The Soul in Images—A Voyage to Wang Xinyao’s Painting Art

By Gong Xue

Wang Xinyao is more an artist than a university professor, an expert in oil paintings who also excels in traditional Chinese paintings. On December 24, 2018, he told us his story and feelings about his artistic career.

When we walked into his studio, the first painting we saw was Huang Xing in the Battle of Hanyang, which was painted in 1981 when he graduated from university. “It was under Huang Xing’s command that the famous Wuchang Uprising fired its first shot of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911. That’s why the color and composition of this work is full of stories and heroism,” Wang Xinyao said. “Influenced greatly by the literature and art of the Soviet Union, our contemporary art creation eulogizes heroism and puts high value on major historical themes, which is vividly presented in these works.” The painting also reveals his trains of thought during his artistic process.

In the mid-to-late 1980s, a group of painters from Hubei Province went to Tibet, and Wang Xinyao was among them. Back then Tibet was developing and very different from the central part of China in terms of landscapes, the geography, and people’s living conditions. “We were fascinated by everything we saw there: people’s colorful dresses, simple lifestyles, their eyes while communicating with outsiders, and the vast and pure natural sceneries,” said Wang Xinyao. Prayers of the Plateau was painted during that period.

While working on oil paintings, Wang Xinyao is also devoted to traditional Chinese paintings. The undulating mountains in Tibet, the rolling and changing clouds, and the unpredictable and turbulent natural phenomena were all mesmerizing to him. He said, “At first I tried to draw mountain compilations with simple colors, which I found unexpectedly interesting and relaxing because of the magical nature and my various attempts with different materials.”

Zhang Xiaoling, an art critic, once commented on Wang’s works, “Your painting is no longer a simple depiction of the landscape, but sublimation on the spiritual level. Instead of depending on the object itself, your works put an emphasis on feeling and interpreting the object.”

In the early 1990s, the city began its demolition campaign, during which old lanes and alleys full of vivid stories, bamboo stools still warm from body heat, fans and other old daily items, as well as the joy of sharing a good dish with neighbors all vanished against the background of fast economic development. Having grown up in the local culture of Wuhan city, Wang created works in accordance with his memories,

such as The Memory of an Old Lane and City Impression. By applying flat shading skills in colors and shapes, he gave these works a dreamy feeling, presented images subjectively, and reminisced on the time and memories of his generation. Old Lane, hung on the wall of his studio, was his representative work of this type, which clearly reflected the changes of his artistic style: from people to scenery, from oil painting to ink painting, from figuration to imagery. These works brought him fame and he became one of the representative artists who were born in the 1950s in Hubei Province.

The Memory of an Old Lane (No.6), oil on canvas, by Wang Xinyao 老巷記憶NO.6 布面油畫

“While in university, I had the opportunity to attend many seminars and visits, which brought me to art galleries and museums all over the world, including the United States, Britain, Netherlands, Russia, etc.” Wang said that the combination and fusion of Chinese and Western art was the direction he has been exploring for the past few years. He believes that modern painting is no longer bound by the old and narrow definition of art. It has become a cultural form with broad definitions which crossed borders long before.

“As a modern artist, I often contemplate on the question of how to create works with individuality and responsibility in our time. I’m trying to find a merging point between traditional Chinese painting and oil painting,” Wang Xinyao said. “On one occasion it hit me that while oil painting is strong and heavy, ink painting is light and graceful. Therefore, the combination of the two might complement each other and cater more to the aesthetic requirements of modern people. So, I tried to use acrylic and oil paints to express the momentum of Chinese painting. Meanwhile I didn’t want my works to only depict the landscape and nature as I did in the past, but to express the traditional humanistic spirit of China in an abstract way and from a modern perspective.”

In line with China’s aesthetics, the style and nature of Chinese culture lie in simplicity, conciseness, majesty, and magnificence. In Wang’s office, we were attracted by a set of four oil paintings, which is one of his oil painting works with the theme of Chinese style. Along with applying the “formless” ink mass from Chinese calligraphy, he intensively explored the techniques of oil paintings such as scraping, sprinkling and spraying, to express the unique spirit and temperament of Chinese-style landscapes.

These flowing images look like natural forms such as mountains, clouds, oceans, and creatures. They can also be viewed as a phenomenon or an aura in life, expressing the unique magnificence of Chinese culture. When viewers look at them, they might have different interpretations. In terms of the relation between “shape and spirit” and “the subjective and the objective,” Chinese painting theory advocates “presenting spirit with shapes,” “l(fā)earning wisdom and obtaining inspiration from nature, which renders one good artistic works,” and “the best artistic work lies between similarity and sameness.” Therefore, the emphasis on “spirit” and “image” and the concept of valuing emotions and presence became the cornerstone of Wang’s artwork.

Wang’s works went through several stages ranging from figurative art to imagery art to today’s abstract art. He commented that it is more difficult to draw abstract paintings because the painters need to consider how to showcase all kinds of reflections, feelings, and images. Abstract paintings emphasize more on self and instant passion by means of the diverse composition, color, and language expressions. There are no objects for reference in terms of choice of style and the processing of texture. It’s up to an artist’s taste and aesthetics. Painters need to use their brains and imagination in order to create new things. While painting, artists need to interact with and question the picture, painstakingly exploring and probing it in their minds. When they are not satisfied, they must scrap it and do it all over again.

On the road of integrating Chinese and Western art, Xu Beihong was the first one who introduced Western realistic sketching to Chinese paintings. Zao Wou-Ki advocated French romanticism in his early years. Wang Xinyao is different from them and is currently treading on an artistic path no one has traveled before. (Translation: Lu Qiongyao)

The Memory of an Old Lane (No.3), oil on canvas, by Wang Xinyao老巷記憶NO.3 布面油畫

以形寫神，妙在似與不似之間——王心耀的繪畫藝術(shù)探索

文/ 龔雪

王心耀，中國湖北武漢人，中國武漢江漢大學(xué)設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)院教授、院長，湯湖美術(shù)館館長，武漢美術(shù)家協(xié)會(huì)副主席。當(dāng)代油畫家、國畫家，亦廣泛涉獵設(shè)計(jì)、插畫、版畫等藝術(shù)形式。油畫《高原的祈禱》獲“中國當(dāng)代青年美展”金獎(jiǎng)；油畫《中國風(fēng)》入選“第十二屆全國美展”。作品被博物館、美術(shù)館、機(jī)構(gòu)及私人收藏，藝術(shù)成就收入《中國現(xiàn)代美術(shù)史》《中國當(dāng)代美術(shù)史文獻(xiàn)集》。

王心耀不僅是一名大學(xué)教授，更是一位藝術(shù)家。他以油畫見長，中國畫也能信手拈來。2018年12月24日，他跟筆者講述了自己對藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的心得和感受。

王心耀工作室，進(jìn)門第一幅畫《黃興在漢陽保衛(wèi)戰(zhàn)中》，創(chuàng)作于1981年大學(xué)畢業(yè)之際?！包S興指揮武昌起義打響辛亥革命第一槍，所以這幅作品的色彩和構(gòu)圖充滿了故事性和英雄主義色彩?！蓖跣囊f，“當(dāng)代藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作受文學(xué)、蘇聯(lián)繪畫的影響較大，對英雄主義的謳歌、對重大歷史題材的重視，都鮮明體現(xiàn)在作品中?！边@張畫也隱約道出了王心耀的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作思路。

20世紀(jì)80年代中后期，王心耀等一批湖北畫家去西藏，當(dāng)時(shí)西藏還少有開發(fā)，原始自然，地理環(huán)境和生活狀態(tài)與中部迥異。“藏民多彩的穿著打扮、樸素的生活方式、與人交流的眼神，以及西藏純凈、廣闊的自然風(fēng)光，都讓人新奇、癡迷、流連?！蓖跣囊f?！陡咴钠矶\》就是這一時(shí)期創(chuàng)作的。

在創(chuàng)作油畫同時(shí)，王心耀也傾心于中國畫創(chuàng)作。西藏山脈起伏，云浪翻滾，自然現(xiàn)象變幻莫測、波譎云詭。他說：“開始我嘗試在宣紙上畫一些色彩單純、平面化的山，造物的神奇加上材料的嘗試，我發(fā)現(xiàn)繪畫變得很有趣味性，成為一種放松的方式?！迸u家張曉凌曾評價(jià)他的作品：“你的繪畫已經(jīng)不再是描繪風(fēng)景，而是一種精神層面的升華。繪畫逐漸脫離對表現(xiàn)對象的依賴，而是去感受對象、表現(xiàn)對象?！?/p>

Chinese Style: Qi, acrylic on canvas, by Wang Xinyao 中國風(fēng)·氣 布面丙烯油畫

20世紀(jì)90年代初期，城市開始大拆遷，那些煙火味的尋常巷陌，散發(fā)著體溫的竹凳、蒲扇等生活物件，鄰里分享一盤好菜的喜悅等等，迅速消失在經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的社會(huì)大背景中。在武漢本土文化中長大的王心耀，憑著回憶，創(chuàng)作了《老巷記憶》《城市印象》等作品，他在色調(diào)、造型上都做了平面化處理，營造出夢幻感覺，表明主觀思想和意象，在作品里回顧了他這一代人的歲月記憶。代表作《老巷》，懸掛在工作室墻上，清晰地反映出王心耀藝術(shù)風(fēng)格的變化：從人物到風(fēng)景，從油畫到水墨，從具象到意象。他也因這些作品而成為湖北畫壇20世紀(jì)50年代出生的代表畫家之一。

“大學(xué)期間，學(xué)習(xí)訪問和交流活動(dòng)都很多。我有機(jī)會(huì)參觀了世界各地藝術(shù)館、博物館，包括美國、英國、荷蘭、俄羅斯的等等?！蓖跣囊f，中西結(jié)合、中西融合，是他近幾年努力探索的方向。他認(rèn)為，現(xiàn)在的繪畫，已經(jīng)不再是過去定義的狹隘的畫種概念，而是早已跨界，成為一個(gè)大的文化范疇。

“作為一名當(dāng)代藝術(shù)家，如何在時(shí)代背景下，創(chuàng)作一些有個(gè)性、擔(dān)當(dāng)?shù)淖髌罚俏視r(shí)?？紤]的問題，我嘗試探索在國畫、油畫之間找一個(gè)碰撞點(diǎn)。”王心耀說，“一次偶然的機(jī)會(huì)，讓我找到靈感：油畫厚重、雄渾，水墨輕盈、通透，兩者結(jié)合，相得益彰，更符合現(xiàn)代人的審美要求。所以我嘗試用布面丙烯、油彩，來表達(dá)中國繪畫的氣勢。同時(shí)，我又不想回到過去只停留在對山水、對自然的描繪，而是用當(dāng)代的視角，抽象表達(dá)中國傳統(tǒng)人文精神?！?/p>

單純、簡潔、磅礴、大氣，這才是中國文化的氣派和內(nèi)涵，更符合中國的審美。在辦公室一角，一套四條屏油畫作品引起筆者注意，這是他近年來“中國風(fēng)”主題油畫創(chuàng)作作品之一。他借用中國書法的韻味，采用水墨“沒骨法”的團(tuán)塊，同時(shí)大量探索油畫中刮、灑、噴等技法，來表現(xiàn)“中國風(fēng)”山水的特有意境和氣質(zhì)。這種流動(dòng)、意象，既像是山、云、海洋、生物等自然形態(tài)，也可以理解為生活中一種現(xiàn)象、一種氣場，它表現(xiàn)了中國文化中特有的雄渾，觀者在欣賞時(shí)，充滿哲思和遐想，欣賞角度也各不相同。在“形與神”“主觀與客觀”的關(guān)系上，中國畫論主張“以形寫神”“外師造化，中得心源”和“妙在似與不似之間”。崇尚“神似”和“意境”、注重畫情感和氣度的“形神觀”，成為王心耀的藝術(shù)基石。

王心耀的創(chuàng)作從早期的具象、中期的意象，發(fā)展到現(xiàn)在的抽象。他說，畫抽象畫更難，因?yàn)楫嫾乙媾R由各種印象、感覺、影像所引起的思考和表現(xiàn)。抽象畫更強(qiáng)調(diào)自我、瞬間的激情，涉及畫面構(gòu)成、色彩、語言表達(dá)，比如樣式的選擇、肌理的處理，是沒有對象可參照的，其中還涉及藝術(shù)趣味、審美情趣的高低。這些都需要畫家動(dòng)腦筋來發(fā)揮，甚至無中生有。創(chuàng)作時(shí)，常常與畫面互動(dòng)、對抗，反復(fù)探索，自我折磨。有時(shí)候不滿意，刮了重新再來。

在中西融合的道路上，徐悲鴻倡導(dǎo)將西方寫實(shí)素描引入中國畫，趙無極早年崇尚法國浪漫主義。王心耀不同于他們，走一條前人從未走過的路。