抽象

　　源自西方的抽象主义艺术，自诞生之日至今已近一个世纪，在今天以多媒体艺术为主导的西方当代艺术潮流中，尽管抽象作品在画廊和博览会里依然是重要角色，但在双年展、文献展等各种大型艺术展览中，抽象已经被彻底边缘化了。

　　然而，从1990年代初开始，抽象作为一个不断成长的中国当代艺术现象却渐渐令人瞩目。1993年，丁乙的抽象作品入选威尼斯双年展;1997年，中国大陆第一个大型抽象艺术群展“无形的存在”在上海大学美术学院开幕;2001年，“形而上——上海抽象艺术展”在上海美术馆创立并延续至今;2003年，“极多主义”和“念珠与笔触”两个展览先后在北京开幕……

　　用达尔文进化论的观点来看，抽象似乎已经过时，没有再继续的必要，然而艺术自身规律是反进化论的，抽象不是什么运动，而只是人类艺术表达的一种基础语法，凭借这种语法，可以诉说出适应任何时代的语言。从众多的展览活动来看，今天的中国抽象艺术家们已经找到了自己的语法，进而创造着自己的语言，不要忘记，在他们的背后，是一个有着数千年的文明史的国度，有着取之不尽、用之不竭的精神资源。在今日北京的抽象艺术家中，徐红明能够成为优秀的代表人物绝非偶然，他十几年来的执著探索，在中国当代抽象创作中树立了独特的范例。遗憾的是，时至今日，还很少有人全面地了解过他的作品。

　　实验

　　徐红明是湖南人，初中开始在学校的美术班里学习绘画，和所有学画的人一样接受了以画石膏像素描为基础的写实训练。高三毕业后，他独自跑到北京想上中央美术学院，考试没有成功，他就留在美院雕塑创作室里做小工，边谋生边学习：踩泥、搭架子、拍大形……几乎所有放大雕塑的活计都干过，当然，在这种过程中他也学到了许多东西。

　　1991年底、1992年初，徐红明用打工赚来的钱去了遥远的西部，沿着古丝绸之路，他用半年的时间游历了关中、河西走廊，直至新疆的龟兹。他说，当时的想法很简单，就是想看看东方的传统究竟是个什么样子。回到北京后，他发疯一般地画线描，沉迷于对单纯形式美感的研究中，这种形而上的追求和修炼，对他日后风格的建立所起到的作用不言而喻。

　　其后的几年，由于没有稳定的收入，徐红明居无定所，画风也动荡不定。但就是在这种艰难的环境下，他对非具象形式的探索一直没有停止过，毛边纸、宣纸、水彩纸、画布……在各种材料上，他开始了对形式的漫长实验。在此过程中，象征主义和超现实主义的倾向渐渐消退，1996年，他终于开始了纯抽象的创作，开始有针对性地发现问题并解决问题。最初的观念，就是想找到一种“气”，找到把空间支撑起来的一种能量，为自己的画面建构一种独特的语言秩序。1996年，他的抽象画第一次发表在『美术观察』杂志上。1997年，他卖掉了第一张抽象作品。

　　形式

　　或许是由于在寻访河西走廊的过程中看到过太多以线条为主体的东方传统造型，或许是后来画过太多以线条为主的实验作品，徐红明最初的抽象实验是以带有象征和意象特点的线条为主干展开的。在长方形的构图中，他把网格状斜线作横向菱形交叉，并辅以厚重的色彩肌理，兼有焦点透视和散点透视的视觉效果，恰如一望无际的田野或广场，那些半抽象的画面从一开始就显示出博大的气息。

　　徐红明最初的作品中曾出现过零星的具象人物和植物符号1，但这个阶段很快便被跨越了，他坚信，当代的东方人完全可以用抽象的形式营造出古代的宏伟气魄，借助象征主义符号，他最终建立了自己的语言系统，这个语言系统所铺陈出的氛围达到了这个目的。

　　以斜线交叉为主题的菱形结构形式，后来一直在徐红明的绘画中以不同的方式得以延续，在不同的风格系列和材料实验中，这种形式变化多端，尽管在色彩和图式倾向极简主义的前提下，这样的形式依然焕发出朴素而智慧的光芒。黑与白、红黄蓝、水彩纸与画布、小品、长卷、甚至装置……徐红明似乎永远不知疲倦，他在最单纯的前提下考验着自己的定力，在最严格的限定中实验着画面的张力，在最漫长的系列里锤炼着形式的魅力。

　　除了最典型的菱形结构外，徐红明的形式实验中还涉及到多重交叉、覆盖或并置的正方形、十字形、折线形等题目，这些作品所呈现出的微妙与暧昧相当惊人，那种效果几乎无法用语言转译，通过照片和印刷品也是根本无法感知的。他曾把纸本长卷环绕在带支架的筒形装置上2，观看这样的作品时，远与近、顺光与逆光、正面与侧面就会产生迥然相异的戏剧性效果。这种“绘画装置”，可以算得上是“徐氏发明”的一项重要成就了。

　　2005年，徐红明完成了两组迄今为止最极端的色彩实验系列：『红黄蓝黑灰』与『红黄蓝白灰』，这两组三联画在视觉上效果非常统一，在思维上却令人非常困惑。看起来三张一组几乎就只是黑色或白色的画布，分别渗透出均匀而恬淡、令视网膜略有感知的三原色，这似乎是对色彩辨别能力的考验，却又好像是对绘画终极意义的追问。在另一组探讨黑白关系的对偶作品3中，分别存在着依稀可见的十字对角交叉线，由若干种明度不一的黑色和白色反复涂绘而成，在不同光线、不同角度下，这些手工制作的色彩层次时隐时现，令人惊叹，也令人沉思。

　　从2003年开始，徐红明尝试用电脑制作作品。他最初的实验是静态的绘画，很快就开始转向动画，这种实验，为他开启了一扇全新的大门，电脑屏幕上所呈现的色彩明度和饱和度，是传统绘画的物质材料所不能比拟的，而连续不断的GIF动画效果，使他更贴切地接近了长卷和装置上所未能达到的境界。

　　观念

　　古代中国历来有欣赏抽象美的传统，但中国传统艺术中却没有纯粹的抽象。真正的抽象实验，其实是民国时期的决澜社最初涉及的，由于救亡、内战和政治运动连年不断，中国大陆艺术舞台上的主角，一直是可充分用于意识形态宣传的写实艺术形式。尽管有李青萍4这样的孤立个案在**期间仍然从事着不为人知的抽象实验，但从严格意义上来说，到1970年代末期，中国大陆艺术家们对抽象的探讨才重新复苏，1980年代众多的抽象实验基本上是策略性的，是对写实主义一统天下的颠覆，没有形而上的专题研究和探讨。直至1990年代中期，随着上海地区抽象艺术的渐渐崛起，抽象作为一个论题才开始受到关注。徐红明认为，当今中国大陆的抽象艺术有趋向装饰、迎合商业趣味的风险，而且，对抽象艺术的探讨不应仅仅停留在形式实验上，他最为关注的，是建构在形式研究之上的精神和观念。

　　徐红明在抽象观念方面所取得的成就，体现在他对各种绘画极限的持续探求上。点线面的布局与架构、色彩的冷暖和明暗、笔触的透明或覆盖、空间的简洁韵律、虚实的微妙关联……徐红明在一系列实验中持续讨论着这样的主题。由于没有经历系统的学院教育，他对色彩学的个人化探讨于是变得异常单纯，“黑与白”、“红黄蓝”在他的作品中其实已不只是视觉形式问题，他对单纯形式持续多年的探寻，已经行走到了视觉的边缘，进而踏入了哲学与美学的领地。例如，在『黑灰—太极』和『白灰—太极』系列中，徐红明的智慧与勇气更得到了充分体现，充满东方哲学和宗教象征的阴阳符号，被简洁精妙、近乎完美的绘画语言呈现得淋漓尽致，一如老子曾经描述过的高远境界：“大方无隅，大器晚成;大音希声，大象无形。”5

　　在似乎没有余地的空间里，徐红明仍然游刃有余，“绘画装置”显露出他把二度空间与三度空间相互融合的独到尝试，而“抽象动画”则展现出抽象观念与多媒体形式彼此相互渗透的充分可能。目前，徐红明已经开始着手颇具个性色彩的水墨装置实验，相信这又是一个令人非常兴奋的计划。

　　徐红明不是一个本能型的艺术家，他的视觉表达有着强烈的理性色彩，他对许多看似简单的“常识问题”不断发出终极追问，而这种持续追问的精神，恰恰是当代许多艺术家们所缺乏的，行走在视觉边缘的徐红明，正在为当代抽象艺术的发展提供着新颖的坐标。

　　注释：

　　1、参见“人态”、“植物”等系列作品

　　2、参见“圆形黑灰”与“圆形白灰”系列作品

　　3、参见“不确定十字黑灰”与“不确定十字白灰”系列作品

　　4、李青萍(1911—2004)，原名赵毓贞，曾用名李瑗。1932年考入上海新华艺专图音系，1937年赴马来西亚任吉隆坡坤城女子中学艺术部主任，1942年归国，1946年在北平举办个展，徐悲鸿、刘海粟、齐白石对其赞许有加。1950年入文化部艺术处工作，不久，即因海外关系受到不公正待遇，长期被管制、批斗并三次关入监狱，其间仍坚持创作。改革开放落实政策后，李青萍重新焕发艺术青春，先后创作上千幅油画作品，1986年曾在武汉举办个展，1987年成为中国美协会会员，晚年将百余幅作品捐赠上海美术馆。

　　5、语出自『道德经』第四十一章

　　It has been more than a century since abstract art, which has its roots in Western tradition, started to develop. Today, trends in contemporary Western art stress the importance of multi media art, regarding it as today's mainstream. Therefore, even though abstract art plays an important role in galleries and art fairs, it has already been cast aside by many such large scale events as biennales or documenta.

　　But from the beginning of the Nineties, abstract art, a component of contemporary Chin-ese art, has been constantly evolving and becoming a topic of interest. In 1993, the abstract artworks of Ding Yi were shown during the Biennale of Venice. In the same year, the first large scale group exhibition ever organized in mainland China, The existence of informal, opened at the Art Academy of Shanghai University. In 2001 the first edition of Metaphysics: Shanghai Abstract Art Exhibition was held at the Shanghai Art Museum where it continues today. In 2003, the exhibitions Maximalism and Prayer Beads and Brush Strokes were unveiled in Beijing.

　　Viewed from Darwin's theory of evolution, it would follow that abstract art has already become unfashionable. But the rules of art resist the theory of evolution because abstract art is part of the basic grammar of humankind's self expression: by relying on this grammar people can speak a language suitable to every epoch. Looking at the many events organized, we infer that contemporary Chinese abstract artists have found their own grammar, and now are moving towards creating their own language. But we shouldn't forget that there is a cultural background with thousands years of history which provides them with an unlimited and inexhaustible supply of spiritual inspiration. The fact that Xu Hongming became a leading figure in the abstract art circle in present day Beijing didn't happen by chance: the artistic experiments he performed during the last decade set an original and unpersevering example for the development of Chinese abstract art to follow. Unfortunately, even now, only a few people have a deep and complete understanding of his work.

　　Experimention

　　While attending primary school, Xu Hongming joined some art classes to study painting. Like all the other students of his age he was trained in realism and his education was based on making sketches of plaster figures. After graduating from high school he went to Beijing on his own to sit for the admission exam at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Despite failing to be enrolled at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, he found a way to enter the sculpture studio of the academy as a laborer. Struggling to make a living and to learn on the side, he prepared the clay by stepping on it, helped roughly shape sculptures, prepared sculpture outlines, etc. He has done most of the various kinds of handwork in the creation of sculpture, and evidently he learned a lot from this process.In 1991 and 1992 he used the money he earned at the academy to travel to the remote areas of western

　　China and to follow the ancient Silk Road. For a half year, he travelled to the central plain of Shanxi, the Hexi Corridor, finally reaching Xinjiang's Baicheng County. Xu Hongming says that his ideas were simple at that time: he wanted to know more about Eastern traditions. After his return to Beijing, he developed a true passion for drawing and started to investigate the beauty of pure form. His quest for the metaphysical and his ascetic attitude strongly influenced his work and laid solid foundations for the future development of his artistic style.

　　With no steady income, Xu Hongming spent several years without a stable place to live; his style underwent inner turmoil, constantly changing. But it was under these unfavourable conditions that he came to analyze abstract forms. Using various materials like writing paper made of bamboo pulp, high quality rice paper from Anhui, water coloured paper, and canvas, he started his long experiments on form. During this process, symbolist and surrealist elements became less and less evident; in 1996, he started to paint abstract artworks, and began to find and solve artistic issues with precision. His early ideas were about finding a "vital energy", a kind of force able to uphold space. Thereby he established an original linguistic order in his artworks. In 1996, his abstract works were published for the first time in the magazine Art Observation. In 1997, he sold his first abstract work.

　　Form

　　While he was looking for the Hexi Corridor, he discovered decorative patterns typical of the Eastern tradition based on the use of lines; or perhaps it was because later he drew many sketches based exclusively on lines. Xu Hongming's early abstract experiments are lines imbued with symbolic meanings and imagery. He places a grid in an oblique position to obtain rhomboidal figures intersecting each other; with the use of a texture made of thick colour, he obtains both the effect of one point and multi-point perspective. These works are like an open field stretching to the horizon or a public square. From their early stages these half-abstract images show a broad and profound meaning.

　　Figures and symbols of plants appeared in his early compositions 1. This phase was quickly overcome: Xu firmly believed that contemporary Eastern people can rely on abstract images to give shape to the same magnificent boldness of vision of ancient times. With the aid of symbolism, Xu succeeded in creating his own linguistic system and an atmosphere described in detail by this linguistic system successfully shapes the boldness of the vision cited above.

　　The compositions made of rhombi were created by the intersection of oblique lines developed in novel ways. Investigating different styles and experimenting with different materials, the rhomboidal form is open to transformations. Its colours and shapes lean toward minimalism, but are imbued with a simple but witty radiance. Black and white, red, yellow and blue, water colour paper and canvas, sketches, scrolls, even installations: it seems that Xu Hongming never tired of testing his own strength, starting from the most undemanding premises. He experimented with the tension evoked from images under the harshest limitations. He polishes the beauty of form even in the slowest art series.

　　Apart from using the most typical rhomboidal shapes, Xu Hongming's experiments on forms involve multiple intersections, squares, crosses, and broken lines hidden or clearly recognizable in the compositions. Both the gracefulness and ambiguity irradiating from these works are astonishing, producing an effect which can be hardly explained in words and which cannot be perceived by seeing pictures or prints of the works.

　　In 1999 Xu Hongming wrapped stiff paper around a tube-shaped form supported by legs 2. Looking at this artwork from near or from a distance, in shadow or in light, from the front or from a side, produces completely different visual effects. This kind of "painting installation" is a noteworthy achievement in Xu Hongming's career.

　　In 2005 Xu Hongming completed two series which up to the present day represent the most daring experiments with colour: Red Yellow Blue Black Grey and Red Yellow Blue White Grey. The visual effects in these two triptychs are similar, but conceptually they puzzle people. In the first triptych, Xu employs either a black or white canvas, over which he painted the three primary colours, all well distributed, in a simple yet stimulating way for the retina. This work is like a test for the eyes' perception of colour. It seems to question the ultimate meaning of colour. In another triptych, Xu explores dualism in the relationship between black and white 3. In this work crosses intersect at opposite angles and are vaguely visible. The canvas was covered with gesso and then paint applied, so different grades of clearness of black and white appear on the canvas. The handmade layers of colours are sometimes invisible, sometimes evident, depending on the source and direction of illumination and the observers' viewpoint. Experiencing the artwork, viewers are filled with admiration and encouraged to ponder what they see.

　　From 2003 Xu Hongming started to experiment with the computer. His first experiment consisted of a static painting, but he soon turned to animation. This sort of experimentation opened a completely new frontier: even if the brightness and the degree of saturation of the colours appearing on the computer screen could not be compared to the materials used in traditional painting, the "non-stop" effect obtained through the use of GIFs, produced results akin to those of ancient scrolls and other effects he was not able to obtain in installations.

　　Conceptualization

　　China has a tradition of appreciating abstract beauty, but traditional Chinese art lacks true abstraction. The first experiments concerning true abstraction were carried on during the Republican period by the Storm Society, but because of international turmoil, internal wars, and political movements one after the other, realistic art forms commended the stage of mainland Chinese art. It was ideological propaganda. There were figures like Li Qingping 4, an isolated artist who during the ** experimented with abstraction, even though it was considered inappropriate. It was not until the end of the Seventies that an interest in Chinese abstract art was reborn. During the Eighties, many of the experiments in abstract art could be considered tactical because they aimed at overturning realism. However, these experiments did not concern the metaphysical sphere and its implications. During the middle of the Nineties, as a consequence of the rise of abstract art around Shanghai, abstraction as a topic of discussion started to be taken seriously. Xu Hongming believes that abstract artists working in mainland China share a dangerous tendency towards decoration and commercial tastes. Furthermore, according to Xu Hongming, abstract art should not be centred only on form. Above all it should be concerned about spiritual and conceptual matters built upon an analysis of form.

　　Xu Hongming's achievements obtained in abstract art are expressed by continuous investigations in various kinds of painting. Compositions made of dots and lines, the structure of the frame, changes involving the nuance and brightness of the colours, transparent or thick brush strokes, blue skies, the delicacy of reality, etc. These themes have been addressed in a series of works by Xu Hongming. Since he didn't receive any institutional artistic education, his personal understanding of the theories of colour is uncommonly unadulterated. Black and White, Red and Blue are not mere visual and formal issues. Since he has been analysing pure form for many years, he has already pushed himself towards the fringes of the visual sphere, stepping into the fields of philosophy and aesthetics. For example, in the series Black Grey-Sun, and White Grey-Taiji (Great Ultimate), Xu Hongming expresses his knowledge and audacity. The symbol of the yin and yang, filled with Eastern philosophical and religious meaning, is expressed in a succinct and contrived way. The nearly perfect language of painting appears incisive and vivid, like the remote boundary once described by Laozi: "The largest square has no corners, The greatest vessel takes the longest to finish, Great music has the faintest notes, The Greatest Form is without shape". 5

　　Working in a space without boundaries Xu Hongming handles difficult tasks with skill and ease: painting installation attempts to merge bi-dimensional and tri-dimensional space and abstract animation reveals how abstract concepts and multi media forms fully permeate each other. At the moment, Xu Hongming has started to work on a personal experiment, an installation of ink painting without colours, and it will be an exciting project.

　　Xu Hongming is not an artist working by instinct. His visual language is filled with a strong sense of rationality. He persists in raising questions and this questioning spirit is a quality that many contemporary artists lack. Xu Hongming, who walks along visual fringes, is offering new coordinates to contemporary abstract art.

　　Footnotes:

　　1 See the series of works "Human Forms" and "Plants"

　　2 See the series of works "Circular Black Grey" and "Circular White Grey"

　　3 See the series of works "Uncertain Crosses Black Grey" and "Uncertain Crosses White Grey"

　　4 Li Qingping (1911–2004), family name Zhao Yuzhen, name used in the past Li Yuan. In 1932 she entered Shanghai Xinhua Art Professional School; soon after in 1937 she became the director of the Art Department of Kuala Lumpur Sencung Girl Middle School, and in 1942 she returned to the motherland. In 1946 in Beijing she had a solo exhibition which gained the appreciation also of artists like Xu Beihong, Liu Haisu, and Qi Baishi. In 1950 she joined the Art Institute in the Ministry of Culture but soon after because of her contacts with some foreigners she had an unfair treatment and was put under surveillance, publicly criticized and sent to prison for three times. But despite all this during this period she went on creating. After China's reform period, she returned to her creative spring and painted more than one thousand oil paintings. In 1986 her solo exhibition was held in Wuhan; in 1987 she became member of the Chinese Artists Association, and during her last years she donated hundreds of works to Shanghai Museum of Art.

　　5 Quotation from "Daodejing", chapter 41

作者：李旭