey is a treasure in his life.

以直為曲的美Straight Lines in Painting Creates Beauty

《青藏日記》

與塞尚的“相遇”，則是陳航的另一大收獲。塞尚對(duì)于線條的運(yùn)用，直接影響了他在傳統(tǒng)國(guó)畫上的創(chuàng)作。

傳統(tǒng)水墨丹青中的線條，多以曲為直，為了在國(guó)畫創(chuàng)作上不落窠臼，陳航在線條上做出了改變。他近年的作品，線條多以直為曲，《岡仁波齊》正是代表。

“美，將萬物歸納為直線 ?！标惡较矚g塞尚作品呈現(xiàn)出的立體感，也喜歡同樣愛用直線的清代畫家虛谷，“在虛谷的畫作中，直線雖多，而境界空靈?！?/p>

陳航浸潤(rùn)傳統(tǒng)中國(guó)畫多年，如何在傳統(tǒng)國(guó)畫上推陳出新，一直是他思考的問題?！耙幌鹿P就是古人，我不愿一直重復(fù)古人?！标惡教寡?，要想用古人的語匯超越古人，實(shí)非易事。

西部的游歷寫生，讓他開始有意放下傳統(tǒng)，遠(yuǎn)離傳統(tǒng)中國(guó)畫慣用的表現(xiàn)手法。不過，打破傳統(tǒng)并非丟掉傳統(tǒng)，陳航明白，“傳統(tǒng)是我的根基，已經(jīng)內(nèi)化于心。我的創(chuàng)新，在于打破國(guó)畫傳統(tǒng)的題材界限?！?/p>

“在他近年創(chuàng)作的作品里，那種‘宏大敘事’般的大開大合、渾然幽深、氣勢(shì)撼人的圖式漸漸地少了，而更多地以一種近乎‘臨景’的圖式表現(xiàn)大西北的所見所聞?！彼拇ù髮W(xué)藝術(shù)學(xué)院院長(zhǎng)、教授黃宗賢，對(duì)陳航的“創(chuàng)新”如此評(píng)價(jià)。

一如我們?cè)陉惡絺€(gè)展上，看到的那些作品，無物不可入畫。

Paul Cézanne’s use of lines exerted direct influence on Chen Hang's work in traditional Chinese painting.

Chen Hang made some changes to traditional Chinese painting lines that are mostly curved. Most of his recent works are more of straight lines, and Mt. Gang Rinpoche is one of the representatives.

“All beauty lies in the straight lines.” Chen Hang loves the cubic effect in Cézanne’s works and Chinese Qing dynasty artist Xu Gu who preferred straight lines in painting.

Engaged in traditional Chinese painting for years, Chen Hang has been always thinking about how to make innovations in the area.

The sketching journey to the west of China enabled him to put aside the conventional skills in traditional Chinese painting. But he knows clearly that it does not mean casting away the tradition.“What I want now is to break the limit of traditional painting subjects.”

“There are less heavy, grandiose depictions in his latest works, and more vivid portraits of the earthly scenes in western China instead,” Remarked Huang Zongxian, professor and dean of Sichuan University’s College of Arts.

Just as the pictures we saw on Chen Hang’s solo exhibition, nothing cannot be put into a painting.

以書入畫的功力Combination of Calligraphy and Painting

聊到午后，陳航從手提包里拿出了一本剛出版的畫冊(cè)——《當(dāng)代中國(guó)書畫大家：陳航卷》。

一幅《甘青日記》引起了我們極大的興趣，畫面中的塔寺與題跋，筆墨枯少，又奇妙地相得益彰。

《八美》之一、之二

陳航解釋，“這是渴筆法，塔寺一筆而就，就像寫字一樣，不作停頓?！?/p>

畫冊(cè)中還有許多作品采用了渴筆法。陳航認(rèn)為，它非常適合表現(xiàn)大西北的蒼茫。這也要求畫家得有過硬的書法功底。

事實(shí)上，陳航青年時(shí)就隨大哥陳爭(zhēng)一起學(xué)習(xí)書畫。攻讀博士時(shí)，陳航的專業(yè)正是書法。

陳航的哥哥陳爭(zhēng)，現(xiàn)在是貴州省美術(shù)家協(xié)會(huì)副主席、貴州畫院院長(zhǎng)、貴州省美術(shù)館館長(zhǎng)。在他眼中，弟弟陳航“在同輩的國(guó)畫家中，無論是學(xué)理探究的廣度，文史修養(yǎng)的全面，書法歷練的精深，包括傳道解惑的能力，陳航所達(dá)到的高度，能匹敵者委實(shí)寥若晨星”。

陳爭(zhēng)對(duì)弟弟在書法上的造詣，同樣知之甚深，陳爭(zhēng)曾說，“我們?cè)陉惡降淖髌分锌床坏叫傅∑＼浀墓P墨，而點(diǎn)畫間總是充盈著精氣神的旺健和情理之中意料之外的筆外之筆，墨外之墨，味外之味?！?/p>

In the afternoon, Chen Hang took out a newly published painting album: Contemporary Chinese Painter—Chen Hang.

In the album the painting Ganqing Diary interested us a lot, in which the pogodas and temples as well as the calligraphy inscription seemed to be finished with somewhat dry ink but very harmonious altogether.

“This technique is called drybrush. The temples and pogodas are painted with none stop, just like in calligraphy,” Chen Hang explained.

The dry brush technique is used in many other works in the album. It is perfect for depicting the vastness of Northwest China, according to Chen Hang, but it asks for a painter’s good handling in calligraphy.

Actually, Chen Hang followed his brother Chen Zhen to learn calligraphy and painting since he was young, and his doctor’s degree was majored in calligraphy, too.

His brother Chen Zhen now is the vice president of Guizhou Artists Association, dean of Guizhou Painting Institute, as well as the curator of Guizhou Art Gallery. In light of him, “No matter it is in academic study or calligraphy, accomplishment in culture and history or in education, Chen Hang exceeds a lot most of the other counterparts.”

Chen Zhen knows well his younger brother’s attainments in calligraphy as well. He remarked, “In Chen Hang’s works, there is never sluggishness but always vigor and energy. His strokes may be out of your expectation but keep within understanding,and will leave you a lingering taste.”