前言|Preface

在中国绘画中，奇石始终占据着特殊地位。古代文人士大夫将 “石” 视作独立的审美对象入画，尤其太湖石 “皱、透、漏、瘦” 的美学特质，更成为文人审美趣味的独特载体。In Chinese painting, stones have always occupied a special position. Ancient literati regarded “stone” as an independent aesthetic object for painting, especially the aesthetic qualities of “wrinkled, permeable, leaky and thin” of Taihu Lake stone, which became a unique carrier of literati's aesthetic interest.

这种对 “石” 的欣赏与绘制传统，实则源起于人类早期共通的自然崇拜 —— 山岳崇拜与石头崇拜。在 “万物有灵” 的原始观念滋养下，中国的石文化走出了独树一帜的演化路径。苏州，作为江南文人士大夫文化的发祥地，在奇石文化艺术中举足轻重：奇石是历代贵族与士大夫争相赏玩的雅物，园林造景、书画创作乃至各类器物中，“石” 都是高频出现的艺术母题。This “stone” appreciation and painting tradition, in fact, originated in the early common nature worship -- mountain worship and stone worship. Nurtured by the primitive concept of “everything has its own spirit”, China's stone culture has come out of a unique evolutionary path. Suzhou, as the birthplace of Jiangnan literati culture, in the stone culture and art is important: stone is the aristocrats and scholars throughout the ages to enjoy the elegant things, garden landscaping, painting and calligraphy, and even all kinds of artifacts, “stone” is a high-frequency occurrence of the art of the mother topic.

石中藏万象。古代中国，尤其是道家思想中，对自然与人类关系的思考从未停歇。《庄子・秋水》言 “吾在于天地之间，犹小石小木之在大山”，在庄子眼中，一块石头已然有了生命；它与人一般，有风骨，有气韵。正如北宋欧阳修所言：“万象皆从石中出。”Stone hides all kinds of images. In ancient China, especially in Taoist thought, the relationship between nature and mankind has never stopped thinking. Zhuangzi Qiu Shui“ said ”I am between heaven and earth, like a small stone and a small wood in the mountain", in the eyes of Zhuangzi, a stone has already had a life; it is the same as human beings, has the bones, has the charm. As Ouyang Xiu of the Northern Song Dynasty said, “All images come out of the stone.”

“问石无相” 脱胎于 “问石云林”、“问石三山” 两次艺术驻地计划。前两季中，艺术家们以太湖石为媒介，溯源传统赏石文化，探寻艮岳花石纲遗址，创作出一系列关联作品。来自各地的创作者们带着自身的思想深度与艺术敏感度，浸润于苏州的吴地文化中，在碰撞与融合中因地制宜、就地取材，巧妙完成文化对接，并以多元形式在驻地现场呈现作品。“Inquire of Formless Stone” is derived from the “Ask the Stone Cloud Forest” and “Ask the Stone Three Mountains” art residency programs. In the first two seasons, artists used Taihu Lake stones as a medium, traced back the traditional stone appreciation culture, explored the Burgundy Flower Stone Gang site, and created a series of related works. Creators from all over the world with their own depth of thought and artistic sensitivity, immersed in the Wu culture of Suzhou, in the collision and fusion of local conditions, local materials, skillfully complete the cultural docking, and in a diversified form in the resident site to present works.

而第三季 “问石无相”，则是对前两季作品的高度凝练与升华 —— 从户外在野式的实验性表达，转向 BFM 艺术中心在白盒子空间内的系统归纳与总结。展览现场汇聚了多种媒介的石头主题作品，涵盖绘画、雕塑、影像、声音、装置、行为互动及方案文稿等创作形式。通过精心规划的布局与凝练的文字阐释，观众得以快速理解艺术家的创作意图，进而生发艺术对话，形成关键的互动共鸣。The third season, “Inquire of Formless Stone”, is a high degree of condensation and sublimation of the works of the previous two seasons - from the experimental expression of outdoor in the wilderness, to the systematic summarization and conclusion in the white space of BFM ART CENTER.The exhibition brings together stone-themed works in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, video, sound, installation, interactive performance and programmatic scripts. Through the carefully planned layout and condensed textual explanations, viewers are able to quickly understand the artist's creative intent, which in turn generates artistic dialogues and key interactive resonance.

—— 朱亮 Curator Zhu Liang

出品人Producer

杨娅薇​Avy Yang

收藏家 艺术赞助人

艺术总监Art Director

郑闻 Zheng Wen

著名策展人 艺术评论家

策划人Curator

朱亮 Zhu Liang

展览统筹Coordinator

刘平 Liu Ping

BFM艺术中心坐落于苏州湾CBD中心区域，为苏州湾首家当代艺术空间和专业画廊。专注于当代优秀青年艺术家的发掘和培养，中国公共艺术推广及中国当代艺术在国际上的交流，旨在以苏州湾为中心，联合艺术爱好者，艺术从业者，艺术机构和艺术院校等各方力量，从苏州出发，推动中国当代艺术的全球化发展。