邬建安虽然年轻，却有着不凡的经历。虽然还不到30岁，他那种“返祖式”的思考总是让人诧异。我最初遇到邬建安时，他还是中央美院吕胜中的学生，但已经显示出不凡的才能，特别是在剪纸这种媒体上。他从中央美院毕业一年后，就在纽约前波画廊举办了第一次个展《白日梦》。当时展出了他在“非典”期间创作的狂想似的剪纸作品，表现出了那次事件对他情感上的巨大影响。不久，他对中国神怪故事的兴趣就超越了纸和剪刀的范围，开始用激光雕刻不锈钢板，并创作出了大型作品《凌迟蚩尤》。这件表现甚至美化古代的野蛮性的作品在北京前波画廊的首次展览《网》中展出，从天花板上直直地垂下，引人注目。
　　为这次展览，邬建安继续延伸自己对中国古代神怪故事的兴趣，创作材料也从不锈钢转到牛皮。与著名的皮影戏大师汪天稳老师合作，他创作了与以往任何作品都不同的三件大型作品。在与阎安的访谈中，邬建安谈到自己对神话故事、鬼怪传说、中国和其他国家的神话（越荒诞离奇越好）、敦煌壁画、剪纸、皮影戏、木雕等的浓厚兴趣。他不喜欢传统中国艺术的经典绘画，却对繁复详尽的装饰艺术情有独钟。他的审美观一点也不“简约”！我猜，相比米斯·凡德洛（Mies van der Rohe），他更喜欢高迪（Gaudi）吧。
　　邬建安位于北京的住房兼工作室非常的现代，当然电脑占据了其中最重要的位置。但同时，他的艺术图书室也显示了他的真正兴趣。虽然北京已经进入奥林匹克的最后准备阶段，整个城市也焕然一新，但看到邬建安这样对中国文化持有浓厚感情的年轻艺术家，会让人觉得安心。他所创作的《九重天》及对刑天和蚩尤的再现向我们展现了一个仍然存在的过去。这里，传统工艺成为从传统中国和当今电脑科技的结合中成长出的想象力的最有力的表现形式。
　　在众多参与这次展览的漫长准备工作的人员中，我特别感谢吕胜中介绍我和邬建安认识。我也谢谢喻瑜翻译了阎安与邬建安间的详细对谈，唐冠科监督了此图录的制作，以及前波画廊纽约和北京的员工——许宇、Ann Chen和Caitlin Wang——参与和支持了展览准备的各个方面。
　　Foreword
　　Wu Jian'an is a young man with a long history! Not yet thirty years old, his ability to connect with atavistic ways of thinking is a source of amazement. When I first met him he was still studying under Lu Shengzhong at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing but it was immediately apparent that the medium of paper-cut would undergo extraordinary developments in his hands. One year after he graduated I gave him his first solo exhibition at Chambers Fine Art New York. The delirious series of paper cuts exhibited in Daydreams: Works by Wu Jian'an was created in response to the SARS epidemic that had a profound emotional effect on him. Sheets of paper and scissors proving to be too restrictive for his deepening involvement with Chinese mythology, he turned to the laser cutting of stainless steel for the monumental work Execute Chiyou by Lingchi. Suspended from the ceiling in Net, the first exhibition at Chambers Fine Art Beijing, this dazzlingly decorative but gory celebration of ancient barbarity was one of the highlights of the exhibition.
　　For the current exhibition Wu Jian'an has continued his exploration of Chinese mythology and has moved from stainless steel to ox-hide. Working with Wang Tianwen, a master of the disappearing art of making shadow puppets, Wu Jian'an has created three extraordinary works that are unlike anything else being made today. In his long interview with Yan An, Wu Jian' an gives some indication of the range of his interests in ghost stories and tales of fantasy, Chinese and world mythology (the more fantastic the better), the Dunhuang Grottoes, paper-cuts, shadow puppets and intricate carvings. Unresponsive to classical Chinese art, he likes details piled upon details and intricate decorative effects. There is nothing minimal about his taste! I would guess he prefers Gaudi to Mies van der Rohe.
　　His residence/studio in Beijing is thoroughly contemporary and, of course, the computer screen occupies a prominent place but his extensive working library and art reference books show where his heart really lies. Although China is getting ready for the Olympics and the face of Beijing is being transformed in readiness for the opening on August 8, it is reassuring to find that an artist such as Wu Jian'an still responds to aspects of Chinese culture that might seem to be on the verge of extinction. His The Heaven of Nine Levels and his homages to Xingtian and Chiyou are masterly visitations from a vivid past that is still with us. Traditional craft is used in the service of an imagination that finds connections between ancient China and the computer-generated fantasies of today.
　　As always many people have been involved in the lengthy period of preparation required for a project of this complexity. I am particularly grateful to Lu Shengzhong for drawing my attention to his talented and ambitious student Wu Jian'an. I am also deeply indebted to Christina Yu for undertaking the translation of Yan An's fascinating and extensive interview with Wu Jian'an and to John Tancock for his detailed attention to many aspects of the catalogue production. As always, the staff of Chambers Fine Art in New York and Beijing – Leo Xu, Ann Chen and Caitlin Wang – helped in countless ways and I thank them for their ongoing support.
　　Christophe W. Mao
　　June, 2008
　　New York