2008《寒冬夜行人》王茂绘画作品个展
开幕时间：2008年4月19日，星期六下午3：00PM-6：00PM
展览时间：2008年4月20日-5月9日，11：00-18：00
展览地点：XYZ 画廊，北京798大山子艺术区D06-6-1
电话：010 8459 9299/www.xyzartgallery.com
策展人：范学宜 成国琴
虚妄中前行——王茂绘画有感
王茂不像“80”一代人，不仅仅因为他笃信佛教，研习禅宗。沉稳、谦和的气质使他在年轻一代中尤为另类，但这并不意味着他没有年轻人的激烈、愤慨、彷徨、无助与追问，王茂说：“我只是去感受和表达一些别人都感受到的东西。”但是他将这种对生活强烈的诉求以深度思考的形式转化成一种内敛、厚重与执着，所以在这个利益与欲望极端扩大化的时代里，王茂就像一个清净、悲悯的行者。
王茂的“佛系列”是他用“线”的代表，其对形象的捆绑、破坏，与贾克梅蒂对物象的探究、消解有共通的意味。王茂说他是在寻求“禅宗”中“似是而非”的禅理，但现在仍然太“是”了。这样的思辨被他深深地混合在自己的艺术表现形式和内质之中。
一位参佛的朋友看过王茂的画后说，能感觉到一种苦涩。王茂正是将苦涩作为一种修行，就像鲁迅所说，直面惨淡的人生，这是他选择面对生活的视角。看王茂的画，观者也会随他进入“他者”的角度，“闯入”别人的片段生活中，在凝重的色调营造出的超现实氛围里与画中人产生强烈的情感共振。毕业于中戏的王茂，自然地在作品中融入了丰富的叙事性与观看感，而在这些略微荒诞、疏离、阴郁的情境绘画背后，我们感受到的是对人性复杂的描述与追问。《寒冬夜行人》是王茂喜欢的意大利作家卡尔维诺的小说，文学性与电影语言无形地灌注于王茂的思维形态与视觉取向中。在一幅以此命名的作品里，人同影子一般地迷失在虚妄中，无望的氤氲在意念中升腾。王茂说自己以后可能画人会越来越少，因为他不太喜欢人，他认为这个世界本可以不是这样，是人造成了这般混沌的面貌，其实完全可以不必如此，不知道他笔下那些混沌状态下的人是否也同样这样想。
失望的王茂在小动物的身上找到了出口，他画的犀牛、蜜蜂、小鸡、鱼、龙虾……尺幅很大，似有神性的附体，成为沟通混沌现实与天真、单纯的使者，从脆弱、微观的生命体中寻找到了久违的自在与舒适。王茂一直在找寻一个自己想要的世界，那不单单是一个具体的乌托邦式的遐想，更是一种深植内心的宁静释然。这种来自精神层面的暗示使他的视觉形象表现出了巨大的张力，这张力的源头不是痛苦与鞭笞，而是源自东方哲学深厚的精髓造诣。像极了“古人”的王茂以极为当代的手法和青春的驿动阐释了处于当下的中国传统人文精神，在浮华、短促的时代坚守一份执着与淡然。
文：刘佳
青年艺术家——王茂简历：
1980 生于中国湖北
2000-2004 就读于中央戏剧学院舞美系本科
2004-2007 就读于中央戏剧学院舞美系硕士
2008 北京XYZ画廊《笔墨的浪漫》
现居北京，自由艺术家
王茂
湖边
布上油画
180X120
2008《A NIGHT WALK IN WINTER》WANG MAO PAINTING EXHIBITION
Opening reception: April 19, 2008, 1500hrs to 1800hrs
Exhibition dates: April 20 to May 9, 2008, 1100hrs to 1800hrs
Venue: XYZ Gallery (D06-6-1, 798 art center of Beijing)
Phone: 010 8459 9299/13701104223 (www.xyzartgallery.com)
Curator: Xueyi Fan & Catherine Cheng
A World of Dark and Desperate Beauty:
Wang Mao Creates Drama on Canvas
By C. M. Voskuil, Ph.D.
I always feel a bit of trepidation when asked to review the works of a new artist. One must view art with an open mind and critical eye. I must honestly describe what I see, whether good, bad, or something in between. Yet, if disappointed, I must state clearly and perhaps harshly the shortcomings of the work as I see it – leading to disappointment and perhaps shattered hopes for those involved. Fortunate I feel, then, when I find myself in the presence of art that is truly what art should be. I feel relieved, and in a few rare cases, inspired. Such was my experience during my visit to the studio of the young and rising painter Wang Mao.
Wang, at 28 years of age, is a quiet and unassuming person – humble and serious in a way that few artists are today. His background has provided a fertile soil for the cultivation of creativity. As a young boy, Wang’s parents were part of an opera troupe, thus he grew up surrounded by drama: elaborate sets and costumes, stirring music, and thrilling stories. When he decided to undertake further studies in the arts, he was accepted as a student at the prestigious Central Academy of Theatre in Beijing. There, he chose to focus his varied talents on painting. Today, he lives in a spacious apartment with sparse furnishings and cement floors in the outskirts of Beijing – in one of those sprawling, massive apartment cities that defy individuality and spit in the face of nature. The most notable aspect of his flat is a large floor to ceiling window that admits an abundance of natural light. As a result, it is an ideal ‘garret’ for this serious artist. Here Wang can spread out, focus, and make use of the solitude and light he needs to paint. As for inspiration – well, that he seems to find in a place deep inside of himself. While many artists today are involved in creating a ‘cult of personality’ instead of producing art that is profound and accomplished, Mr. Wang is the antithesis of such ‘artists’. He said very little as he presented his works to me, letting the art speak for itself.
Although his immediate surroundings are bland, his inner world is what one sees on the canvasses. It is a world of dark and disquieting beauty – reflective of the drama and depth of emotion that he has experienced during his own young life, and mixed with the elements of a vibrant and cultured imagination. Wang claims that his artistic influences range from the Chinese ink wash artist Ba Da to the disturbing modernist painter Francis Bacon, and certainly these are evident. One can also see in his works traces of the styles and techniques of some of the European romantic painters, as well as impressionists such as Cezanne and Sisley, and Pre-Raphaelites such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti. But there is also something completely unique and stirring about Wang’s paintings – something that is his alone.
This distinctive quality is no doubt the result of his excellent training and unique experience. Wang is a contemporary Chinese artist with exceptional technical skills whose works exhibit a penchant for the desperate and the dramatic, as well as a deep reverence for the natural world. It is in this that his ties to Romanticism seem most evident. Take, for example, his series of animal and insect paintings. These large scale works show a scholar’s awareness of the biological characteristics of the subjects: a rhino, a frog, a chick, a bee, a lobster, a fish. Yet they are alive with movement – each seems frozen in a split-second’s action, yet still appears to be in motion. The scale (the canvasses are larger than most humans) brings each into almost lifelike proximity to the viewer, and particularly the smaller creatures make one feel miniscule by comparison. This is the worship of nature in its truest form; the depiction of the animal world in a way that inspires a thrilling awe for its beauty and dignity.
The same respect and dignity is also applied to Wang’s human subjects. Like the breathtaking Bee and remarkable Chick, the work entitled Baby conveys to the viewer a sense of the awesome beauty of the human child, a being as dignified and worthy of wonder as are the creatures of the animal world. The baby also seems simultaneously frozen in time and in motion, allowing us the opportunity to examine the spark of life so evident in the very small and the very hopeful. Indeed, nothing says ‘hope’ for the future of humanity more than a baby like this one, chubby and smooth skinned, ready to burst forth into the world, yet not fully knowable, like a question mark, surrounded by a sense of mystery.
The same reverence for the mystery of the human experience can be seen in Wang’s other works such as By the Lake, Something Related to True Love, Long Live Love, and When Day Comes. In each, human beings are shown engulfed in a darkness of pain, sadness, ambivalence, loneliness, and sheer want. Yet each is depicted with a dignity and a profound appreciation of human suffering that can only be described as beautiful. In addition, Wang’s brushwork reveals sweeping curves that stir the emotions and the imagination of the viewer. Swirling amidst the pain and despair is this dark, billowing substance – movement itself - and it brings an added exhilaration to the darkness, as if a storm or perhaps a clearing wind were blowing in. The churning brushwork evokes hope, even in the darkest of situations. It evokes the force of life, denotes the impending arrival of change, and reminds us of the unrelenting passage of time which brings something new, be it peace, drama, or some variation of these, to us all.
Wang’s paintings are a breath of fresh air in the contemporary art world – a breath of air that carries the deep and satisfying aroma of the past, the intoxicating perfume of the Romantic and the exotic, and the fresh, unique scent of change, like that of an impending spring thunderstorm. You should experience its enchantment for yourself.
BIO OF WANG MAO
1980 Born in Hubei Province of China
2000 Graduate from Stage Art Department of Central Academy of Theatre
2004 Master Degree of Stage Art Department of Central Academy of Theatre
2007 B.C- Octopus Solo Exhibition
2008 ROMANTIC BRUSH INK Group Exhibition at XYZ Gallery Beijing
Now resides in Beijing as an independent artist
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