龚 云 表
一
有人曾将上海称为中国“抽象艺术首都”，这或许是不无道理的。还在上世纪八十年代下半期，上海即涌现出为数众多的抽象艺术家，开始在边缘和夹缝中拼杀出一片让自己赖以生存的空间，竭力以各种艺术或非艺术的方式来书写自己的人文价值。而从九十年代之后，上海抽象艺术家已是一个不容小觑的群体，他们已能更多地从艺术本体，从视觉语言和形式的层面来建构自己的艺术理想，将重点转移到自我的艺术字样、绘画个人话语的确立，以及文化态度、价值归属的重建，从而相对于全国，形成了上海独特的地域性文化现象。未几，在进入新世纪后的2002年2月和2004年11月，“抽象新世说——上海抽象艺术群体展”和“上海抽象艺术大展”的举办，无疑具有某种象征意味，即在中国当代艺术运动中的“上海身份”，终于以“抽象艺术”作为标识得到了无可置疑的认定。这两个展览的始作俑者，便是李磊。实际上“策展人”只是他偶一为之的反串角色，他更正式的身份则是参展的抽象艺术家。
尽管要对上海抽象艺术家的整体风格加以概括是困难的，但我还是试图用两个字来描述，那就是：“温和”。温和或可视为一种成熟的标志，它虽然没有强烈的视觉效果所具有的颠覆性和冲击力，却有着一种更接近艺术本源的亲和力和渗透力。“温和”并非是“冷漠”和“平淡”的同义词，而是一种有着深刻内涵的温顺和妩媚，它让你只能慢慢地亲近它，然后悄悄地而又深深地，弥久常新地沁入你的肌肤，撼动你的心灵。李磊作为上海抽象艺术的重要画家之一，其所具有的代表性，也正体现在他所建立的那种充满诗意的、温文尔雅的个人抽象语言，那种在作品中所呈现的从容不迫地表达自己对现实和人生的体验和感悟。
与上海抽象艺术家群体那种特立独行的“自足型”个体创作状态相契合，李磊同样是一位完全个人化的抽象艺术的“独行侠”。回顾他走过的近20年的抽象艺术创作道路，无论是他早期的、带有明显实验性的作品，抑或是近年来所建立的属于自己的风格和图式，都深深烙上李磊个人话语的印记。我将其称为“诗性抽象艺术”。
二
李磊1965年出生在上海，虽然他在童年时代随着作为军人的父母远赴大西北，但是他的美术道路是在上海起步的，他艺术的根扎在上海。上海，在中国是一个充满西化、充满异国情调的城市。上海文明是中国近代以来最有容量，也最有潜力的地域文明。但是，上海的文化传统在近代中国又是作为一个“非我族类”的另类而存在的。正是由于上海独特的文化身份，使西方文化得以在上海找到了移植嫁接的土壤，其中也包括抽象艺术。上海所具有的中西结合的海派文化精神特质，与抽象艺术所追求的纯粹的绝对的形而上精神，有着天然的内在联系。从这个意义来说，李磊成为一位上海的抽象艺术家，自有其一定的必然性。这是一个自觉地将自己置身于历史和文化的大情境中作出的选择。是渗透着本土文明的内在思辨，表达地域性的民族审美情怀的理念，驱使他作出这样的选择。
但是，或许是因为有着大西北富有诗意的生活气息的熏陶，李磊又表现出一种不同于上海本土画家的异禀。他在华夏文明的发祥地之一的青海湟水谷地度过了无忧无虑的童年，远古马家窑文化的遗风滋润了他幼小的心灵。也许正是高原上那粗犷、古朴而又充满神秘色彩的原始文化和古老传说在他心头形成了意义深远的童年情结，那种对生命力的感知和对原始生态的崇拜成为一种不自觉的因素潜在地支配着他的思维和创作。多年以前，年轻时的李磊曾只身一人奔赴四川贡嘎山海螺沟，闯入冰川峡谷的无人区，在孤独无援中体验生命的价值。他在回忆那段经历时说：“游海螺沟对我来说不仅是一次生命的壮游，更是一次灵魂的涤荡……每当贡嘎山那雪白的影子从我梦里浮现时，我都会油然而生出无限的喜悦，在静谧与安详中思考：生从何处来，死往何处去……”也许由此能够理解，在上海都市生存空间中之所以能诞生李磊那些充满诗性的抽象艺术作品，原来其源头是在遥远的千里之外的高原之上。正是在大自然的怀抱中，李磊捕捉到了自我生命的直接体验，感受到了在自己体内涌动的生命意志，从而寻找到了在艺术上自由表达的属于自己的语言和方式。
康定斯基在《论艺术的精神》中说：“就艺术家而言，重要的是观察独立于世界中的种种自然物是如何使用基本要素的。在自然固有的构成法则中，有可能对艺术家开放的，不是外在的模仿……两大世界——艺术和自然——的法则虽然是这样各自独立存在的，但它们最终都将导致对贯穿整个宇宙结构法则的理解，同时也将明白艺术和自然分别而又共同地干预高度综合的秩序——外在性加内在性这一事实。”康定斯基在这里所说的“内在性”，或可理解为由艺术和自然所体现的“深度”。这种深度，可以是形而上观念的，也可以是情感经验，抑或是对于人生的探究的。康定斯基用由他所开创的抽象艺术来呈现这种内在性，这早已被世人所认同。而在当今物欲横流、时尚泛滥的时代，却似乎已失却了内在性所有的深度。上海作为一座风云际会的大都市，更已放弃了对观念深度的追求，而对于情感及人生深度的探求，也已转移到对应接不暇的新的、多层次的城市经验的追逐上。然而也正因为在这样一个时代，内在性才显得更有其价值。内在性本身也才有可能获得一种深刻的批判性。而抽象艺术作为体现内在性的艺术样式，也因此在价值取向上具有不容忽视的当代性和先锋性。李磊作为一位置身都市生活的上海抽象画家，却能恪守审美理想，以自我意识的控制，冷静地应对充满诱惑的现代都市经验，保持一种批判性的距离感，并在抽象艺术创作和对内在性的追求中，通过诗性的绘画语汇，使自己的生命体验得以升华，不断迸发出新的火花，这的确是难能可贵的。
三
所谓“诗性抽象艺术”，似应与表现性抽象艺术风格有着某种渊源关系，但又无法简单地将其归属于表现性。因为它走得更远，也挖掘得更深。在李磊的作品中，既充斥着强烈的表现性，冲破表象世界所有稳定不变的形式，以本我生命不断呈现的语言和形式轨迹，体现其审美价值；而且更进一步以一种超然出世的精神追求，表现出一种纯洁唯美的理想主义情结，营造出温和高雅、出凡脱俗的境界。他以一种十分纯粹简约的语言来表达现代人对精神与美的诉求，并且恰到好处地融入中国文化精神，承载着他的文人理想和诗人情怀。
这种“诗性”抽象绘画语言，始终贯穿在李磊整个艺术创作的历程之中，有着清晰鲜明的脉络可循。早在整整20年前，他作为上海“版画角”艺术运动的成员之一，在他创作的《太阳鸟》版画系列，以及在其后不久创作的《月亮蛇》油画系列中，在风格样式上已带有较为明显的表现主义意味，而且其审美内核及意趣营构，也已蕴藉着脉脉含情的诗意。李磊从开始他的艺术创作之时起，就偏离于传统写实而侧重于表现，讲究形式的象征意味，在似与不似之间，以对生命本质执着的理想主义，以及童年生活所赋予的对于神奇世界的丰富想象力，建构起对内在精神的观照，以自然生命力作为切入点，创造出充满诗意的梦幻世界。而太阳鸟和月亮蛇在画面中只是一种符号，一种体现生命意态的诗性符号。
当下中国的抽象画家，几乎无一例外都是从具象画家经历了长期艰苦探索，才完成形式的转换过程而走向抽象艺术的。李磊也同样如此。但是，事实上他很早就已经自觉地进入了从具象到抽象的转换状态。在《太阳鸟》和《月亮蛇》等系列的作品中，物象都呈现出简约概括的特质，通常都不作细部的刻画，而是强调以少胜多的整体把握和物象的内在构造和精神，实际上这与作为“无物象绘画”的抽象艺术的精神是正相契合的。除了上述的《太阳鸟》和《月亮蛇》系列作品之外，李磊在他的许多风景画创作中，也十分注重形与色、笔触与结构等绘画形式要素的表现力，努力朝着形式自律的方向进行自觉的探索，并且强调用充满动感的形状与线条对物象进行分解和抽提，从而暗示了他对绘画抽象性的思考。
正是在这样的探索过程中，使李磊逐渐认识到，抽象艺术比具象艺术具有更自由、更广阔的表现空间。他感到，抽象艺术不是从一个自然片断、而是从一个整体去认识自然，是把对自然的感受积累起来，从中归纳出它的内在构造的精神，是不同于“器”的“道”，是有别于“形而下”的“形而上”。由此，李磊开始踏上了他的抽象艺术之旅。在他的创作的形式转换过程中，他不仅没有因此而消解艺术的意义，恰恰相反，他在形式与意义的张力中获得了充满诗性的形式的深度。
四
李磊的抽象艺术创作，是从《禅花》油画系列正式发端的。而在此之前，他还创作过许多纸本的抽象粉彩画。在这些作品中，尽管还有具体物象的痕迹，但已令人明显感受到他已更加关注对事物的主观反应和体验，更强调画面深处的精神性因素，着重研究形式与人的内在情感之间的关系，即通过形式的表象，发展成内心情感的深刻体验。而且，他已十分注重营造画面的光色视觉效应，将一些特殊的肌理融入光色的表现之中，并且着力以相对规整的色块和层次丰富、浸洇浮动的色彩，组合成“力态”和“情态”的互补结构，从而以一种既有对立冲突又深蕴和谐、既富有哲理又充满激情的动态结构产生出巨大的视觉张力，让人们从中意会出丰富的音韵、旋律和节奏。这是一种用笔触和图式构建的诗的语言，幻化出独具魅力的诗的意蕴，传递出富有诗歌内涵的审美境界，一个诗意的世界。在这个世界里，栖息着李磊的艺术灵魂。
这种诗性抽象艺术，实际上是一种“情理交汇”的结果，是一种将创造激情通过有意识的自我控制和精心制作，达到完美的理性表述。但是这种感性表述并非没有感性的成分，只不过这种感性是一种经过提炼和升华的感性，犹如古人写诗“吟哦一个字，捻断数根茎”的推敲过程。李磊通过对画面的惨淡经营，用一种近乎纯真形式的视觉趣味，将稚拙的天真，返朴归真的本我意志交融相生，抒发了一种被理性过滤的诗化情感。
李磊好“禅”。他对禅宗所强调的人的“离念”的本觉状态的“得意忘象”的审美旨趣有着很深的感悟，从而能以宽广的襟怀与自然在参禅中相互吐纳，在心灵中荡涤一切尘埃。而经过过滤的物象得以抽象而出，完成从有形向无形的过渡，从而让画面变得更纯粹、更洗炼，达到一种“表里俱澄澈，悠然心会，妙处难与君说”的境界。他深谙禅意立于行动与造型之先的理念，摆脱因形象所造成的局限，获得深邃的终极之道，摒弃具体形象所构成的向无限境界跃进的障碍，以对自身的还原和本性的复归，使作品走向既具生意又富境界的状态。
禅宗对中国古代美学的影响，抑或体现在使中国人的审美经验臻于境界化。中国文人在禅的不断熏染之下，不期而然地表现出禅的诗化，即意境化，或文人化。而当禅宗渐次趋于文人化，禅的经验也就被赋予了更多诗的性质，禅化与诗化成为一种双向的过程，互相渗透，互为因果，而它的汇聚点则是境界。由于禅宗对情感世界的涤洗和过滤，涅槃式的真情实感得以萌生，它以诗性的面目出现，即是一种作为审美经验的禅心。李磊以禅入手，向审美之域进发，并且以联想类比的譬喻方式，选择了“禅花”作为命题，使不可思议、不可言说的空灵的诗境得以落实到画面上，这就令人不得不叹服他的构想之妙。
花，是禅宗中一个极为重要的意象，也是中国文化传统中一个极为重要的审美象征。所谓“禅家三境”中的一境，即为“空山无人，水流花开”，出自佛偈《十八大阿罗汉颂》，营造出一种“空灵无迹”与“寂静有声”相对而相溶的意境。古代诗人留下了诸多禅诗，如“花会宜春浅,禅游喜夜凉。高明依月境,萧散蹑庭芳。”“寂寂孤月心，花落始知静。”“心境寒草花，空门青山月”“何意欲归山，道高由境胜。花空觉性了，月尽知心证。”透过这些诗句，人们可以感知，花香虽然醉人，意境却更深邃，一切物象已被赋予心静之证，空灵纯净的人格由是获得了诗的品格，诗的禅化和禅的诗化的这种互为表里的关系也便得到了和谐的体现。而这也正是李磊通过《禅花》系列作品所要传达给人们的境界。
五
人们在研究抽象艺术时，往往更多地从西方那里寻找源头，而忽视在中国博大精深的文化和艺术传统中探寻精神本源。李磊却大异其趣。几年前他曾以老子的《道德经》作为他作品图式的文本依托，创作了以《道》为总标题的布面丙烯和纸本水墨两个系列的抽象绘画作品。其后，他又以类似的形式创作了一组与中国古代诗歌互为映衬的作品，从中可以感受到李磊自觉从中国文化传统的哲理和诗境中提炼出抽象的艺术因子，来丰富自己的诗性抽象艺术语言。
老子在《道德经》中开宗明义说：“道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名。无名，天地始，有名，万物母。常无，欲观其妙；常有，欲观其徼。此两者同出而异名，同谓之玄，玄之又玄，众妙之门。”又说：“大音希声，大象无形。”“道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。”在老子看来，道是玄而又玄，不能用言辞来表达，也不能用概念来把握。最完美的音乐是人们听不到的音乐本身，最大的形象是人们看不见形状而深藏于“本我”心中的“道”。而所谓的“道生一，一生二……”则更是将“道”当作“无”，所以才有庄子所说的“泰初有无，无有无名，一之所起，有一而未形，物得以生。”这与抽象艺术在精神本质上其实正是一脉相通的。由此也可联想到苦瓜和尚石涛在《画语录》中提出的“一画论”，所谓“此一画收尽鸿蒙之外，即亿万万笔墨，未有不始于此而终于此”，也即是以传统的哲理真谛，比喻画家从艺术“抽象”获得“神遇而迹化”、“一画一世界”的无穷能量。
据说，石涛是从他的禅宗师傅旅庵本月与一位名叫玉林通琇大师的一次交谈中，萌发出“一画”观念的。玉林问本月：“一字不加画，是什么字？”本月答曰：“五彩已彰。”在旅庵本月看来，“一”完备了从无到万的转换。“一”之前一切俱无，“一”之后造物生矣，五彩“已彰”。石涛从中悟出了这个造物之“一”就是绘画活动，懂得了“盖以无法生有法，以有法贯众法”。他强调法自我立和从于心者，将“一画论”扩展成一套复杂的技法，形成自己的大成。作为当代艺术家的李磊，从石涛的“一画论”受到启发，在画面上，从单一的笔触巧妙地由点变成线或再变成面，在重叠、交叉和互相贯通的同时稳固地扎根并生长起来，结合成为空灵深邃的氤氲，表现出气韵生动的意境，在对多种绘画因素的综合集成中，传达出一种纯粹的人生感悟和生命体验。在这一时期的作品中，李磊的绘画语言也从表现性变为更具精神性，并逐渐形成了自己独特的抽象修辞语汇。他的画，正如石涛所说：“闲情笔墨之中，放怀笔墨之外”、“纵使笔不笔，墨不墨，画不画，自有我在”。
李磊参悟了“道”的玄妙、“禅”的高深，也读懂了石涛“一画经”物我两忘、离形取智的奥秘，以超然物外的“本我”抒写寄兴的精神，提升自我境界，把“画迹”只是作为“心迹”的记录，并且把画境与诗境融为一体，所营造的形而上达到是一种境界形态的形而上，也即是将理性的“道”和“禅”上升到诗的境界，这也可视作是李磊抽象艺术创作中的另一种“情理交汇”。
六
如果刻意梳理一下多向杂陈的抽象艺术创作状态，大致可以看出有两种互不相同的倾向：一种是以表现主义的绘画性转变为图式化的个人符号；另一种则是以理性化的文化意义的设计，体现出一种后现代注意的特征。前者往往是艺术家注重于对个人经验的积累和探索，确立图式也即是一种寻找自我的方式；后者则更多的是对文化背景和含义的分析和对于形式的理性设计。在一个不短的时期里，李磊无疑更接近于前者，但是近几年中，他开始将后者的理念作为一种积极元素，也融入他的创作中去，构成了“两极融合”的互补相生的形态。
去年8月，在一次关于写生活动的研讨会上，李磊有一个颇有意味的发言，他说：“……搞抽象艺术的，更多从主观概念出发，在图式上，处理方式上很容易进入到一种比较狭隘的状态中。鲜活的东西从哪里来？实际上就是从现实生活的多样性中寻找自己感动的东西。这次活动的题目叫‘人文江南’，抽象艺术怎样在这个题目里找到对应，最根本的是画面中对象和我内心的感动能够对应起来。第一个感觉是整体上的调子是绿；第二个特性是水，江南的水，在我的画面上我去寻找一种流动性的东西；第三个是‘弥漫’，就是造型的不确定性。通过这三个元素的组合来寻找我心目中的人文江南。”这正好可以看作是用他自己的话来阐述他的“两极融合”。李磊所说的“最根本的是画面中对象和我内心的感动能够对应起来”，实际上即是以“本我”为主体，营构内心意象的表现图式，是一种精神潜意识的显现过程；而所谓“通过这三个元素的组合来寻找我心目中的人文江南”，则带有明显的理性形式的设计理念，旨在将这种设计赋予产生人文意义的可能。李磊十分成功地完成了这种“两极融合”的尝试。他在那次活动中创作的《忆江南》系列以及其后不久在武夷山完成的《意象武夷》系列，都既在画面的表层上以一种视觉符号为主要特征，又在深层蕴含了江南人文的意义指向，并且具有强烈的个人化诗性抽象形式美感。
其实这种“两极融合”的尝试早在李磊创作《道》系列水墨抽象作品时就已开始。他用规整的直条、栅条或十字条彩纸粘贴在水墨淋漓、飘逸挥洒的画面上，从而建构起张弛有度的力场。这些作品，既达到了符号的简洁和指向性，又以包括点、线、面的动态组合和“偶发性”及“不确定性”的即兴画痕等形式元素营造出富有人文意蕴和音乐性内涵的诗的意境，引发人们对于生命意义的丰沛联想。而在李磊的近期作品中，这种“两极融合”的倾向更加带有预设性，也因此使两者的结合更加和谐融洽。这种结合，既为他的创作风格和形式提供了更大的可能性，也极大地丰富了他诗性抽象艺术的个人语汇。回到前面提及的“温和”，我们有理由认为，在李磊的艺术创作中，他的“情理交汇”和“两极融合”，正可视为是他保持和强化“温和”的创作风格的两大支撑和依托，而其审美核心，则是他独树一帜的诗性抽象艺术语言。这是否也就是李磊抽象艺术的一种品格呢？
2006年金秋时节于沪上系云居
The summary of Li-lei’s poetic abstract painting
Gong-yun biao
I
Shanghai has been called as “the capital of abstract art in China”, perhaps it’s true. In the latter of 1980’s, there were so many abstract artists who began to strive for their own art space through various artistic or non-artistic means to illustrate their human values in shanghai. Since 1990’s, the abstract artists of shanghai has becoming a community which could not be neglected. These artists can structure their own art ideals from the aspects of art things-in-themselves, visual language and models, etc. they can put more emphasis on establishment of art written characters, individual painting characters, and on the reconstruction of cultural attitude, value belongs. Comparing with all over the country, therefore, the unique regional cultural feature came into being in shanghai. Subsequently, in Feb, 2002 and in Nov, 2004, the successful holding of “abstract theory in new century—the group exhibition of the shanghai abstract art” and “the exhibition of the shanghai abstract art” has somewhat symbolic significance, that is to say, after these two events, “Shanghai identity” in China’s contemporary art movement has been accepted doubtless as the symbol of “abstract art”. The sponsor of these two exhibitions is Li-lei. Actually, Li-lei’s formal status is not a sponsor but a participant as an abstract artist.
It’s difficult to sum up the entire style for the Shanghai abstract artists, however, I still tried to describe it as moderation. Perhaps moderation is a symbol of maturity. While moderation has no subversive result and impact force which striking visual effect has, it has the affinity and penetrating power which is closer to the art origin. “moderate” is not the synonym of “indifferent” or “undistinguished”. Moderation has a kind of meek and charming which can be intimate with slowly, infiltrate stealthily and deeply into your skin and shock your heart. As one of the important abstract artists in Shanghai, Li-lei is the representative of personal abstract language which is poetic and gentle. He can easily express his own experience and feeling of reality and human life in his works.
Conforming with the “self-contained” individual creation characteristic which exclusively belongs to the group of the Shanghai abstract artists, Li-lei is also a totally “loner” with his own personal abstract art. Reviewing his twenty-year abstract art creation path, no matter his early experimental works, or his newly works with his own style and feature, all these works has been stamped with the brand Li-lei’s individual character which I call as “poetic abstract art”.
II
Li-lei was born in Shanghai in 1965. His childhood was spent in the great desert of north-west with his parents who are army-men. Shanghai, however, is the origin of his painting. Li-lei’s root of art is in Shanghai. In China, Shanghai is a Westernized city which is full of exotic atmosphere. The culture of Shanghai is the most capacious and the most potential regional culture. For China, however, Shanghai’s cultural tradition has come into existence as a different race in modern times. It’s just such unique cultural feature that made it’s possible for western culture including abstract art to be transplanted and grafted in Shanghai. There is natural internal linkage between the Shanghai overseas cultural spirits which combines traditional Chinese and Western cultures and the abstract art spirits which is in pursuit for pure and absolute metaphysical spirits. In this term, there are some inevitability for Li-lei to become an abstract artist in Shanghai. It’s a choice for him to make by putting himself into the macro circumstances of history and culture. It’s the ideal for expressing regional national aesthetic sense that made him to take such choice which is full of inner speculation.
Perhaps because of the edification of the life in the great desert of north-west which is full of poetic quality, Li-lei has another gift which is different from those the Shanghai native artists have. Li-lei spent his childhood without any sorrow and anxiety in the valley of Huang-shui, Qinghai Province, and the customs and influences handed down from the ancient civilization of Ma-jia Cave nourished his immature heart. It’s the primitive culture and the ancient legend of plateau which are straightforward, simple and unsophisticated, as well as mysterious that forms the significant childhood complex. The sense of vitality and the worship of the primeval ecology have been controlling potentially his thought and his creation. Many years ago, when Li-lei was a youth, he even went into the trumpet shell gorge (Hai-luo gou), Gong-ga snow-mountain, Sichuan Province lonely to experience the value of life in the situation of alone and with no help by breaking into depopulated zone in glacier gorge. Recalling this experience, he stated, “visiting trumpet shell gorge for me is not only a magnificent tour of life, but also a experience of soul cleansing…… Whenever the Gong-ga snow mountain appears in my dream, I would arise spontaneously endless joy, and I would make a consider quietly and serenely what’s the meaning of life……” Therefore, we can conclude that the plateau which is thousands miles away is the origin of Li-lei’s poetic abstract works which produced in the survival space of Shanghai metropolis. From the nature, Li-lei caught the direct experience of self-life, feel the willpower sprang out in his body, and found out his own art language and mode to express his thoughts freely.
In “theory of art spirit”, Kandinsky said, “It’s important for artist that to observe how various natural objects independent from the world to use the basic factor. What can be open to artist in the nature inherent component rules is not the imitation from outside……, the rules for the two worlds (art and nature) are independent from each other, however, they would eventually lead to the understanding for the whole universe’s configuration rules, at the same time, they would make people to understand that art and nature intervene separately and jointly the highly integrated order which combines externality and internality. ” the internality that Kandinsky pointed out could be the “depth” embodied in art and nature. This “depth” could be the metaphysical concepts, or the experience of emotion, or the life investigation. It’s well acceptance that Kandinsky present such internality by the means of abstract art which was initiated by him. Nowadays, everyone’s mind is clouded by material desires and the fashion is spread unchecked, and it seems that all the depth of internality has been lost. Shanghai is an international metropolis where all things are riding on the crest of success. And some artists have given up the pursuance of depth concepts, and diverted their attention from the depth seeking for emotion and life truth to seeking for the newly, multilevel city experience which comes into being one by one. It’s in such era that artists attached more importance to the value of internality and internality itself can obtain an incisive criticism. As an art model to embody the internality, the abstract art has the contemporary and pioneer characters in the value orientation. As an abstract painter in Shanghai, Li-lei can adhere to the aesthetic standards, calmly meet with the allurement of modern metropolis experience by the self-controlling, can keep a certain distance with a sense of criticism. At the same time, he can sublimate his life experience and catch the new spark of art through the creative work of abstract art and the pursuance of internality, as well as the poetic painting skill. All these are rare and commendable.
III
It seems that the poetic abstract art is closely connected with the expressional abstract art, but it can’t been belong to the expressional abstract art simply as the poetic abstract art goes farther and digs deeper. Among Li-lei’s painting works, there are not only full of strong expressionism which get rid of all the steady forms in the representative world and to express the aesthetic standards by the self-life language and form, but also to present the pure and aesthetic idealism complex, to create the moderate, noble and graceful, refined state by the further spiritual pursuit. Li-lei expressed modern pursuance for spirit and beauty with a pure and simple language, and his works is in harmony with the spirit of the Chinese civilization, bears his scholar ideal and poet feeling.
It’s obvious that the poetic abstract painting language always runs through Li-lei’s whole period of art creation. 20 years ago, Li-lei was a member of the art movement for Shanghai ‘corner of print’, and his print series “Sun Birds” and his oil painting series “Moon Snake” short after while have the obvious expressionism style, meanwhile, and the aesthetic core and artistic structure of these works have the affectionately poetic implication. From the beginning of his art creation, Li-lei focused on expressionism painting rather than realism painting, attached more importance to the symbolic meaning. Li-lei erected the reflection of internal spirit by the means of idealism which adheres to the life essence and the abundance imagination for the magic world endowed by his childhood, he constructed a dreaming world full of poetic flavor. Sun Birds and Moon Snake are only poetic symbols which embodied life’s significance.
Nowadays, almost all the Chinese abstract artists without any exception have experienced long hard exploratory to finish the transformation from the concrete painter to the abstract painter. So does Li-lei. In fact, he has finished the transformation on his own initiative for quite a long time. In the series works, such as Sun Birds and Moon Snake, all the objects are simple and condensable. In general, without description of detail, these works put more emphasis on the whole grasp and the inner conformation and spirit of the objects. Such action is consistent with the abstract art‘s spirit which seeks for “no objects painting”. Excepting above mentioned series works, Li-lei also gives attention to the expressive force of the painting-form factors, including figure and color, meaning and structure, he tries to explore in the direction of form self-discipline on his own initiative, and tries to disintegrate and extract the objects by the means of powerful shapes and lines in order to suggest his thought for the abstract painting.
During the course of such exploration, Li-lei gradually realized that abstract art has more freely and wider expressive space compared with the concrete art. He gets to know that abstract art is a kind of art which sees the nature from the angle of whole rather than a segment, which sums up the inner spirit of the nature by accumulating all the impression for the nature. The abstract art is somewhat a “Tao” different from the “utensil”, as well as a “metaphysic” different from the “embodiment”. Then, Li-lei started his journey of abstract art. During the transformation of the creation form, he didn’t reduce the art meaning, on the contrary, he obtained the depth of the poetic form among the efforts between the form and the meaning.
IV
Li-lei’s abstract painting formally began with the oil painting series of the “Dhyana Flower”. He created many abstract pastel drawings before the “Dhyana Flower”. Although there were still some traces of concrete objects in these drawings, people could get the impression that more attention was paid to the subjective reaction and feeling for matters, was paid to the spiritual factors in drawing, was paid to the research for the relationship between the form and human being’s internal emotion, i.e., developing the presentation of form into deep experience of internal emotion. Furthermore, he focused on the building of the photochromic vision effect by blending some special texture into the photochromic showing. He enriched and dip-dyed the floating color by using relative whole pigment piece and layer, as a result, he created a dynamic structure with the harmony and contrast, philosophy and enthusiasm, from which people can feel abundance of musical sound, tune and rhythm. It’s a poetic world constructed by meaning and figure in which Li-lei’s soul rests.
Actually, such poetic abstract art is the result of “confluence of the perceptual and the rational”, is the perfect rational expression by conscious self-controlling and elaborate designing of creative passion. Such perceptual expression, however, also has the perceptual element. Of course, the perception here means the refined and sublimed one which just as the deliberation process of “rubbing off many beard, while seeking the right word”. By the means of merely vision amusement, Li-lei expressed his rationalized poetic emotion derived from the mixture of the childish innocence, simplicity and original self-willing.
Li-lei is fond of the “Dhyana”. He has a deep understanding for the aesthetic objective of the Dhyana which emphases on human being’s self-perception. By sitting in meditation, he can exhale the old and inhale the new with broad mind, can clean up all the dust in mind. The appearance of a picture can become more pure and terser after the object’s transition from materiality to immateriality. He knows well that the gist of the Dhyana goes ahead of the action and model. Then he gets rid of the image limitation and acquires the deep ultimate Tao, he surmounts the obstacle of the concrete image which held back the jump into the infinite state and his works becomes meaningful and vivid.
The influence of the Dhyana on the Chinese ancient aesthetics probably was to improve Chinese people’s aesthetic point of view. In China, under the gradual influence of the Dhyana, men of literature and writing show the poetic quality of the Dhyana or the artistic conception in their works. With the mixture of the essence of the Dhyana and the feature of the scholar, the experience of the Dhyana has more poetic quality. It become a two-way processing for the interaction of the Dhyana and the poetic art, they interact as both cause and effect and penetrate each other, but the convergent point is the artistic conception. As the result of washing and filtration of the emotion world by the Dhyana, the true feeling for nirvana was produced, it come into being with the form of the poetic quality, the aesthetic experience of the Dhyana. Starting with the Dhyana, Li-lei marched into the aesthetic field, by choosing “the Dhyana flower” as the subject, he materialized the marvelous and indescribable poetic quality which is vacant in his paintings. How wonderful his works are!
The flower is one of the very important imago in the Dhyana, as well as an very important aesthetic symbol. One of the so-call “three stages for Buddhism”, i.e., “nobody in empty mountain and water is flowing and flower is blossoming” comes from the Buddhism gatha for “eighteen Arhats”. Such stage means the neutralization each other of “no sign in vacancy and some sound in silence”. There are so many Chan poems written by ancient poets in China. According to these poems, we can get the impression that while these poems were excellent, the artistic conception goes much further and deeper. All the subjects own the thoughts and pure personality owns the poetic quality and the interaction between the Dhyana and the poetic quality has been showed harmoniously. All these are just what Li-lei wanted to express in his oil painting series of the “Dhyana flower”.
V
When studying the abstract art, some people always tends to look for the origin from the West, but ignore explore the spiritual origin from the Chinese culture and art tradition which is broad and profound. Li-lei is totally different from these people. A few years ago, he produced two series abstract paintings under the general title of “Tao” with “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu as the painting basis, one was acrylic painting in cloth cover, the other was ink and wash painting in paper cover. Thereafter, he produced a set of similar works which set off the Chinese ancient poesies. From these works, we can see Li-lei consciously absorbed the best abstract artistic element from the philosophy of Chinese traditional culture and poetic conception to enrich his poetic abstract art.
Lao Tze stated his central ideas from the very beginning, “The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way; the names that can be named are not unvarying names. It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang; the named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind. Truly, Only he that rids himself forever of desire can see the Secret Essences; he that has never rid himself of desire can see only the outcomes. These two things issued from the same mould, but nevertheless are different in name. This same mould we can but call the Mystery, or rather the Darker than any Mystery, the doorway whence issued all Secret Essences.” He also stated, “Great music has the faintest notes, and the Great Form is without shape.” “Tao gave birth to the One; the One gave birth successively to two things, three things, up to ten thousand.” From Lao Tze’s point of view, Tao was the Mystery which could not be expressed by words, or grasped by concepts. The most perfect music is the music itself that could not be heard, the greatest form is the “Tao” hidden deeply into the nature which could not be seen. The so-called “Tao gave birth to the One; the One gave birth successively to two things……” looked “Tao” as the “nothing”. Zhuang Zhou said, “There was nothing at the beginning, no ownership, no name; one was born, then the two things successively was born, and so on, ten thousands creatures were born.” The meaning is similar to the spirit of the abstract art in nature. The “one painting theory” pointed out by Monk Shi-Tao in his book “Quotation on painting” stated that this One comprised all the pictures inside and outside the Heaven and Earth, all the pictures derived from One and ended with One. By using this traditional philosophic theory, Monk Shi-Tao expressed the inexhaustible power for “one picture, one world”.
It’s said that Monk Shi-Tao drew his inspiration and gave birth to “one picture” idea from the conversation between his Dhyana master Lü-an Ben-yue and one master named Yu-lin Tong-xiu. Yu-lin asked Ben-yue, “the word ‘one’ added no stroke, then what’s it?” Ben-yue answered, “All words were emerged”. In Ben-yue’s point of view, One completed the transformation from nothing to all. There was nothing before One, and there are everything after One. Monk Shi-Tao get understanding that One meant painting activities and get understanding that Being itself was the product of Not-being, all creatures under heaven were the products of Being. Monk Shi-Tao focused on self-ruler and doing at will, and he expanded his theory of One painting into a set of complex painting skill, at last he became the greatest master of painting. As the contemporary artist, Li-lei found great illumination in Monk Shi-Tao’s theory of One painting. He linked stroke into line, and transferred line into plane subtly in the painting scene. He presented vivid artistic conception by using the technique of overlapping, intercrossing and interpenetration. He conveyed a pure life understanding and the life experience in the comprehensive integration of various drawing elements. The painting language of all the works in this period transformed from expressionism into spiritualism, and gradually owned his specific abstract artistic character. Li-lei’s works embodied the artistic conception of “emotion inside the painting and heart outside the painting”, “even though no pen, no ink, no painting, heart still exists,” just as Monk Shi-Tao said so.
Li-lei get the understanding of the mysteries of the “Tao”, the profundities of the “Dhyana”, and knew well the mystery of the theory of One painting. By the spirit of being above worldly considerations, he upgraded his artistic conception, looked the “painting trace” as the record of the “heart trace”, integrated the painting meaning with the poet meaning, as well as improved the rational “Tao” and the Dhyana to the stage of poet. All these could be regard as the “mixture of emotion and rationality” in Li-lei’s abstract art creation.
VI
Reviewing the status quo for abstract art creation assiduously, we can find out that there are two tendencies which differ from each other, one is the transformation of the expressionism painting into the individual diagrammatical symbol; the other is one which embodies the features of the post-modernism through rational cultural design. The artists of the former pay more attention to the accumulation and the exploration on individual experience, and the diagram is also a means to find self-consciousness; the artists of the latter, whereas, pay more attention to the analyses of cultural background and implication, to the rational form design. In quite a long time, it’s undoubtedly that Li-lei belonged to the former. In recently years, however, he began to actively integrate the idea of the latter into his creation, and get the result of the “mixture of two tendencies.”
In August, last year, Li-lei gave a meaningful speech at the workshop on sketch. He stated, “……those who devoted themselves to abstract art easily started from the subjective evaluation, and easily went into the relative narrow condition on the diagram and the handling. Where did the fresh and live goods come from? Actually, they came from the diversity in the real life. The title of this activity is “humanistic Jiang Nan(regions south of the Yangtze River)”. How could the abstract art find the correspondence in this topic? The essential way is that the subject in the scene can meet with the sensation in heart. Firstly, the general tune is green; secondly is the water of Jiang Nan, I presented in my painting something fluid; thirdly is ‘diffusion’, that is the uncertainty of the image. I’m just looking for the humanistic Jiang Nan of my heart through the combination of the three elements.” The speech just summarized the “mixture of two tendencies” in his words. What he said in his speech that “The essential way is that the subject in the scene can meet with the sensation in heart” is in fact the process of constructing inner heart image on the basis of “thing-in-itself” subject; and the so-called “I’m just looking for the humanistic Jiang Nan of my heart through the combination of the three elements” is obviously has the rational design idea aimed to realize the possibility of humanistic design. Li-lei completed successfully the “mixture of two tendencies”. The series painting “Recalling Jiang Nan” finished in the workshop and the series “Wu-Yi Mountain images” finished in Wu-Yi Mountain shortly not only had the main feature of visual symbol on the surface of the painting, but also contained deeply the significance of the Jiang Nan humanism, as well as had the strong aesthetic feeling of individual poetic abstract form.
Actually, Li-lei commenced the attempt of the “mixture of two tendencies” with his oil painting abstract works “Tao” series. With the colorful regular straight strap, bar strap or cross strap stuck on the painting cover, the flexible strength field was formed. These works arouse abundant of association on life meaning as they were not only symbol concision and direction, but also the poetic artistic conception which was full of humanism implication and musical meaning through the means of the dynamic combination of stroke, line and plane and the “occasional” and “uncertain” improvisation. In Li-lei’s recent works, such “mixture of two tendencies” has the tendency of preinstall, then the mixture become more harmonious. Such combination not only provided great possibility for his creation style and form, but enriched greatly his individual language for poetic abstract art. On the “moderate” mentioned above, we have the reason to conclude that just the “mixture of emotion and rationality” and the “mixture of two tendencies” are the two supports and the backbones for his “moderate” creation style, and his unique poetic abstract article language is the aesthetic core. Whether is it one character of Li-lei’s abstract art or not?
Autumn,2006, Xi-Yun house, Shanghai.
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