当代艺术的发展在中国一个十分突出的特征是，反映当代社会政治、经济和文化变化过程中人与人、人与社会以及人与自然的矛盾和冲突的题材占据着主导的地位，其集中的表现是符号性和事件性的艺术形式的大量发生与存在。艺术创作中这种倾向的存在，毫无疑问是由其得以发生的基础层面的社会现实决定的。于是，久而久之，人们也就不假思索地沿着这样的思维模式走下去，形成了今天蔚为大观的当代艺术的阵营。

　　然而，当我们看到眼前这批出自张东红笔下的油画作品时，必然会触动对习以惯之的当代艺术思维模式的反思。十分明显的是，从整体上看，张东红的绘画没有时下盛行的事件性或符号性的题材，说得形象点，没有人们耳熟能详的社会政治和经济生活中公共性和集体性的记忆成分，有的只是属于画面中当然也是画家心目中个人私密空间里的生活场景和片段。鸟笼、茶壶、团扇、镜子、纸鸢、油灯、躺椅以及那或坐卧或倚靠或嬉戏的年轻貌美的女子……乍看张东红的画，一股浓郁的现代宫阁味扑面而来。它们显然是十分特别的，特别在于它们所营造的视觉空间并非人们日常生活中的真实空间，或者说不是对当代社会生活的外在现实现象的再现和复写。在这些画里，时光似乎在倒流，然而如果我们仔细观察就会发现这种时光的倒流只是一种假象，而真实的情况是，画中人物的衣着并非全然是复古的，那些时尚的胸衣和睡衣，标志出女主人的当下性。唯一可以解释的是，艺术家是在用自己的画笔营造一种带有怀旧和感伤色彩的现代女性形象。现代的摩登女性与那些代表着传统生活方式的器物道具同处于一个画面之中，传递出的信息使我们感受到这些画面的背后所必然隐含的东西，那就是艺术家内心的一种理想化的人生理念。

　　理想化的人生理念，应该是支撑每一个人生活在这个世界上的根本性的精神诉求，但是当代社会各个方面的急速转变和发展，越来越将所有的人以及围绕着人所建立的一系列价值规范和道德标准裹挟起来，带入到以市场经济为主导的商品化的旋涡中。如果我们把这种理想化的人生理念看作一种属于每个人内心都有又各不相同的可能的现实的话，那么现实中的现实就犹如一个巨大的旋涡或者一台巨大的粉碎机和搅拌机，将原本由人类的文明传承和个人努力所建立的明确的价值体系挤压、搅拌得面目全非。在严酷的现实面前，艺术何为?中外艺术概莫都会以自己的方式来发出自己的声音。从上世纪90年代以来，一大批中国艺术家对这种发生在自己身边的巨大变化做出了应答。尽管都是对变化的应答，但不同的人所采取的方式却是各不相同的，有直接对社会现实采取再现和复写的玩世和反讽手法的;有从媒介材料层面入手进行语言解构的;有融合媒介解构和反讽两种手法的，基本上是以现实存在的现实为艺术表现的对象和题材的。相比之下，张东红的应答方式显得更加个人化也更加主观化，而且主观到了一种几近理想化和唯美化的程度。

　　张东红绘画中透露的这种唯美并不是一种矫情，而与他个人的精神诉求和宗教浸染有着十分密切的关系。在相当长的时期里，他笃信佛教，诸佛所常说的“软语”作为一种“温言适人情之语”，对他的处世哲学影响很大。在张东红的内心深处，艺术首先是一种为人的艺术，而为人首先就应该是在与他人相处时以自己的言行成全他人，使他人感到快适，倘若艺术无法使他人感到愉快，则有悖为人之道。而要做到这一点，艺术家本人首先得认同它。正是对这种为人之道的体认，使得张东红在自己的精神世界里确立了一个十分重要的基点，即以人为本，说得再准确些，以人的感觉为本。

　　从这种以人的感觉为本的基点出发，张东红的绘画中那种四处洋溢着温情和快适的私密化个人空间也就容易被人理解了。即使是在当代激烈变化的社会语境中，这种温情和快适的个人感觉诉求也是存在的，只不过它被那些更加强烈和明显的外部社会的压力和控制所覆盖和遮蔽，只不过它还没有合适的空间和时间能够获得自己合理的存在条件。一旦机会成熟，它就会冒出来，就会使人恢复到快适大于压抑、温情浓于焦虑的自然本真状态。也正是从这种基点出发，张东红绘画中对个人化空间的关注也就不能够被理解成是对社会现实的逃避，而是对一种原本人性能达的本真境界的复归，是对超越于现实的现实的一种可能的现实的呈现。

　　这种追求人的感觉的内向性视角，一方面使得张东红的绘画在题材上有别于时下许多直面当代社会变迁的第二次宏大叙事(这是在告别了较近时代反映集体记忆的第一次宏大叙事之后出现的)的作品，另一方面也使得他在艺术表现的风格和手法上有可能根据自身的需要，找到个性化十足的绘画语言。我们从他的画面上可以看到，无论是人物还是器物，甚至是画面背景本身都基本上采取了模糊化的处理方式。这种方式的贴切之处在于，画面中的一切景物都仿佛处在同一平面上，一切都是平顺和柔软的，甚至连光线也是柔软地和均匀地撒照在景物上。透视和构图的处理方式也为了营造这种平面化视觉效果，做了极大的努力，偌大的画面中极近简约的景物被安置在散淡的空间里。色彩方面，画面中虽然被红色、蓝色等原本靓丽的色调笼罩着，但依然能够营造出温馨和雅致的气氛。这充分证明艺术家具有控制画面效果的有效能力，将原本以色彩和透视见长、以刻画现实真实为能事的油画语言做了一次有效的中国式转换，饱含着东方人生意趣的生活理念就这样跃然于并非宣纸丝绢的画布上。

　　张东红对可能的现实的呈现也并非可以用温情和快适一概而论，他近期的新作对人物局部肢体语言的关注和描绘就是明证。这是一种转变，一种从对感觉的气氛的表现到对感觉的身体的表现，更准确地说，是一种从对感觉的认识的把握到对感觉的主体的把握的转变。这是一种深化，是他艺术基点以感觉的人为本的逻辑必然。就感觉本身而言，舒适是第一位的，而当视觉艺术要表现出这种舒适感，就不得不放弃开放性和公共性的社会事件，将视点投放在相对封闭的私人化的空间的描绘上。而如果就感觉的实施者即作为主体的人的生理性存在而言，则体验感觉的器官是最为根本的，因此，视觉艺术对作为感觉器官的身体的描绘也就是理所当然的。正因为张东红的艺术基点建立在以人的感觉为本之上，所以眼前的这些对诸如嘴唇等人物局部身体器官的刻画和描绘，总显得生动异常，令人过目不忘。

　　从私人化的空间到肉体化的器官，从对场景的营造到对身体的刻画，尽管在转变的过程中尚有一些有待克服的问题存在，但张东红的绘画从自己的内在精神需要出发，走出了一条独具特色的路。它没有那些宏大叙事风格的各类事件和符号，而是视线向内以自己的体认为基点，这似乎不合潮流，但最终与关注身体和感觉的当代艺术潮流相汇，显示出艺术家独具慧眼的成熟和自信。因为艺术的真实与否，不仅要看它是否与时代在表面上的同步，而且更应该看它是否出自内心的信仰和理念，艺术的独特魅力就在于能够在激烈变化和动荡的社会环境里，尊重艺术家自己的亲身感受，寻找出某种可能是被遮蔽了的更为稳定和恒久的东西，而这种被称为理想或信念的东西在任何时代、任何条件下都不可能从人们的内心抹去和泯灭的。

　　从这样的角度来谈论和思考张东红的绘画，就足以使我们将其看似个人化色彩较重的艺术风格上升到一种普遍的层面上来考量，它促使我们又一次重新思考何为当代艺术?或者说，当代艺术有没有一个基本的价值立场?在当今世界，“当代艺术”这个概念正如“知识分子”这样的概念一样，充满了许多动态的和未知的边界。这说明当代艺术显然不应该只有一种风格或模式，批判和质疑固然是当代艺术的一个基本特征，但建言和营造同样也是当代艺术的一个基本品格，更何况批判和质疑从来就不是抽象和空洞的，而是要具体问题具体分析。总而言之，在当今世界范围内艺术发展的多元化格局中，当代艺术的一个基本立点是以人为本，张东红以自己的方式体现了这样的基本点。

　　Subject matter depicting the contradiction and conflict between people, people and society, people and nature dominates contemporary Chinese art, especially abundant in symbolic and incidental art forms. It is a noticeable characteristic of the development of contemporary art in China. The orientation in the artistic creation is decided by the basis of social reality and then artists follow this kind of thinking pattern to form today’s magnificent contemporary art scenes.

　　We will ponder over the pattern of thinking in contemporary art when we see these oils created by Zhang Donghong. Obviously we can’t find any popular symbolic and incidental elements in Zhang’s oils. There is also no record of community and collective of social politics and economic life which people are familiar with. There are only daily life scenes and segments which are regarded as secrets by the artist himself. In his paintings we can see birdcages, teapots, fans, mirrors, oil lamps, reclining and sitting chairs, and lying and playing beauties. At first glance of Zhang Donghong’s oils, there is a flavor of ancient palace in modern times. The contents are very special because the visual space the artist creates is not the real space which we find in our daily life, and it is not the reproduction or duplication of social phenomenon and reality.In Zhang’s oils, time seems to flow backwards. But if we observe carefully we find that it is a false appearance. The costume worn by the ladies in his paintings are not ancient styles. The fashionable corsage and dressing gowns symbolize the attitude and taste of these ladies. The artist puts traditional objects together with the modern lady to express his ideal life.

　　Idealism is the essential element to support people’s life. When society is undergoing dramatic and fast growing changes, the moral standards and values people used to have turn commercial by the market-oriented economy. People’s idealism is smashed by the cruel reality of sweeping social and economic changes. Facing this kind of situation, what does art define? No matter whether within Chinese art or foreign art, each has its own reaction. Since the 90’s in the last century, many Chinese artists have paid attention to the changes and reacted in different ways. Some used reappearance, duplication and ironic techniques to express their feelings. Some simply employed various media and combined its structure with sarcastic expression. Basically the subject matter is based on the social reality. In comparison, Zhong Donghong’s reaction to these changes are more subjective, idealistic, and aesthetic.

　　The aestheticism in Zhong Donghong’s painting is not artificial and has something to do with his spiritual appeal and religious beliefs. Zhang believes in Buddhism and it’s “Soft Word”. Zhang is deeply influenced by it. In Zhang Donghong’s opinion, art is about humanness and makes people feel happy and cheerful. That’s his principle in creating art.

　　From the point of humanness, it is easy to understand the flowing warmness and happiness displayed in the private space created by Zhang Donghong. Although people are under intense pressure from the fast-changing society, pursuing warmness and happiness is still the basic wish of many people. That is the reason why Zhang Donghong’s focuses more on the private space and advocates humanity.

　　Introversion of following the personal feeling makes Zhang Donghong’s oil paintings different from other narrative painting. Zhang’s individualized artistic languages are based on his distinctive and unique style and technique. In Zhang’s oils, outlines of the object and people and even background are vague. Everything looks soft and smooth. Perspective and composition create the visual effect of contemplation. Simple objects are arranged naturally in the large space. Red and blue colors produce a warm and elegant atmosphere. All these show that artist is capable of controlling every detail of the painting and creating a charming and interesting oriental picture.

　　In his recent works, we can see the Zhang Donghong not only concentrates on a warm and happy atmosphere, but also has put much effort into the depiction of body language. It is a profound change from the overall atmosphere to the details. Instead of enlarging social issues, Zhang Donghong attaches great importance to the depiction of individual space to present a sense of comfort. Zhang establishes his basic aesthetic point on the feelings of human beings, and details of the human body are vividly and impressively painted.

　　Although there are still some unsolved questions during this changing process, especially from the individualized space to the depiction of subject matters and details of body, Zhang Donghong has formed his very distinctive style by expressing feeling from his heart. He doesn’t follow any other path but only create works based on his maturity and confidence in contemporary Chinese art. Real art always keeps pace with the time and shows the firm belief of the artist. The unique charm of the art reflects the artist’s personal experience and his everlasting faith and ideals.

　　The colors used by Zhang Donghong make us reconsider the definition of contemporary art and its value. There should not be a fixed style or pattern in contemporary art. Criticism and questioning like suggestion and construction are the basic characteristics of contemporary art. They are not abstract and empty. All in all the different developments of contemporary art in today’s world are based on humanity. Zhang Donghong’s paintings fully embody this point.