把经过“改造”的汉字，或者说以汉字为素材，做成一座座巨大的雕塑品，而且连成宏大的雕塑群，应该说是刘永刚的创举。

刘永刚能有如此的气魄，从绘画创作迈出这一大步，有其必然的内在原因。他对艺术的理解，似乎从形而下的层面跳越到一个很高的新境界。艺术之所以成为艺术，它不仅是现实生活的直接反映，它是把现实中的精神用艺术手段加以形象化，给人以力感和美感，给人以想象和启迪。艺术家有广泛选择题材的自由，更有充分创建个性风格的自由，但他拥有的自由也会受到诸多方面的制约。这种制约除了来自观众的审美和接受水平外，更来自它自身的条件：知识和技能的储备状况，视野和修养的准备程度。艺术创作和科学实验一样，在新的课题前面，人们可以大胆假设、预想，但最终的成果在许多方面却要受制于他己掌握的知识和己具备的素养，尽管也可能有诸多的偶然因素会发挥作用。在艺术领域，不可想象一个没有充分知识储备和文化涵养的人，可以为所欲为地施展自己的才能；也不可想象，没有在长期实践中获得经验的人，可以在艺术创新上一举获得成功。

刘永刚在上个世纪80年代己经驰名于画坛。他在首屆中国油画展获奨的作品《北萨拉的牧羊女》，不仅已经显示出他杰出的艺术才华，而且还表明他在艺术上求新、求变革的愿望。这件作品中的人物以至整个画面境界是静穆而崇高。从表面上看，这件带有古典写实意味的油画与现在他创作的以“爱拥”为主题的文字雕塑迥然不同，但细细观察和思量却可以发现，两者之间却有内在的联系，那就是都追求一种宏大而严谨的古典精神，追求表现一种稳定而坚实的力量。只是媒材与题材变化了，艺术气魄更宏大了，艺术境界提升了。变化的原因来自于诸多方面：作者在德国游学的经验以及所受到的影响，他对艺术创造的新体悟，等等。刘永刚十分赞赏德国现代画家马克斯·贝克曼(Max Beckmann，1884-1950)的艺术，赞赏他艺术中的寓意性，赞赏他关注潜藏于表面事物下面的深层含义。刘永刚从贝克曼的艺术中受到启发，结合自己的生命体验和艺术经验，包括他受到的汉蒙两种文化的教育，以及他对汉字形象的理解，终于走向以“爱拥”为主题的雕塑创造。从结构严密的象形汉字出发，但又不是具体汉字的再现，而是经过加工和发挥，使汉字雕塑的造型切合“爱拥”的主题：宇宙间两种基本力量—阴阳的对立与统一。刘永刚在处理这一系列雕塑作品时，机智、妥善地解决了雕塑结构的收敛与扩张、整体形象塑造与细部刻画的课题，他用墨玉石作为材料以加强作品在色泽上取得单纯而丰富的表现效果。

以“爱拥”为主题的雕塑介于具像与抽象之间，它们没有刻画具体的人的形象，但它们传达了人性中最基本、最普遍的感情力量，而又不止于男女之间的爱。面对这些作品，不同文化层次的观众可以获得不同的艺术感受，这一点当然是刘永刚所期待的。他似乎要让观众在观赏作品的过程中，在看懂与看不懂之间与作品对话与交流，从而得到某种精神的满足。

邵大箴　　中央美术学院教授　博士生导师　 中国美术史学家

著名美术评论家　　《美术研究》杂志主编

In the Depth of Character Sculptures: Impression of Liu Yonggang’s Works

Shao Dazhen

Mr. Shao Dazhen, professor from Central Academy of Fine Arts, doctoral tutor, historian of Chinese fine art, renowned critic of fine arts, chief editor of Journal of Fine Arts

‘Transformed’ Chinese characters, or rather, large sculptures based on Chinese characters and connected into groups, are pioneered by Liu Yonggang. There is an intrinsic reason for him to be so courageous as to take this step. His understanding of art seemed to have experienced a leap from a physical level to a new, higher one. Art is not only the direct reflection of real life, but the artistic rendering of it for the purpose of inspiring the sense of power and beauty, and to arouse imagination. Artists are free to choose a wide range of subjects and to establish their own styles, but their freedom is subject to restriction in various aspects. The restriction not only lies in viewers’ aesthetic level, but also derives from artists’ own qualifications—their reserve of knowledge and skills, and their preparedness in vision and cultivation. Like scientific experiments, artistic creations allow for bold assumptions and forecasts, but the final results are in many respects conditioned by artists’ knowledge and cultivation. Despite accidental factors, so far as art is concerned, it is unimaginable that a person ill-equipped in knowledge and culture can use his talent to the fullest extent possible; it is equally unimaginable that a person could succeed at the first go in artistic innovation without experience derived from long-time practice.

Liu Yonggang made a name as an artist in the 1980s. Shepherdess of Northern Sala, a prize-winning work at the first national art exhibition, not only displayed his outstanding talent, but it also expressed his desire for innovation. The human figure and the general effect of that painting convey a sublime serenity. Its classical realistic style appears so different from that of his latest works, the character sculptures named Embrace of Love. However, careful observation and thinking will reveal that both express the pursuit of a grand, rigorous classical spirit and a stable, stern power. The only differences are the change of medium and subject, a broader vision, and a higher level. The changes were caused by multiple reasons, such as influences during his study in Germany and his new ideas about creation. Liu thinks highly of the art of the modern German painter Max Beckmann (1884-1950). He is impressed by pregnancy of meanings in Beckmann’s works, and his concern for deep meanings under the surfaces of things. Inspirations from Beckmann’s art, his own life and artistic experience, his education in Han and Mongolian cultures, and his interpretation of the images of Chinese characters—these led to the creation of the sculptures named Embrace of Love. Though based on tersely structured hieroglyphic characters, they are not the representation of particular Chinese characters. Characters are modified to fit the theme of Embrace of Love—the opposition and unity between yin and yang, two basic powers of the universe. He ingeniously handled the contraction and expansion of the structure, the general image and the depiction of details. The use of black jade as the material strengthened the simple yet rich effect of the color.

The sculptures in Embrace of Love are half way between concreteness and abstraction. Instead of depicting human images, they convey the fundamental, universal power of feelings in human nature, which is not confined to the love between men and women. Viewers of different cultural levels will have different feelings about them, and that is of course what Liu expects. He seems to want them to derive certain mental satisfaction from communicating with his works, a communication that mixes understanding and the failure to understand.