艺术创作离不开主题提炼，但有时也会因按照某个既定主题或主观概念来寻找阐释这种主题或概念的所谓“生活”。久而久之，人们发现，这种主题或概念先行的美术创作所制造出来的“生活”，只是某种主题或概念的“生活”图解，不仅因缺乏真情实感而显得矫揉造作，而且这种对“生活”的伪装或装饰，也制造了令人厌恶，甚至是值得警惕的社会假象。因而，艺术创作需要不断地回到生活，来校正其情感与表达的真诚与真实程度。回到生活，不只是使画家不断地去遮蔽主观化了的“主题”或“概念”，让自己的眼睛不断在生活现场获得新鲜的感知；而且使自己的思想情感不断回到从那种生活现场逐渐建立起来的真诚与淳朴的精神状态。只有情感的真诚、精神的淳朴，才能真正创造单纯质朴的艺术。

　　李节平以四年之余的光阴，用自己的足迹和画笔丈量了广东40多个乡镇、200余个村庄，他以“乡野考察”的治学心态与调研方法，让自己的眼睛不断在回到现实生活的过程中进行冲刷，其目的就是力图滤除都市人对当代乡村生活的想象、滤除用某种主观概念来替代对生活的观察。他的“粤农百态”板块是以肖像画的方式对其乡野考察所目击的农民形象的客观记录。这里，没有“摆拍”的矫情，没有按照已被模式化了的“人物形象”来寻找入画的“肖像”，画家所择取的“百态”，正在于没有修饰、没有想象的随机目击的定格。这些形象的不够“漂亮”，或不够“典型”，恰恰是画室内的模特儿或将农民请入画室写生所没有的相貌与神情，至少这些形象较少像一个农民走进城市或走进照相馆时所不自觉地流露出的某种伪装。其实，李节平“粤农百态”的可贵，就在于他用自己的画笔对于那些生活在乡村中的原生农民形象的真实捕捉与记录，他的不过多强调艺术家个性表现的，甚至于也较少摆弄技艺的写生，正成为他呈现“百态”最珍贵的艺术表现语言。

　　“二十四节气”板块是中国农耕文明时代一年劳作的日程表。这个劳作日程表对已跨进现代社会的今日中国而言，或许只徒有公历日期附带的民俗文化符号的装饰作用，它为城市文明时代提供更多的也可能只是有关农耕文明富有诗意的生活想象。当李节平用“二十四节气”板块来组构他乡野考察具有创作意味的作品时，他似乎是在当代岭南乡村生活原态形象与艺术塑造形象之间寻求着某种平衡。被作为此课题结项展巨幅广告的《雨水·远望》，描绘了当代乡村代课教师一边代课一边务农的乡村女教师形象。乡村教师这个曾经是20世纪五六十年代或七八十年代“消灭文盲”“普及教育”的典型形象，居然通过李节平的画笔让人们再次感受到——教育普及仍然是逐渐富裕起来的乡村未能彻底解决的社会问题。画家对这一题材的选择所流露出来的深刻人文关怀，显然也和20世纪五六十年代或七八十年代那种歌颂社会主义的新生活新事物所表达的思想内涵截然不同。这无疑是作者乡野考察跟踪那位乡村代课教师而获得的真实形象，其真实性并不在于以颂扬或批判的角度来揭示这一人物形象，而在于从那位乡村代课女教师的真实心境——在务农与代课之间实现她简单而充实的生活理想，来呈现她原本的生活形象。这里的“远望”丝毫没有脱离此境的期盼，只是她在收割菜蔬偶尔直起腰回望天空时自然流露出的怡然知足。而作者描绘的那菜园一角的野花，虽是闲笔，却又无不寄寓了画家对那位乡村代课女教师的平凡朴素的赞美。

　　“乡野考察”画展所捕捉的生活原态，显然不是画室能够想象和臆造的。像《小暑·晨起》就描绘了一位带着两个孩子的年轻母亲在夏季起床时的情景。这幅似乎没有情节的画面之所以能够打动观者，在很大程度上是画家为人们呈现了一个真实的现代乡村居室——既有些脏乱也有些城市化元素的现场。的确，那个年轻的正在系扣文胸的半裸的母亲形象，无不真切自然地呈现了一种现代城市生活的形态，而画面正是以其没有艺术装饰的真实而触动了人心。像《立冬·守望》就截取了一位乡村少妇刚刚拾掇好正准备带着两个男孩出门的瞬间。这同样是一个真实的农村居室内景的细微描写，与前者不同的是，老式脸盆木架与现代冰箱、墙上老照片与这个似乎只有一位年轻母亲带着两个男孩儿的家庭所形成的某种对比。居室同样是脏乱不整的，这似乎又和这位穿着时尚的外套短裙、黑丝袜，脚穿黑靴子的年轻母亲的打扮不相协调。画家并没有在画面内讲故事，但居室内景的陈设与人物形象却一再向观者提示一些惹人眼目的信息来暗示当代农村生活的巨大变迁。而《立夏·远方》早已不是20世纪五六十年代或七八十年代美术作品里所描绘的田园牧歌式的生活场景了，而是一位现代青年通过牧羊来改变乡村生活命运的形象。那位穿着T恤衫、脚蹬橡胶靴的青年，似乎并没有完全看护他的那些吃草的羊群，而是瞭望远方，略有所思，体现了一个颇有些教育背景的青年在思忖着如何扩大畜牧经营的情状。画面并没有正面去塑造那位现代牧羊青年的形象，而是通过早晨斜射的阳光，以“立夏”的节气来象征着“远方”的深刻内涵。

　　作者对当代农民生活的关切，由来已久。他获得2009年第十一届全国美术作品展金奖的油画作品《小夫妻》，就是根据他在自己生活的院落内看到的一对来自农村的务工小夫妻而构思创作的。也许，在一般人看来，那只是一对极普通的务工者形象，但李节平却从他们身上嗅到了务工者身上所特有的一种自信与活力。这无疑是画面上那对正在构筑他们自己梦想的打工小夫妻能够感染观者的地方，也是李节平的《小夫妻》在当年众多表现农民务工人员题材的作品里能够脱颖而出的重要原因。显然，李节平描绘的外来务工人员形象并不在于渲染他们工作的艰辛或生存的困窘，而在于捕捉他们对生活充满的乐观、阳光与期待。这种以当代外来务工人员的精神维度来切入艺术表现视角的创作，促使了李节平以乡野考察的方式来扩充他对当代外来务工人员在乡村生活原态的认知，而“二十四节气”板块也更深入地发掘了像那一对小夫妻在乡村的生存背景以及他们的家庭环境。《大寒·回家》所描写的那对在城里务工的“小夫妻”，终于在年节前夕回到了他们阔别已久的家乡，他们迈进家门的瞬间，看到了留守的奶奶带着的两个孩子早已长大，一个仍调皮地玩耍，一个则从做家庭作业的学习状态中站起来迎接已经有些陌生了的父母。这个敞开的家门，让人们看到他们的家乡在山区深处，而父母们充满期待地走进家门的这一瞬间，似乎也凝固了改革开放40年中国农民生活所发生的意义深远的历史性巨变。在这里，画家已从对粤农原生状态的描写，升华到当代中国农民形象的塑造。其主题的鲜明，立意的深远，已不言自明。

　　作为一次历时四年的广东乡野考察，李节平尽力用所有的视觉艺术方式来感知粤农真实的生存状态。他不仅以肖像、风景和主题油画创作的方式，来记录和塑造他对粤农那些富有原生态式的生活形象的捕捉与描写；而且还以素描、速写、水彩、照片等这些常见的行之有效的方式，留下大量珍贵的视觉“文献”。除了在人们熟知的他所擅长的油画领域之外，人们意外地发现，在留下这些珍贵的视觉“文献”里，他还广泛涉猎了中国画、版画、雕塑、壁画、综合材料绘画乃至现成品装置等。这次乡野考察，实际上又成为他调动自己全部美术创作经历曾经或新启的各种体裁类型的艺术实验，由此从平面跨入空间，从绘画跨入雕塑，从图像跨入装置等当代艺术领域，这也为他乡野考察课题结项的大型艺术展览提供了更多视觉传达途径，让人们对熟悉的他再度产生了一种新奇的陌生感。的确，除了上述的“粤农百态”“二十四节气”两个考察结项展览的部分，还有以描写广府建筑、潮汕民居、客家围屋和开平碉楼为岭南乡村农舍代表的“路上的风景”，表现岭南农民节日的“岭南丰歌”以及以速写、照片为主体构成的“采风随笔”这三个展览叙事单元。

　　显然，李节平对岭南全境的乡野考察，力图呈现一种立体观看的方式。诸多写生风景的真实淳朴，让人们感受了考察路途随处都能呼吸到的泥土芬芳的“路上的风景”；而大型壁画《岭南丰歌》，则是繁复壮阔的绘画大制作。与“粤农百态”“二十四节气”“路上的风景”和“采风随笔”板块里那些记录与描绘现实中的岭南人文形象的作品不同，《岭南丰歌》更注重发掘岭南古风民俗的表现。画面中央以南粤舞狮、潮汕英歌舞和粤北瑶族歌舞等构成了岭南最具代表性的节庆表演形象，画面两侧主要以农民、渔民、花农、果农所表现的劳动丰收场面来表达节庆的内涵，而背景则通过江河纵横之中隐约呈现出的各种典型的岭南民居来渲染安居乐业的祥和寓意。显然，这件尺幅巨大的壁画，是从对现实农民生活的记录跨越到一种富有历史感的民俗生活状态的发掘，并力图以时空交错、纵横相合的方式来呈现岭南民风古朴、民俗祥和的农民嘉年会。在艺术语言上，受墨西哥现代壁画的影响，人物形象塑造在写实的基础上进行了适度的夸张与变形，尤其是画面整体的平面化处理，使众多人物的跨空间组合获得变化而统一的艺术效果；人物形象塑造以作者擅长的油画来敷色，追求条件光色之中的装饰性意趣，并适度借鉴中国传统年画对喜庆色彩与固有色的运用，而在画面大幅面的环境渲染上，则又施以矿物材料平敷罩染，以及局部的贴金和飞金等辅助手段，从而将绘画性与设计感、油画形色的塑造与平面构成的装饰有机地融为一体。

　　值得注意的是，尽管《岭南丰歌》试图通过对民风民俗的表现而将人们带进一个历史悠久、风俗淳朴的岭南农村社会，但画面上的农民、渔民、花农、果农，乃至瑶民，却无不具有当代粤农的人物形象气质与时代变迁色彩，因而这幅《岭南丰歌》也体现了作者试图通过当代粤农形象来表达守望土地的农民以安居乐业为农耕之本的社会理想，当代粤农生存状态尽管获得了极大的改善，城市化进程早已深入岭南偏僻的乡隅，但岭南民俗仍然是粤农精神思想的核心与主体。由此反观作者在“二十四节气”板块中撷取的《大寒·回家》，也便令人感到一种意味隽永的寓意。画面中所表达的“回家”，仿佛是从一种现代生活场域的都市拉回到一种农耕文明的精神家园，时代生活的巨大变迁似乎总是与民俗历史的息息相传构成某种社会历史演变的神秘关系。不论在何方，也不论贫富，“乡愁”依然是现代人的精神栖息之所。由此，李节平通过乡野考察对粤农当代原生状态的揭示，也便被升华为一种精神理想的塑造；而这个过程本身，也无疑成为作者自己对艺术创作人文理想追求的一种精神守望。

2018年12月9日于北京22院街艺术区

尚辉

中国美术家协会美术理论委员会副主任

《美术》主编

博士生导师

The Watching of the Spirit Ideal

​Revelation of the Life Status of Contemporary Guangdong Peasants by Li Jieping

　　Artistic creation is inseparable from the refinement of the theme, but sometimes it is built on a certain theme or subjective concept to depict the so-called "life". As time passes, people have discovered that this kind of "life" based on the theme or concept is only a diagram of a certain theme or concept, which is not only hypocritical because of lacking the true feelings but also disgusting because the "life" is disguised or over decorated, and even result in a social illusion worthy of vigilance. Therefore, artistic creation needs to constantly return to life to correct the sincerity and truthfulness of its emotions and expressions. Back to life, not only do artists need to insist on avoiding subjective "themes" or "concepts" so that their eyes continue to gain fresh perceptions at the scene of life, also they need to keep their thoughts and emotions back to the  sincere and simple spiritual state that gradually established by the scene of life. Only the sincerity of emotion and the simplicity of the spirit can truly create simple and pure art.

　　In  more than four years, Li Jieping investigated over 40 townships and 200 villages in Guangdong. In his "Rural Investigation - Guangdong New Rural Project", he constantly observes the real life instead of using some subjective concept, with the aim of breaking the urban people's imagination of contemporary rural life. His "Guangdong Peasants" has recorded the portraits of farmers he saw in the countryside. Without "controlled poses" or stereotyped "personal image", the peasants he depicted is not "pretty" or "typical" because he did not paint according to the imaginary image but randomly painted the real peasants in the villages. Some artists paid the peasants to stay in the studio as a model for painting, then the works they created may reflect a kind of disguised expression that the peasants unconsciously reveal when they walk into the city or into the photo studio. However, Li Jieping actually captured and recorded the image of the original peasants who live in the countryside. His art, which less emphasizes the artist's personal style and seldom shows off his skills, has become the most precious artistic expression language for him to unfold the real life of peasants.

　　"The Twenty-four Solar Terms" is a calendar of one year of work in the era of Chinese farming civilization. This work schedule for today's China which has entered the modern society, may only have the decorative effect of folk culture symbols brought by the lunar calendar. What it can provide more for urban civilization and the times perhaps is just a poetic life imagination of farming civilization. When Li Jieping used "The Twenty-four Solar Terms" to consider the works in the rural investigation project, he seemed to seek a certain balance between the originalecological image of contemporary rural life in Guangdong and the shaping of artistic images. In Rain Water: Overlooking , which was used in the poster of the exhibition, he portrays the image of a rural female teacher who also works as a farmer in the countryside. The rural teacher used to be the typical image of "eliminating illiterate" and "universal education" in the period from 1950s to 1980s. However, through Li Jieping's depiction, it actually brings us the feeling that the education popularization is a social problem that the gradual affluent villages have not completely solved. Li Jieping's profound humanistic care that revealed by the choice of this subject, is obviously different from the ideological connotation expressed in the past for praising the new life and new things in socialism. This is undoubtedly the image of a true rural teacher. The sense of reality does not lie in the perspective of praise or criticism but in presenting the true state of mind of the female teacher - she transforms her identity between farming and teaching in order to realize her simple and fulfilling life ideals. The "overlooking" here is full of hope, showing her naturally satisfying expression when she harvests vegetables, straightens her waist, looks at the sky. The wildflowers in the corner of the vegetable garden in the painting, although common, embodies the painter's praise for the ordinary and simple of the rural female teacher.

　　The life status captured by "Rural Investigation - Guangdong New Rural project" is obviously impossible to happen in the studio. Slight Heat: Morning depicts a young mother with two children in the summer when she gets up. This seemingly plotless work can impress the viewer mainly because the painter presents a real scene of contemporary country room which looks dirty but modern. Indeed, the image of the young half-naked mother who is wearing a bra really shows a modern urban life, and it is the real scene without art decoration that touches the hearts of the us. The Beginning of Winter: Watching depicts a moment when a young rural woman has just picked up and is about to go out with two boys. This is also a subtle description of the real rural interior. Unlike the former, the old-fashioned washbasin, wooden frame, modern-style fridge, old photos on the wall contrast with this family that seems to have only one young mother with two boys. The messy room seems to be inconsistent with the young mother's wearing of fashionable coat, short skirt, black stockings and black boots. Without narrative depiction, the furnishings and characters in the interior scene repeatedly remind the viewers of some eye-catching information to suggest the great changes in contemporary rural life. However, instead of presenting the kind of idyllic life that some artists did from the 1950s to the 1980s, The Beginning of Summer: Distant Place tells the story of a modern youth who desires to change his fate through shepherding. The young man in the

　　T-shirt and rubber boots does not seem to be watching his sheep, but looks into the distance and falls into the thinking - a young man with a certain educational background is considering ways to expand his husbandry. This work does not directly shape the image of the shepherd. Instead, it uses the morning sun to symbolize the profound meaning of the "distant place".

　　Li Jieping has been paying attention to the life of contemporary farmers. The Oil painting Petit Couple that he won the Gold Award of the National Art Exhibition in 2009 was inspired by a couple from the countryside he saw in the yard of his residential community. Perhaps, in the eyes of ordinary people, they are just very ordinary workers, but Li Jieping has captured the confidence and vitality of the migrant workers, which are undoubtedly the points that touch us. That is also an important reason why this work could stand out in the works that showed the theme of migrant workers at that time. Evidently, Li Jieping does not focus on rendering the hardships of migrant workers or the embarrassment of survival, but to capture their optimistic attitudes and expectations in life. The perspective of paying attention to the spiritual dimension of contemporary migrant workers has prompted Li Jieping to expand his understanding of contemporary farmers' living condition by means of rural investigation. Just like "The Twenty-four Solar Terms", it has also explored the living condition and family environment of migrant workers in the countryside. Great Cold: Back Home describes a couple who work in the city and finally returned to their hometown on the eve of the Spring Festival. At the moment of entering the house, they see their mother and two children - one is playing in naughty, and the other one is standing up for welcoming her parents who look unfamiliar. From the opened door, we can see that their home is in the mountains. Moreover, the moment that the couple enter the house with full of expectation seems to reflect the profound historical changes that have taken place in the peasant life of the 40 years of reform and opening up. Thus, with the distinctive theme and far-reaching ideas, Li Jieping has sublimated from the description of the life status of Guangdong peasants to the shaping of the image of contemporary Chinese peasants.

　　Li Jieping spent four years in rural areas in Guangdong, and tried various media to perceive and present the life status of Guangdong peasants. He not only recorded and shaped the peasants through portraits drawing, landscape paintings and thematic oil paintings, but also collected a large amount of precious visual "documents" by sketching, color painting and photography. In addition to the oil painting that we know he is good at, he is proficient in Chinese painting, printmaking,

　　sculpture, mural, multimedia, installation and other media. This project has actually become an artistic experiment in which he used his entire art creation experience and various media. From plane to space, from painting to sculpture, from image to installation and other contemporary art fields, more visual communication channels have been provided in his project exhibition so that people have a new understanding of him. Indeed, in addition to the above-mentioned "Guangdong Peasants" and "The Twenty-four Solar Terms", there are also the "Scenery along the Trip" which is about the representative rural architecture in Guangdong such as traditional Guangdong buildings, Chaoshan residences, Kaiping Diaolou, Hakka round houses, and the mural work "Pleasant Harvest" which represents how the peasants celebrate the festival in Guangdong, and "A Glimpse into the Trip" which consists of sketches and photos.

　　Apparently, Li Jieping is intended to present a three-dimensional view of rural areas through investigating the entire Guangdong. The reality and simplicity presented in his works make people feel the scent of soil that can be smelled everywhere "along the trip", and the large-scale mural Pleasant Harvest is a magnificent painting. Unlike "Guangdong Peasants", "The Twentyfour Solar Terms", "Scenery along the Trip" and "A Glimpse into the Trip", which record and depict the real humanistic images in Guangdong, Pleasant Harvest pays more attention to explore the ancient customs of Guangdong. In the central part of the oil painting, Lion Dancing in South Guangdong, Chaoshan Yingge Dancing, together with Song and Dancing of Yao Nationality in North Guangdong, constitute the most representative festival image in Guangdong. On both sides of the oil painting, the connotation of festival is mainly expressed by the harvest scenes, which are presented by farmers, fishermen, flower farmers and fruit farmers. In the background, a variety of typical Guangdong dwellings appear in the rivers and waters has rendered a peaceful meaning of living and working. Obviously, from recording the life of the peasants to exploring historical and folk custom, this large-scaled mural strives to present the honest folk customs, the peaceful life and the carnival of peasants by intertwining different time and space. The artistic language of this work is influenced by the modern murals of Mexico. On the basis of realism, the character image is moderately exaggerated and distorted, especially the whole painting has been flattened, making the cross-space combination of many characters a vivid and unified artistic effect. For the characters, Li Jieping rendered them the decorative colors and moderately drew on the festive colors in the Chinese New Year picture. But for the background, he used mineral materials to planarize the painting along with the gold foil, which integrated the oil painting and design.

　　It is worth noting that through the presentation of peasants' life and customs, Pleasant Harvest

　　tries to bring people into a historical and simple rural society in Guangdong, but the farmers, fishermen, flower farmers, fruit peasants and even the Yao people in the painting have the characteristics of contemporary Guangdong peasants and the mark of the times. Moreover, through the image of contemporary Guangdong peasants, the artist also tries to express the peasants' social ideals of harvest. Although nowadays the living condition of peasants in Guangdong has been greatly improved and the urbanization process has already penetrated into the remote villages of Guangdong, the folk custom is still the core spirit and thought of the peasants in Guangdong. From this point of view, the Great Cold: Back Home in "The Twenty-four Solar Terms" also makes people feel a sense of eternal connotation. In this work, "back home" seems returning from a city of modern life to a spiritual homeland of farming civilization, and the great changes in life always seem to form a mysterious relationship of certain social historical evolution with the inheritance of folk history. No matter where it is and whether rich or poor, "nostalgia" is always the spiritual habitat of modern people. Therefore, Li Jieping not only reveals the life status of the peasants in Guangdong, but also depicts their spiritual ideals. Of course, this project itself is indeed a spiritual watching for the artist and his pursuit of artistic creation.

9th December, 2018 in Beijing

Shang Hui

Deputy director of the Art Theory Committee of the China Artists Association

Editor in chief of ART Magazine

Doctoral supervisor