笔墨中立定精神——顾伟玺印象

    传统中国画在其发展的千余年历史中，历经了多次关乎艺术本体的重大变革，从唐以后对“画工”的疏离，至宋以降“文人画”观念的融入，并在其后统摄画学思想数百近千年—民族绘画逐渐承载了中国人的思想情感以及哲学思考。它超越了艺术本身，更蕴含了人类学的意义，中国画的“技”与“道”触及了人类生存方式，以及思想行为的方方面面，从而使这一中国特有的艺术方式，凸显出它玄深的文化意味和博大的人文情怀。

    中国画创作个体生命的生存体验与对人生世事的感知体味，遂使这一古老画学蕴含更加丰富深刻的精神内涵。于是，绘画由笔墨及图式特质直接彰显了人的精神性特质。

    而本文所要介绍的顾伟玺先生及其绘画艺术、绘画作品正是蕴含了特别的精神性，明白无误地记录了他在艺途上艰辛跋涉的漫长履痕。

    笔者曾在伟玺的画室得以仔细阅读他的一批作品。其中有书法、写意花鸟、工笔花鸟、工笔人物、山水作品等。从这些作品的创作年代大致可分为三个时期，一是以工笔画为主要创作形式的大学本科学习时期，二是以花鸟和书法为主的20世纪90年代，三是21世纪初至2010年的山水画为主要创作形式的一段时期。这三个不同时期的作品形式、艺术追求和风格特征，真实地反映了作者的精神特质。他的大学时期主要是1985年至1990年前这段时间，这一时期，伟玺的创作主要侧重于工笔人物，其中稍有代表性的有人物画《月亮湖》、《洛河女神》、《织》、《郁抑的回溯》以及工笔花鸟画《晨风》、《秋声系列》等。其中《月亮湖》获全国国画大赛二等奖，《江苏画刊》并于2009年第12期在“继承与创新”栏目作了专题介绍。《郁抑的回溯》作为毕业优秀作品发表刊印于南京艺术学院学报《艺苑》毕业专刊的封面。《织》在1998年江苏青年艺术节展览中获得二等奖。这一时期，伟玺的工笔画主要有三个特征。其一，以人物造型的线的繁复和组织营造节奏和韵律，并以统一而淡雅的色调构建一种抒情朦胧的情致。其二，以冲、泼、洗、染等手法拓宽了传统工笔人物画的创作及制作路径，凸显了工笔画的写意性。这一风格的代表作品是毕业创作《郁抑的回溯》系列，且该系列作品都是数平方米的工笔巨制，这既反映出伟玺的创作能力，也反映了他的刻苦和勤奋。第三种则是他在化纤白布上以白描形式创作的作品。这些作品，用线飘逸、潇洒、流畅、婉转，充分表现了中国画线的灵性和美感。就《织》及其它工笔画作品来看，伟玺这一时期的工笔画，色调沉郁、抒情，彰显出作者在这一时期沉浸于学习和创作中的愉悦和才情。20世纪90年代后，伟玺先后赴京创办《书画家》杂志，又回南艺高研班学习，生活的历练以及艺术追求上的自觉选择，使伟玺的艺术创作由工笔转向了花鸟画及书法的创作，并开始侧重于中国画笔墨功力的锤炼，用笔多追求老辣、沉雄之风。由于这一时期的作品过多地追求力量和厚重，而常常失之于霸悍和荒率。但正是这一段人生与艺术的艰苦砥砺，磨练熔铸了他其后的笔墨风格，也为他2000年后的艺术创作打下了扎实的基础。又因其笔墨的“凡数万本”的千锤百炼，从而使他对中国画笔墨的神髓有了深刻的体悟和理解。

    21世纪初，伟玺随南京艺术学院副院长、著名美术理论家阮荣春教授赴上海大学工作，从而开始了他新的创作阶段。期间他除了从事高校的教学和管理工作，并跟随导师对艺术理论及绘画史进行了系统的学习和研究,撰写了多篇学术论文，出版专著及合著数本，并以优秀成绩取得南京艺术学院美术学博士学位。著名画家、艺术教育家黄格胜先生曾亲自为他的专著作序，进行了鼓励和肯定：“伟玺是我最关注的几位青年画家之一，三年前，我看了他的一些山水习作。其用笔雄厚凝练、画面气局雄阔的特点，得到了我的肯定和赞扬。我本以为，在我的鼓励下，他一定会着力于绘画艺术的创作，但三年来，他却连续发表了二十几篇学术论文，出版了数本专著，似乎将时间和精力主要用于了理论研究，这着实令我意外。意外之余又令我欣慰。因为，这正说明伟玺没有当今很多画家急于求成的浮躁心态，而是以踏实严谨的学术态度，致力于关乎画学本体的理论研究和学术思考，然后结合绘画实践的砥砺过程，走上了技道并进的治学道路。”

    伟玺在这一时期，还着重对中国传统画论的研习，得以对绘画传统由作品、技法及思想的更深了悟和理解，并开始专攻山水画创作。

    他的山水画追求宋人山水的雄阔崇高的意境和大山大水的构境方式。其用笔追求苍辣雄健、生拙朴厚的意趣。而就其画面意境的营建来看，艺术表现手法又往往冲泼点染，不拘成法，表现其放达潇洒的语言特征。当然,就此期部分山水作品所呈现的图式个性的不确定性，一方面因缘于他尚在艺术探索风格历练的过程之中，另一方面也明显“讲述”他囿于繁冗的事务而不能有整段时间投身于艺术的无奈。

    他这一时期的山水作品多为8尺整开的大幅山水，表现对象以黄山和广西山水村寨为主。如《黄山白龙潭》《黄山雨境》《皖南山水人家》以及《防城港上思魔石谷》等。此期作品多追求大、厚及生拙苍茫之气。面对他的作品你一定可以感到作者那种执拗、勤奋、坚韧的精神特质。或许也正是这种精神，既不断熔铸锤炼他的绘画面目和风格特质，又促使他数十年如一日，倾心、倾情、倾力于绘画事业，奋力向人生的大目标攀行。

    注：本文作者为中国美术家协会理事、南京艺术学院美术学院院长、教授。

    Zhang Youxian

    The traditional Chinese paintings go through several significant revolutions during over ten hundred years, since the Tang Dynasty, people paid less attention to commercial painters, till the Song Dynasty, there is a concept of “cultural paintings”, and controlling the painting industry for nearly one thousand years – the national painting gradually bears the thoughts and emotions and the philosophical thoughts of Chinese people. It exceeds the art itself, and even contains the anthropologic meaning. The skill and morality of the Chinese paintings contact the living method of human being, and other behaviors of thoughts, thus this kind of special artistic method highlights his profound cultural meanings, broad and profound humanistic feelings. 

    The Chinese painting creates the surviving experience of individual life and the perception of affairs of human life, which make this ancient painting contain richer and deeper spiritual meanings, therefore, paintings directly manifest the spiritual features of human being via ink and patterns.

    Gu Weixi, introduced in this paper, and his painting arts, works exactly contain this special spirit, correctly and clearly recording his long and hard experience on the way to art. 

    I have ever read his works carefully in Weixi’s studio. There are calligraphy, enjoyable bird and flower painting, traditional Chinese realistic bird and flower painting, mountains and rivers painting and so on, which can be divided as three periods from the creative year of these works, firstly, it is based on traditional Chinese realistic painting in the stage of undergraduate college; secondly, it is the 90s, centered on flowers and birds, and calligraphy; thirdly, it is the mountains and waters in the beginning of twenty-first century to 2010. The three different stages’ works form, artistic pursuit, style features reflect the spiritual characteristics for the author. His college life is from 1985 to 1990, in this period, Weixi’s cration paid more attention to the figure of fine brushwork, hereinto, some representative works have: Moon Lake, Goddess of Luohe River, Weave, Depressed Recall and Morning Breeze, Series of Sound of Autumn and so on. And the Moon Lake obtained the second award in the contest of national paintings, which was introduced especially in the program of “Inherit and Creation” of Jiangsu Art Pictorial in the 12th stages of 2009. And the Depressed Recall, as the graduated excellent works, printed on the cover of the Art and Literary Circles, the graduation monograph of Nanjing University of the Arts. And Weave, in 1998, awarded the second class prize in the Jiangsu Youth Art Festival. In this period, Weixi’s traditional Chinese realistic painting mainly has three features. Firstly, it is the heavy and complicated lines of figure moulding and the heavy and complicated organized in them, and adopts the uniform and elegant colors to build the temperament and interest. Secondly, lots of methods are used to widen the path of creation, which highlights the freehand brushwork accordingly. The representative works of this style are series of Depressed Recall, moreover, such works are all several square meters’ great works, which reflect his creative capacity and reflect his hardworking and diligent. The third one is the line drawing works on the chemical fiber plain white cloth. These works, with graceful, unconventional, smooth and tactful lines, sufficiently express the intelligence and sense of beauty for Chinese paintings. With regard to Weave and its traditional Chinese realistic painting, in this period, Weixi’s works highlights his pleasure and talent immersing in the study and creation. In 90s’, Weixi successively went to Beijing and establish the magazine -- Calligrapher and Painter, and continued to study in the further Nanjing Art College, thanks to the experience in life and the conscientious selection on art pursuing, Weixi’ artistic works changed to the works of flowers and birds and calligraphy, and emphasized on the practice of Chinese paintings, with experienced and tremendous style. His works pay more attentions to pursue power and thickness. However, such a life and art of hardworking practice, he finally had his own ink style, which exactly laid a solid foundation for his artistic works in 2000. On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of practices brought profound realization and understanding to the core of the Chinese ink. 

    In the beginning of 21 century, Weixi went to work in Shanghai University with Ruan Rongchun, the vice-dean of Nanjing University of the Arts, a well-known art theorist, thereby began his new creative stage. In this period, except for the teaching and management in the college, he followed the tutors and studied and researched on the theory of art and painting history, and wrote several academic papers and several monographs, and even with a good performance, obtained the doctorate of fine arts in Nanjing University of the Arts. Huang Gesheng, the famous painter, art educator, had ever prefaced for this monographs, and encouraged and confirmed: “Weixi is one of my concerned young painters, three years ago, when seeing this mountains and waters works. The features won my affirmation and praise, firstly I thought, maybe under my encouragement, he would continue to the creation of painting art, however, for three years, he had successively published over 20 academic papers, and several monographs, he almost used his time and vigor to the theoretical research, which exactly surprising me. What’s more, I am so pleasure. Because, Weixi was not fickleness, but insisted in the steady and rigorous learning attitude, devoted himself to the theoretical research  and academic though about painting schools, and then combined the practice, began the road of skill and morality.”

    In this stage, Weixi emphasized on the research and study of Chinese traditional theory of painting, which help him to know and understand more about the traditional works and skill and thoughts, and began to engage in the mountains and waters works. 

    His mountains and waters works pursue the lofty artistic conception of Song People and the method of construction. He pursued energetic and simple funs; however, just seen from the artistic conception, the artistic technique of expression has some kinds of splashing regardless of routine method, which shown his stylish language features. Of course, the uncertainty presented here derives from his process of exploring art and style, and clearly told his burdensome affairs. 

    In this period, most of works are over 8 Chi (a unit of length), the objects are Mount Huangshan and Guanxi mountains and waters and villages, such as Mount Huangshan Bai Long Tang, Raining in Mount Huangshan, Family of southern Anhui, Magic Stone Valley at the Port of Fangcheng and so on. In this period, the works pay more attentions to big and thick, and boundless attitudes. Facing his works, you can feel the spiritual feature of persistence, diligence. Maybe just as this kind of spirit, he unceasingly casted and practiced his painting and style features, accumulated for over ten years, contributing all to the painting, and climbed up to the great goal of his life. 

    Remark: The author is director of Chinese Artists Association, president and professor of Art Academy of Nanjing Art Institution.