“中国抽象”的语义，比较有意义的主要有两层。第一层，中国化的抽象，即汉语气质的抽象。往浅处意会，就是抽象艺术中国化，就像五十年代的“油画民族化”或更早的“中体西用”一样，是对异质文化的一种反应。如果我们同意抽象主义是20世纪西方绘画的主流，那么“油画民族化”的一些思路和结果，可能也适用于“中国抽象”。但是“油画民族化”竟没有人再提，油画在民族文化的海关上，似已获得了免签资格；那么“中国抽象”是一个依托于材质、仅限于实验水墨的构想吗？这个问题值得讨论之处，已不再是西方抽象主义原本具有的乌托邦精神和个人价值，应如何在迁就地“国化”的过程中衰减和削弱，而是应联系到油画“国化”的得失，警惕地守护这个据说与非绘画性前卫艺术、具像绘画等鼎足而三的现代传统的内在精神。西方绘画本质上是一种真理性言说的媒介，经历了从宗教真理（希腊罗马、文艺复兴），到国家主义真理（古典主义、浪漫主义），再到个人主义真理（印象主义、抽象主义）的演进过程，汉语传统中的集体主义在与这种真理性言说相遇时，通过仅把油画视为“画种”、“媒介”，将其与西方传统中的求真气质、或现代艺术的自由精神相切割。由于向专制文化和民族审美习惯迁就，色彩走向装饰化，造型向中国画借鉴笔墨等技巧，“民族化的油画”逐渐失去了一个孤独的个体与世界相遇时的陌生感和存在颤抖，变成一种熟练的、装饰的、缺乏个人性和自由精神的技艺。――当代抽象的意义，在我看来，恰恰在于拥有一个尚未失去生动感的精神源头，有可能为中国文化带来更多的、尚未剥离自由基因的异质性，既不被现代传统中“反艺术”的虚无主义所裹挟，又抵制了意识形态和市场主义对写实艺术的双重利用。“中国抽象”理应实现从“中体西用”到“西体中用”的根本跨越。
关于汉语气质，现在有一个很普遍的的误解，就是把汉语传统等同于道家和禅宗，那么儒家哪里去了？为什么中国文化中最具有积极性的一面至今在“中国抽象”之外，或许还没有人探索过相应的图式？这个问题非常复杂，根本原因在于：儒家精神自五四以来，一方面已潜隐在启蒙知识分子的身后，主要是左派知识分子的革命批判传统；另一方面，与现代汉语福音化相伴随的泛基督教人文主义，作为中国传统中入世和进取面的最新表现，已把儒教中的集体主义，替换为与现代性相融的个人主义。“中国抽象”在当代中既找不到批判的位置，又看不见人文思潮中儒家传统的因素，把“中国”简化为某种已定形的、记忆中的符号。――这个辩析让我们进入了第二层的语义：当代中国的抽象。
观念，符号，感觉
当代中国抽象，也就是当代生活的叙述。如果说“修辞的对象”――在这个现实中的经验――是明确的，那么作为“修辞手段”的“抽象”，与“具象”或多媒体艺术的区别又在哪里呢？有人质疑在观念主义之后，抽象或具象（写实）是否还能够作为自足的、对立的概念，那么当代抽象主义已是一种过时的信仰？因为符号学批评已将一切组成艺术作品的元素称为符号，比如一个人像或一条线，在意义面前是平等的，关键在于你怎样组合它们。――诸如此类的质疑和担忧，隐含着一种“进步主义”的逻辑，其关于“前卫”的许多观点，也是以西方为标准。如果冷静地考察当代艺术复杂的生成环境、动机和实际效果，如果我们仍然把“创造性”和“勇敢”作为“前卫”的核心价值，或许就不会轻易地以外在的媒介、形式，或无论哪一种“中国特色”作为衡量的标准，或人云亦云地惊呼“前卫精神已消亡”。我以为单纯的新媒介新技术实验，其实已是西方艺术家的特权，至于中国当代的艺术，其标准永远是反叛的有效性和内在建设性。
从创作角度，用与当代符号学相似的态度平等地看待一个人像或一条线，正是康定斯基决定画抽象画时的思想。不过他那时的依据是实验心理学。他创造性地以绘画语言自身（他自然要强调色、线、形，但并不妨碍后来者以放松的心态又补上被刻意排斥的“形象”）作为绘画表现的对象，于是语言内在的“运动”、“张力”等特质就成了内容，为了表现一种“活的精神”和“内在生命”――这些标准怎么会因为当代符号学已对之进行概括了而过时呢？观念主义和“后绘画性抽象”（格林伯格语）对这种思想真正称得上“发展”的地方，是把“张力”从单幅作品自足封闭的形式内容，扩展到艺术的行为性，或一幅画与其产生、展出环境的关系。比如波伊斯的“社会雕塑”，就是艺术家的某一行为与社会的张力，及这种张力的影响对社会的“雕塑”；而纽曼的单色画或斯特拉的“成形画布”向环境延伸的视觉感受，正是艺术家设计中的一部分。这种超越了形式主义的“观念”和符号学思想使当代批评在看待任何形式的艺术时，把“语境”放在最重要的参考之列。――正是通过对其语境的考察，我们才意识到当代抽象不可取代的价值。
关于抽象主义产生于理念与幻象二元对立的西方哲学传统，及抽象绘画是一种个人化的乌托邦编码等颇有启发力的观点，与艺术史实际资料之间，是有一定距离的。无论康定斯基、蒙德里安，还是抽象表现、后极少诸家，或格林伯格本人，都从未简单地持有上述信念。因为艺术总是一种经验的表达，而不是观念的图解。所谓“抽象”，就是抽于“物”得于“象”，或拟“象”以合于“道”，这个词源学的意义极容易遮蔽发生学的实际：由于把真理（有时是乌托邦，无论追寻或拒绝）纳入了“张力”和“内在声音”，抽象艺术竟然悖论性地成为了一种真正富于感觉的艺术－－在具体创作中，艺术家往往是从感觉到感觉，沉迷于符号的视觉能指。事实上也只有抽象绘画，才能够提供这种独特的、纯粹的视觉感受。我们知道感觉对于任何文化的建设，都是基础性的；当代抽象主义的价值，正取决于其返回到这个活力源的程度。它有时被称为反文化的，或极端的，有时又被称为犬儒主义的，这些都是感觉在不同语境中“自动”生成的意义。
无物之阵：清空与期待
当代抽象主义与其说是形式的，或语言的，不如说从一开始就是观念的。当上世纪八十年代国门大开时，西方现代主义以来的各种主义，事实上是不分先后同时涌入的，在那时的年轻学子们眼里，印象派、早期抽象、立体主义、抽象表现等，与影像行为多媒体等观念主义的诸方式，一样新鲜，一样前卫，而他们之最终选择了其中之一，多半是出于性情和策略――当然，那些能够坚持下来的抽象画家，也一定在过程中领悟、遵循了抽象主义的形式逻辑。这么说来，对于中国抽象，根本就是观念在形式之前。这个特征在丁乙的身上表现得很典型。丁乙的抽象，“观念地”以工业流水线上一个出胶片的环节（“十”字本是一种菲林上的符号）、即以被复制的结果为开端，逆向地返回到一种对于手工的迷恋。他近年的作品将上海都市化进程中的视觉，处理得像宇航员以近光速运动时看迎面而来的窗外。
如果说梁铨、丁乙、陈墙等艺术家代表了中国冷抽象的一极，那么王川、谭平、张伟等，则代表了热抽象的一极。前者以冷静、智性的工作，后者往往以生命的见证，实现“清空与期待”的中国抽象精神。苏笑柏和严善錞的作品给人的感受，似介于两者之间。马树青的抽象，像某种行为的痕迹，与特定的个人情境、状态的关联，可能比别的艺术家更紧密。张伟和王川都是传奇性的艺术家，他们的艺术皆以高度的精神性见称于世，他们的生命故事又都堪称为当代艺术的缩影。王川兼擅水墨油彩，构图奇特，线条天真高妙，在当代享有盛誉。张伟作为“无名画会”的成员，“前卫”于文革期间，八十年代初又是第一批转向抽象的当代艺术家之一。他移居纽约近20年后，近年又回北京，开始创作一种复杂的、接近于抽象表现主义风格的综合材料艺术。谭平的作品，具有一种书写的灵动感和多层次空间感，他将“色域”和“气韵”两个似乎极端的要求统一起来。陈墙的艺术是视觉对思维的刻意阻止，他用圆点形、蠕虫形等相对于画面太小的密集符号，实现对视网膜的散点式刺激，他的色彩华贵、享乐。梁铨和严善錞都是士大夫气质的艺术家，只有南方艺术家才有这种开阔、闲雅的感觉。若单看梁铨撕纸、拼贴的过程，感觉会很刺激、虚无，但是宣纸已吸过淡墨或茶水，于是虚无就成了“空”。这个过程解释了何谓“禅”：一种对待存在与虚无问题的君子风度。严善錞的“抽象写意”（一个矛盾的造词）。一种已没有了物象的平淡高远，其实是苦的、迷茫的――他有时让颜料淌下来，像泪水，像车窗上的雾珠。
如果你仍然在为构图苦苦思索，我会把苏笑柏指给你看，看他变化无穷和近于随机的组合，已经把图象的意义无情地淹没、超越了。这是后抽象主义――问题已不是抽象不抽象，而是媒介，材质，符号。苏笑柏自从掌握了大漆这个媒介，情感才完全释放出来――仅在麻布上就可以获得一种生铁般的质地，深沉，肃穆，热烈，巫觋的迷幻和死一般的沉醉感。其实不完全是大漆，而是在传统基础上自创的漆艺。在一次个展中，苏笑柏让无数“色板”悬在空中，这个装置已告诉我们：他的楚文化之梦是无根的，又是可以坐上的飞毯，带他去任何地方。
抽象，对于李磊来说，与其说是风格的担保，不如说是一种方法论。他以不同的方法寻求意象，以拓宽心理空间。比如，他利用颜料的流体性，达到酣畅通透的感觉；或将写意的线条放在几何结构中考验，造成一种融解、冲决的趋势。黄拱烘有一些书法小品，对于解释他的绘画颇有说服力：他完全不顾中国传统，却能直通狂草的境界――他在“颜色的运动”中尽情地释放性情，因此，他的画面像一堆灿烂的内脏，令人着迷而不适。黄拱烘将“鲜艳”的深度表现力，发挥到堪与“单色画”媲美的程度。值得注意的是，包括黄拱烘在内，当代艺术界已有了一批曾留学过欧洲的年轻艺术家，这些艺术家的方法、面貌各异，是中国抽象中一股新生的、异样的力量。
陈若冰长期生活在德国。他在一劳永逸的构图内表演出千变万化的色彩二重奏，追求一种愉悦、恬静的视觉感受。他有一本画册名为《光的沉默》，已将这种艺术的意境和实质形象地概括出来。陈丽珠的作品令人感动的地方，在于她的直观性和用心，她在简朴的构图上反复涂抹，直到画面具备了一种女性特有的灵慧感。她富于才情，却崇尚理性；她的生嫩和不确定，反倒为她的艺术增添了魅力。――抽象绘画似乎是一种意志的艺术，在摒除一切幻象之后，用最简单的、因而也没有了杂音的手段“使劲”，冀望于他人也能感觉得到。李鹏正是这样的一位“意志艺术家”。他认为应该在自己能控制的范围内工作，因为艺术是一种精神的技艺，而不是碰运气，更不是任性。他使用最没有笔触和肌理幻想的工具――滚筒画画儿，要么在一个单色上反复滚动（有时竟是纯白色！），要么引入太多的、一般人难以把握的色域。柯明却属于完全相反的类型。他热情，豁达，朝气十足，用画笔痛快淋漓地表现着青春。他肆无忌惮地翻墙、越界，认为激情和爱才是艺术的法则，而这正是热抽象的实质，因为抽象主义的种种清规，大多数来自冷抽象。“火焰型”艺术家在达到精粹纯净的境界之前，需要一个冷漠一点的自我在旁挑剔――柯明也不例外。唐骁的艺术中有一种狡诘的智性。这位艺术家看似冷抽象，却不具客观精神，而是隐含着符号迷局。甚至事后看他早期的作品，也有某种装置似的感受。他以试验后获得的某种冷色，表现与冷色调本身有张力的青春、欢乐的情绪；圆形主要是收敛的，唐骁却巧妙地利用笔触和材质，达到一种波动的、抒情的效果。近期的“油画装置”已建立起一个与观众空洞地对视的“场”。 ――他的色调已转为沉厚，因为毕竟，圈内圈外空荡荡的感觉令人恐怖。在虚无的拷问面前，艺术，竟讽刺地有一种在跳火圈的意味。在图象的可能性穷尽之前，唐骁已开始探索一条将抽象装置化的道路。
李建春
2009年12月，武昌昙华林
“Array with no Objects—Spirit in the Art
On the ‘Chinese Abstraction’”
The phrase Chinese Abstraction can be interpreted in two ways. The first is the China-style abstraction, or the abstraction with the temperament of the Chinese language. To be specific, it means to develop the abstract art in Chinese style, just like the trend of ‘China-style oil paintings’ in 1950s or the movement of ‘Westernized Chinese tradition’ earlier. This is a response to the foreign cultures. If we say the abstractionism was the mainstream of the 20th-century paintings in the Western world, we have to admit that some thoughts and results of ‘China-style oil paintings’ might be classified into the ‘Chinese Abstraction’. However, today nobody is talking about ‘China-style oil paintings’ and it seems that oil painting has been regarded as an inherent part of the Chinese culture. Then is ‘Chinese Abstraction’ a conception relying on materials and confined to experimental ink paintings? The discussion of this issue is barely involved with how the spirit of Utopia and individual value that exist naturally in the Western abstractionism have decayed and weakened while it is developed in China style. Instead, it concerns the gains and losses of ‘nationalizing’ the oil paintings, safeguarding cautiously the inherent spirit of the modern tradition, which, together with non-painting avant-garde art and figurative paintings, constitutes the three-pillar fine art forms. Western painting, in nature, is a medium that speaks out the truth. It has evolved from the religious truth (Greece, Rome and the Renaissance), nationalist truth (classicism and romanticism) to the individual truth (impressionism and abstractionism). The traditional Chinese collectivism, when encountering with the spoken-out truth, breaks the oil painting away from the truth-pursuing quality or the free spirit inherent in the Western tradition and modern art by regarding the oil paintings as a mere class of fine arts or a medium. Due to the concession to the cultural tyranny and aesthetic habit of the Chinese people, the colors become decorative elements and the models borrow the painting techniques from the Chinese paintings. Thus, the ‘China-style oil paintings’ gradually lose the strong feeling of impact and shivering of existence, just like a lonely individual stepping into the outside world. Instead, it has become a skillful and decorative craft in short of individualism and free spirit. In my opinion, the significance of modern abstraction simply lies in the fact that it owns the spiritual source that still has liveliness in hand and might bring more heterogeneity with genes of freedom to the Chinese culture. It is not contaminated by the ‘anti-art’ nihilism. And the realistic art is not utilized by the ideology and market-oriented philosophy. The ‘Chinese Abstraction’ should realize a fundamental leap from the ‘Westernized Chinese tradition’ to the ‘China-style Western traditions’.
As far as the temperament of the Chinese language is concerned, a common misunderstanding occurs, which regards the tradition of the Chinese language as Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Then where is the Confucianism? Why the most positive facet of the Chinese culture is still excluded from the ‘Chinese Abstraction’? Or nobody has ever developed the model? This complex problem can be explained by the fact that the Confucian spirit, since the May 4th Movement in 1919, has hidden itself behind the enlightening intellectuals as the target of revolutionary criticism by the leftist intellectuals. On the other hand, the ecumenism humanism arising together with the Evangelization of the Chinese language, which best demonstrated the enterprising aspect of the Chinese tradition, has replaced the collectivism in the Confucianism with the individualism that fits well into the modern time. In the modern time, the ‘Chinese Abstraction’ can neither find the target of criticism, nor can it find the traditional Confucian factors in the cultural thoughts. Thus ‘Chinese’ has been simplified into a certain defined symbol that exists in the memory. Such analysis leads us into the ‘Modern Chinese Abstraction’, the second interpretation of the ‘Chinese Abstraction’.
Concept, Symbol and Feeling
The modern Chinese abstraction is the narration of modern life. If we say the ‘rhetoric subject’, or the experience in the reality, is explicit, what is the distinction between the ‘abstraction’ as the ‘rhetoric means’ and the ‘figurative’, or the multimedia art? Some people doubt if abstraction or figurativeness (realism) that arose after the conceptualism are still the self-dependant opposing concepts. Based on this, they have questioned that modern abstractionism is an obsolete belief. The semiotic critics have labeled all elements that compose the artistic works as the symbols. For instance, a figure and a line have the same meaning. The key point lies in how you would integrate them. Latent in such skepticism and concerns is the logic of ‘progressivism’, many of whose notions about ‘avant-garde’ follow the Western standard. If we study, calmly, the complex birth environment, motivations and results of modern art, if we still regard ‘creativity’ and ‘bravery’ as the core values of ‘avant-garde’, we might not as well accept the external media, form or whichever ‘Chinese characteristic’ as the measurement, or repeat what others say that the ‘spirit of avant-garde has died’. Personally, I believe that the pure new-media and new-technique experiment has become the exclusive privilege of Western artists. The criteria of modern Chinese art are always the effectiveness of revolt and the inherent constructiveness.
From the perspective of art invention, when Vasily Kandinsky decided to start an abstract painting, he would treat a figure and a line equally, an attitude similar to that of modern semiology. The difference is that he was following the experimental psychology at that time. Creatively, his paintings demonstrated the painting language itself (of course, he would emphasize on colors, lines and forms, but it didn’t hinder his followers from adding on ‘image’ in a relaxed way, which used to be excluded). Thus the inherent qualities of language such as ‘movement’ and ‘elasticity’ have become the contents that express the ‘living spirit’ and ‘inherent life’. Then why these criteria became obsolete simply because the modern semiology has summarized them? The conceptualism and ‘post-painting abstraction’ (as Greenberg is quoted) have ‘further developed’ the thought because they have expanded the ‘elasticity’, which used to be confined in the self-dependant and isolated form and content of an individual painting, to the behavioral component of the art, or the relationship between a painting and the environment in which it is generated and exhibited. For instance, the ‘social sculptures’ of Joseph Beuys represent the elasticity of society and a certain behavior of the artist, and ‘sculpting’ the society under the influence of such elasticity. The mono-color paintings of Barnett B. Newman and ‘shaped canvases’ of Frank Stella, which produce the visual feeling of extension to the environment are simply part of the artists’ design. Such ‘concepts’ that exceed the formalism and the semiotics ideas have made modern critics place the ‘context’ in their priority list of references when considering the art of any form. By studying their contexts, we realize the irreplaceable value of modern abstractions.
Abstractionism is generated from the traditional Western philosophy, which is featured by the contrast between doctrine and illusion. And abstract painting is an individualized Utopian coding. Some gap does occur between these enlightening concepts and the historic records of art. Neither Vasily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, abstract expressionism representatives, post-minimalism masters, nor Greenbery himself had ever purely holds the above belief, because art is always an expression of experience and never the illustration of concepts. The concept of abstraction can be explained as the derivation from the concrete. Or it is simply similar to the concrete. The meaning in the sense of etymology can easily shelter the reality in the sense of phylogenetics. Because truth (sometimes Utopian, whether it is pursued or refused) is classified as the ‘elasticity’ and ‘inner voice’, the abstract art, in a paradoxical way, has become an art with rich feelings. In the process of specific invention, the artists, starting with the feelings and ending with them, are indulged in the visual orientation of the symbols. As a matter of fact, only the abstract paintings can provide such unique and absolute visual feelings. We understand that feelings play fundamental roles in building almost all cultures. The value of modern abstractionism relies on how far it returns to such energy source. Sometimes, it is called anti-culture, extremity, or cynicism, all of which are the meanings ‘automatically’ produced by feelings in different contexts.
Intangible Matrix: Deletion and Expectation
Rather than being formal or lingual, modern abstractionism has been conceptual since its beginning. Since 1980s when China first opened its gate to the outside world, all Western doctrines that started with the modernism have swarmed into the country simultaneously. In the eyes of the young Chinese students of fine arts at that time, impressionism, early-stage impressionism, cubism and abstract expressionism were as fresh and avant-garde as the image, behaviors, multimedia and other means of conceptualism. They finally selected one of the above, out of their personality and strategy. Of course, the painters of abstractionism who have persisted must have followed and gradually understood the formal logics of abstractionism in the process. So the concept of Chinese Abstraction exists prior to its form. Such a feature is best displayed in DING Yi, whose abstraction starts with, ‘conceptually’, how the film is made in the production line (a ‘cross’ is originally a symbol in the film), or the result of being duplicated, and returns to the obsession of manual work. In his recent works, he processed the vision in the process of Shanghai’s urbanization into that of an astronaut seeing the window coming into his eyes when moving at almost the velocity of light.
LIANG Quan, DING Yi and CHEN Qiang are representatives of the Chinese cold abstractionism. In contrast, WANG Chuan, TAN Ping and ZHANG Wei belong to the hot abstractionism. The former ones realize the spirit of Chinese Abstractionism featured by ‘deletion and expectation’ with their calm and wise work, while the latter ones make it via the witness of life. And the impression left by the works of SU Xiaobai and YAN Shanchun seems to lie in-between. The abstraction created by MA Shuqing, just like the traces of certain behaviors, are more correlated with certain individual situation and state than that of other artists. ZHANG Wei and WANG Chuan, who are legendary artists, are renowned for their highly spiritual works and their stories can be summed up as the miniature as the modern art. WANG Chuan is also expert at and renowned for his ink and oil paintings with original layout, naive and skilled lines. As a member of the Anonymous Painting Group, ZHANG Wei became an avant-garde painter during the Cultural Revolution period and was one of the first modern artists who converted to abstractionism in the beginning of 1980s. Living in New York for nearly 20 years, he came back to Beijing a couple years ago and began to compose composite works that are complicated and similar to the style of abstract expressionism. The works of TAN Ping produce the refreshing feeling of calligraphy and the feeling of multi-layer space. He combines the ‘gamut’ and ‘artistic conception’, which seemingly can never co-exist. The works of CHEN Qiang is the deliberate hindrance of vision against the thought. He uses dots, worm-shaped forms and other dense symbols, which are extremely small compared with the painting itself, to diffusely stimulate the retina. The colors of his paintings are elegant and pleasant. LIANG Quan and YAN Shanchun are artists with the temperament of scholar-bureaucrats. And only artists from South China can produce such spatial and graceful feelings. We will feel excited and empty when observing LIANG Quan tearing paper and assembling them again. But because the Chinese painting paper has absorbed light ink or tea water, the nihility has become ‘emptiness’. Such a process explains that Zen is actually an attitude held by a noble gentleman towards existence and nihility. The ‘detailed abstract paintings’ (a seemingly contradictive phrase) of YAN Shanchun, which convey the intangibly prosaic and remote feelings, are actually bitter and confused. Sometimes he would let the oil run down like tears and fog drops on the auto window.
If you are puzzled by how to make a better layout, I would suggest you consult SU Xiaobai, whose limitless and almost random combinations have relentlessly flooded and exceeded the meaning of images. Such is post-abstractionism. The abstraction does not count any more. What matters is the media, material and symbol. Only after SU Xiaobai knew how to utilize the Chinese lacquer have his emotions been released. The cast-iron quality, which is profound, solemn, ardors, mysterious like shamans and intoxicating like death, can be acquired on the linen cloth. As a matter of fact, it is the art of lacquer created by him and based on the Chinese tradition. On one of his solo exhibitions, SU Xiaobai hung numerous ‘palettes’ in the air, which hinted that his dream about the Chu Kingdom culture is rootless and can function as a flying carpet, able to bring him to wherever he intends to go.
For LI Lei, abstraction is more of a methodology than of a guarantee for the style. He pursues imagery in various means, hoping to expand his psychological space. For instance, by using the liquidity of oil paints, he wishes to create the feeling of liveliness and permeability. Sometimes he places the concrete lines into a geometric structure to create a trend of melting and bursting. Some calligraphy sketches of HUANG Gonghong are well positioned to explain his paintings. Regardless of the Chinese tradition, his works directly reach the extremity of wild cursives. In the ‘movement of colors’, he releases his emotions to the fullest. Thus, his paintings look like a bright cluster of inner organs, enchanting but discomforting. HUANG has displayed the profound expressiveness of ‘gaily colors’ to the utmost, even the same as that of the ‘mono-colored paintings’. It must be noted that a number of young artists in the contemporary community of fine arts have the experience of studying in Europe. Looking different and adopting different techniques, they are emerging and unusual forces in the Chinese Abstractionism.
CHEN Ruobing has lived in Germany for a long time. In his once-and-for-all layout, he demonstrates the ever-changing duet of colors, seeking the visual effect of pleasure and peace. In the Silence of Light, one of his album of paintings, he has expressed the artistic situation and actual image. The intuitionism and dedication are where the works of CHEN Lizhu move the people. She repeats smearing on the simple layout until it has a sense of elegancy unique to ladies. She is talented and sentimental but admires rationality. Her delicacy and uncertainty add glamour to her works. Abstract paintings seem to be an art of willpower. After all illusions are eliminated, the plainest and noiseless means are adopted so that they can be felt by the others. LI Peng is just such an ‘artist of willpower’. He believes that he should work within his controllable space since art is a spiritual skill, which has nothing to do with luck or willfulness. He uses the roller, which is hard to produce the effect of brushes and texture, either to roll repeatedly with mono color (sometimes even pure white), or on too many gamut that are difficult to control. KE Ming is of an opposite type. He is zealous, generous and energetic, using his painting brushes to demonstrate youth in an impassioned way. He believes that passion and love are the laws of art, which constitute the essence of hot abstractionism because most of the strict rules and regulations are from the cold abstractionism. The flame-type artist, before reaching the pure and absolute state, needs an indifferent ego standing by and criticizing him. And KE Ming is one of such artists. In the works of TANG Xiao, we can find somewhat cunning wisdom. Though it seems he belongs to the cold abstractionism, he does not have the objective spirit. Instead, His works look like puzzles with hidden symbols. His early works produces the feelings of looking at certain apparatus. With certain cold color acquired by a test, he expresses the youthful and joyful emotions with the elasticity of the cold color itself. Though circles are mainly used to produce the effect of restraint, TANG Xiao has skillfully used the brushes and materials to produce the moving and lyrical effect. The recently-made ‘oil painting apparatus’ has set up a ‘field’, which looks into the eyes of the audience emptily. The hues of works have become thick and heavy. After all, the empty circles are much too scaring. When questioned by emptiness, the art, ironically, produces the sense of jumping through a fire ring. Before the image matrix reaches its limit, TANG Xiao has begun to explore how to make abstractions into apparatus.
Li Jianchun
At Tanhualin, Wuchang
December, 2009
【编辑：霍春常】
