geminate flower 落于眼眸  

艺术家Artist：王海燕 Wang Haiyan

策展人Curator：钱文达 Qian Wenda

开幕Opening Time2024.10.26   15:30

展览时间Exhibition Time2024.10.19—11.21（周二至周日Tuesday to Sunday10:30am - 17:30pm）

展览地址Exhibition Address北京市798艺术区七星中街F01库 作者画廊AuthorGallery,F01,Qixing Middle Street, 798Art Zone,Chaoyang District, Beijing

◎◎◎

 双生：花与绘画的镜像话语 

文/钱文达

“眼睛看见了世界，看见了世界要成为绘画所缺乏的东西，看见了绘画要成为它自己所缺乏的东西。”——梅洛-庞蒂

在我看来，王海燕的绘画实践是以这样的路径而诚恳展开的：她很早就已然直觉到自己所坚定的方向，以及描绘这一方向所需要的漫长方式，这来自于她对自我“早熟”式的认知，以及在这一认知中不断确认、纯化、论证这一以“花”为轴心所绽放出的结构世界。这些以花为语词的画作向我们说明了——王海燕不断以纯然、肯定的秩序消化着世界的复杂与偶然。

四季平安No.12  Safe and Sound All Year Round No.12 布面油彩  Oil on canvas 160x160cm 2023

花的双重经验

在人类的生活史和艺术史的记述中，花的分类、集合与命名都照见着人对于美的风格的思考、展示与修正，以及人对于自身经验变迁的象征性回应。当王海燕专注地面对花的时候，她能够自由地进入到另一个发现自我的世界之中——那里存在着外界无从干扰的生命提示。

“曾经有一个阶段，表现花的题材是为了抵御现实世界精神上的空洞虚无，追求真实唯美的情感体验。”从绘画的视角来看，王海燕所表达的“花”往往言明着以永恒与易逝为代表的双重经验。

首先，花本身在人类历史中逐渐演变为一个具有永恒特质的符号意象，这种永恒的符号意象与人类精神所诉求的超越性严密扣合。一如“秋菊盈园，而持醪靡由空服九华，寄怀于言。”花直指于人类对清净诗意境界的向往，是其无需赘言而最禅心的表达形式。将这永恒意象落实为具体的视觉文本的，是花纹的历史发展，形式化的纹样以文本的话语代代传递，将不同历史空间下的审美经验继承、演变。这一传统谱系的绵延成为了王海燕绘画体系中以线造型为基础的经验依据。

花空间No.2  Flowers Space No.2布面丙烯  Acrylic on canvas 100x100cm 2022

同时，花又意味着短暂易逝、是非无常的美学体验，将有限性的感怀具身化为可视的几何景观，并对应于写意的绘画传统。它在物理范畴上遵循着万事万物回环交替的必然经验，与人的生死盛衰、悲欢离合产生着充沛的交集与共鸣。“一朝春尽红颜老，花落人亡两不知。”在花的生命始终里，人透过双眼排演着自我的生长与凋敝。在王海燕的绘画中，花的完好岁月只得以这样的风格记录：在每一处肯定、实存的笔触下，都持有着不可逆的驱动与生机。人的经验与花的意象并置为双生着的镜像命运。

因此，我们无法简单地论定王海燕的绘画隶属于某种消极或者积极的单一向原则。对于任意一方的执着与肯定都消损了画作本身的厚度与丰富度：精神的达观与永恒的注明往往遭遇着不经意变故的诗化发生。在如此纯化的美学话语中，这双重的矛盾意涵实现了最充分同时也是最具挑战性的融合与领会。

空间絮语

在这次展览中，我们不得不对近些年王海燕新作中所发生的新动向有所沉吟。之前经常作为虚化或者是不经意处理的空间背景/纹样成为了花这一视觉结构的普遍单位。这种花与空间关系之间的层次切割与对位融合可以追溯到其2016年的《紫藤花开No.1》。尽管这时的空间只是以纹饰的形式被直接勾画出来，而不是刻意预留出来的。在弯弯绕绕的曲线协奏中，勾画出的直线演绎着富有理性基调的秩序与平衡。而真正开始自觉地进行系列化的实践，则体现在其2022年完成的大量作品中。

王海燕于2022年创作的《绣球系列No.2》是一件尺幅虽然不大，但极具风格代表性的花卉-空间作品。我们能够非常直观地感受到一种操作步骤和绘画语言所组构的双重秩序感。首先，花卉的背景被呈淡灰倾向的肉色所铺陈，然后是桌面花纹的样式，明确清晰的蓝白色块穿插其间，而蓝色和白色之间的接壤处则直接镂空为背景的底色——画家有意进行了颜色关系上的纯化处理，并让背景与桌布的颜色纹饰发生紧密的共生关系（而瓶花右下方、桌面纹饰的“缺损”处给人以丰富的想象空间）。而后，主体物瓶花成为了绝对瞩目的存在，在潇洒酣畅的笔触与浓烈醒目（这种浓烈感基于背景色灰度的衬托）的绿色的作用下，构建绣球花的笔意才可自由而肯定的施展开来。与以往的作品不同，我们观看的顺序变得层层递进起来，带有让观看经验得以不断进入、周旋的节奏意味。

绣球系列No.2  Hydrangea Series No.2布面油彩  Oil on canvas   50x60cm 2022

在《花空间No.1》这件作品中，我们能接收到一个通常意义上内容更显成熟丰富的绘画面貌。透过这张画面，我们能够感受到艺术家极具松弛感的用笔——在不同空间层次中，都达成内容的极度充盈。对比前者的关系概括，《花空间No.1》的结构内容与层次遮挡更为复杂。空间以更灵活的样态在画幅中叠化、穿插。它以或隐或现的方式强化了空间在画幅完成中所起到的支撑作用。并进一步促动了艺术家对于瓶花那写意笔触力度的极致表现。同时，这种空间形式的强化拓展为对不同材料的掌握和实验。除去油彩和丙烯之外，我们还能在此次展览中看到一系列罕有的纸本与综合材料作品。这些形式都组构为一个更为完整的“空间”系统。

花空间No.1  Flowers Space No.1布面丙烯  Acrylic on canvas 100x100cm 2022

目光般的绘画

这里谈到的目光有三层意思。首先目光具有散文的特质，它不对某一特定局部进行绝对化的强调，也不要求一种刻意的完成。每一件画作的内容都引导出某种分散开来的观看形式，目光所侧重是非集中式的结构性观看——由此，我们的目光不断地从此画中的局部推移到另一个局部，从而重演每一件作品开始与完成的可能路线。这种目光持续激发着一种“生长式”的绘画与观看经验，意味着每一次的观看都注定是对绘画本身话语的一次更新与丰富。在某种程度上来说，王海燕的绘画拥有一种从未“成熟”的天赋。每一处观览都等同于青春。

仿佛在目光投注在花朵生长的一瞬，绘画的房屋已然筑成。目光具有出于对特定目标构型的预见性。没有任何一位画家能够拥有如此得天独厚般的优势，从而将目光-观看所能达到的审视极限发挥到了绘画的实践经验之中（在艺术家的眼神中我们能够发现某种清澈的敏锐）。在目光的启示下，绘画的剧本早已被写就，从而在绘画的发生过程中，绘画以最大限度的可能不断地将其交给绘画行动自身：每一次笔触之间的接洽都上演着画家对布面空间的熟稔与设计，以及某种自信、可控的手感自由。

花空间No.6 Flowers Space No.6布面油彩  Oil on canvas  100x80cm 2024

目光是瞬间与永恒的辩证意象。如同我们在谈论花这一意象所带来的双重意涵，只有这一目光感才有可能容纳这两种互为对立、矛盾的事物。目光无法下定义，它只得收纳、描述、记忆。目光可能匆匆而过，也有可能永远停驻在一个地方。王海燕时刻抓取着绘画对象的不同侧面，正因为此，她的绘画所拥有的丰富度具有永恒不减的轻盈。

王海燕的目光成为了绘画进行过程中的策略，而她的绘画又同时成为一种目光般的生命经验。她无意造访更为外部而略显多余的世界，在她的视野之中——花的径自生长，是唯独令其深感欢愉的喧嚣。

瓶花No.9  Flowers in Vase No.9布面油彩  Oil on canvas  100x80cm 2018

 Twin Forms: The Mirror Discourse of Flowers and Painting 

"The eye sees the world, and what it would need to be a painting, sees what keeps a painting from being itself."

——Maurice Merleau-Ponty

In my view, Wang Haiyan’s artistic practice unfolds with an earnestness rooted in this very path. From early on, she intuitively grasped the direction she was committed to, and the long process required to depict it. This stems from her precocious self-awareness, in which she continuously reaffirms, purifies, and validates the structure of the world she constructs, with “flowers” at its axis. These paintings, with flowers as their visual lexicon, demonstrate how Wang steadily digests the complexity and randomness of the world with a pure and affirmative sense of order.

The Dual Experience of Flowers

In both human history and art history, the classification, collection, and naming of flowers reflect ongoing reflections on, displays of, and adjustments to the notion of beauty, serving as a symbolic response to humanity’s changing experiences. When Wang Haiyan focuses intently on flowers, she is able to freely enter another world of self-discovery—one where life’s cues exist, undisturbed by external interference.

“There was a time when depicting flowers was a way to resist the spiritual emptiness and nihilism of the real world, pursuing an emotional experience of true beauty.” From a painterly perspective, the flowers Wang expresses often articulate the dual experiences of eternity and transience.

First, in human history, flowers have gradually evolved into a symbolic image with eternal qualities, tightly aligned with the human spirit’s aspiration for transcendence. Much like the ancient Chinese poetic sentiment, “Chrysanthemums fill the garden in autumn, yet I have no way to drink the Nine Flowers; I entrust my longing to words.” Flowers embody humanity’s yearning for a serene and poetic realm, becoming the most Zen-like expression of this desire. The transformation of this eternal symbol into a visual text is achieved through the historical development of floral patterns. These formalized motifs are passed down across generations as a visual discourse, inheriting and evolving aesthetic experiences across different historical contexts. This traditional lineage serves as a foundational experience for Wang Haiyan’s drawing system, based on the use of line to shape form.

At the same time, flowers signify fleeting impermanence, an aesthetic experience embodying the melancholy of finitude. This fleeting quality translates into a visual geometric landscape, resonating with the expressive painting tradition. It adheres to the inevitable cycles of life and death, growth and decay, sorrow and joy, intersecting deeply with human experiences. “One morning, spring is gone, and youth fades; flowers fall, and people die, unknown to each other.” Throughout the life of a flower, humans, through their eyes, rehearse their own growth and decline. In Wang Haiyan’s work, the thriving moments of flowers are captured in this style: beneath every affirmative and tangible brushstroke, there resides an irrepressible drive and vitality. Human experience and floral imagery are juxtaposed in a mirrored, twin-like destiny.

Thus, it is impossible to simply categorize Wang Haiyan’s paintings under a single positive or negative principle. Insisting on either end diminishes the richness and depth of the works themselves. The clarity and eternity of the spirit often encounter unforeseen poetic shifts. In such a purified aesthetic discourse, these dual, contradictory meanings achieve their fullest and most challenging integration and understanding.

Whispers of Space

In this exhibition, we must take a moment to reflect on the new developments that have emerged in Wang Haiyan’s recent works. What was once often treated as a blurred or incidental spatial background/pattern has now become a universal element of the visual structure of flowers. The layering and integration of the relationship between flowers and space can be traced back to her 2016 work Wisteria No. 1. Although at that time the space was simply depicted through decorative patterns rather than deliberately reserved, the interplay of winding curves and delineated straight lines embodied a rational order and balance. Her conscious pursuit of series-based practice truly manifested in the substantial body of work completed in 2022.

瓶花No.13  Flowers in Vase No.13布面油彩  Oil on canvas  60x80cm  2024

One notable example from Wang Haiyan’s 2022 series, Hydrangeas No. 2, though modest in scale, is highly representative of her flower-space compositions. Viewers can immediately sense the dual order constructed by her painting process and visual language. First, the background is laid out in a pale flesh tone with a grayish hue, followed by a pattern on the table, where clear blue and white blocks intersect. The junction between the blue and white is directly cut out, revealing the base color of the background—an intentional simplification of color relationships, allowing the background and tablecloth to engage in a symbiotic relationship. The missing section of the tablecloth’s pattern in the lower right of the vase leaves room for imaginative interpretation. The main subject, the vase of flowers, emerges as an absolute focal point. The vibrant, spontaneous brushstrokes, accentuated by the intense green hues (intensity heightened by the grayscale background), enable the artist to freely and affirmatively express the essence of the hydrangeas. Unlike her earlier works, the viewing sequence here unfolds progressively, inviting viewers into a rhythm of layered observation.

In Flower Space No. 1, we encounter a more mature and complex artistic expression. In this painting, we perceive the artist’s relaxed brushwork, with each layer of space densely filled with content. Compared to the previous work’s simplified relations, Flower Space No. 1 features more intricate structural layers and spatial overlaps. Space flexibly interweaves through the painting, reinforcing the role space plays in completing the composition, while further intensifying the expressive force of the vase’s bold, free-flowing brushstrokes.

Simultaneously, this expansion of spatial forms is paralleled by the experimentation with different materials. In addition to oil paint and acrylics, this exhibition also features a rare collection of paper-based and mixed media works, which collectively construct a more comprehensive spatial system.

绽放的花 No .17 Flowers in Full Blossom No.17纸本色粉 Pastel on Papers 31x41cm 2023

Painting as a GazeHere, the concept of “gaze” holds three layers of meaning. First, the gaze possesses a prose-like quality, refusing to overemphasize any particular part, nor does it demand a deliberate conclusion. Each painting’s content invites a dispersed form of observation—the gaze encourages non-centralized, structural viewing. Thus, our eyes continuously move from one part of the painting to another, reenacting the potential pathways of the work’s inception and completion. This gaze fuels a “growing” experience of both painting and viewing, suggesting that each encounter with the artwork inherently refreshes and enriches its discourse. In a way, Wang Haiyan’s paintings possess an ever-youthful talent—each viewing feels like a youthful encounter.As though the moment the gaze settles on the flower's growth, the house of painting has already been built. The gaze carries a foreseeing quality regarding the specific object’s form. No artist possesses such an innate advantage in pushing the limits of observation within the practice of painting. Under the gaze’s guidance, the script of the painting is already written, allowing each brushstroke to perform an intimate choreography within the canvas’s space, expressing the artist’s familiarity and confidence with design and control.The gaze is a dialectical image of both the momentary and the eternal. Just as we discuss the dual implications of flowers, only this kind of gaze can encompass two opposing, contradictory elements. The gaze cannot be defined; it can only receive, describe, and remember. It may pass by quickly, or it may linger indefinitely. Wang Haiyan captures different aspects of her subject, and because of this, her paintings retain a lightness that is forever rich and undiminished.Her gaze becomes a strategy within the painting process, and her paintings become, in turn, an experiential manifestation of the gaze. She is uninterested in visiting the external, superfluous world. In her vision, the flowers grow on their own, bringing her a singular joy in their vibrant clamor.

绽放的花 No .14 Flowers in Full Blossom No.14纸本色彩 Pastel on Papers 29.7x42.2cm 2023

◎◎◎

王海燕 | Wang Haiyan

1974年生于青岛，1996年毕业于山东艺术学院油画专业；2009年毕业于中国美院油画系获硕士学位；曾任教于山东大学艺术学院、中国美术学院；现为天津美术学院教授，中国美术家协会会员。

个展：

2024  “心象花”王海燕个展（厦门红顶当代艺术中心）

2024  门神与花缘 顾黎明与王海燕（AArt+ 城市会客厅）

2024 “花缘”王海燕作品展（上海城市艺博会会客厅）

2023 “花的缘”王海燕个展（山东出版美术馆）

2021 “花景境”王海燕作品展（嘉兴美术馆）

2021 “花境艺-漫谈-王海燕作品展”（威海伴月湾艺术家驻地）

2019  思逸·花境——陈思源&王海燕双个展（青岛出版艺术馆）

2019  顾黎明&王海燕双个展（青岛国际会展中心）

2019  门神·花境——顾黎明王海燕双个展（威海伴月湾艺术家驻地）

2019  花境——王海燕作品展（北京慧和天语艺术空间）

2018  花·景·境——王海燕作品展（北京索卡艺术中心）

2017  花境——王海燕绘画作品展（北京方圆美术馆）

2015  门神·花境——顾黎明.王海燕油画展（香港大会堂）

2011  花境——王海燕绘画作品展（上海德佳艺术空间）

Wang Haiyan was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province, in 1974.  She graduated from Shandong Academy of Arts with a BA degree in 1996, and graduated from China Academy of Art with a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2009. She held teaching positions at Fine Arts School of Shandong University and China Academy of Art and was appointed as member of China Artists Association.  She is a professor at Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts.

Solo Exhibitions:

2024，XIN XIANG HUA：WANG HAIYAN SOLO EXHIBITION（TOPRED CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART）2024， "Door Gods and Floral Bonds" - Gu Liming and Wang Haiyan (AArt+ Urban Salon)

2024， "Door Gods and Floral Bonds" - Gu Liming and Wang Haiyan (AArt+ Urban Salon)  2021, “flower·Scenery·condition - Wang Haiyan art works Exhibition” (Jiaxing Art Museum）2021, “Floral Realm – Causerie - Wang Haiyan Painting Exhibition” (Weihai Banyuewan Artist’s Residence)2019, “Wandering Thoughts & Floral Realm – Chen Siyuan & Wang Haiyan Double Exhibition” (Qingdao Publishing Art Museum)2019, “Wandering Thoughts & Floral Realm – Chen Siyuan & Wang Haiyan Double Exhibition” (Qingdao Publishing Art Museum)2019, “Door Gods & Floral Realm – Gu Liming & Wang Haiyan Double Exhibition” (Weihai Banyuewan Artist’s Residence)2019, “Floral Realm – Wang Haiyan Painting Exhibition” (Words of Wisdom Art Space, Beijing)2018, “Flower, Scenery and Realm – Wang Haiyan Painting Exhibition” (Soka Art Center, Beijing)2017, “Floral Realm, Wang Haiyan Painting Exhibition” (Fang-Yuan Art Museum, Beijing)2015, “Door Gods & Floral Realm – Gu Liming & Wang Haiyan Oil Painting Exhibition” (Great Hall of Hong Kong)2015, “Door Gods & Floral Realm – Gu Liming & Wang Haiyan Oil Painting Exhibition” (Great Hall of Hong Kong)