前言

　　为田世信先生举办回顾性的学术研究展，既是中央美术学院全体师生，也是雕塑艺术界同道一致的许久心愿。他的艺术历程充满着长期求索与勤奋耕耘，也透溢出改革开放的时代发展与中国雕塑艺术之间的关联，他的雕塑人生与创作成果展现出一代艺术家坚定的艺术理想与信念，他在雕塑中所灌注的雄强意志与精深劳作的艺匠精神尤其使人感动。

　　田世信先生的艺术道路富有传奇性色彩，他生于北京并在都城完成艺术学业后，毕业分配至西南贵州的山区中学，成为了一名美术老师。在那里，边陲的民族风情与独特的地域文化滋养起他的艺术灵感，可以说他的作品一出手，便散发着浓郁的乡土生活气息，在人物形象的塑造与刻画上充满着厚实淳朴的力量。早在1980年代，他的作品一经展示，那种来自于大地、来源于生活的语言便唤起了人们的强烈共鸣。他将学院雕塑教育的传统与民间的生活经历紧密结合，使作品既蕴含着学院造型的美学修养，更透溢出触及心灵的鲜活生命力。

　　田世信在创作中一方面脚踏大地，一方面探向传统，他以独到的视角切入传统，自觉地深入体会中国雕塑博大精深的传统风貌，着重领略秦汉雕塑大气磅礴的意象，也吸收湘楚文化瑰丽空灵的神采，成功地将两种文化的滋养统一融合，他的作品也因此具有神秘的气息、雄强的力量与单纯的体格，展现出“质”与“文”高度和谐的个人艺术面貌。

　　田世信始终坚持对多种材质媒介的尝试与探索，他的木雕作品留住了材质自然生长的纹理与质感，以大斧阔劈、拙而不滞的手法保持了雕凿之际的刀痕；在从泥塑到青铜的创作中，他注重手的触感与塑痕，丰富的肌理就如同印象派的笔触一般，在雕塑表面流动起伏。他的作品如同一座座创世之初的生命大块，或跃动着蓬勃的生机，或充满了静穆的力量，展现出传神、生动而耐人寻味的韵味。

　　田世信执着于大漆雕塑堪称剑出偏锋。中国大漆之艺从远古走来，在传统绘画和工艺领域里已不复罕见，但将其运用于雕塑，却是一个崭新的艺术课题。田世信也因而着迷于此，沉潜反复，不断找寻材料与表现形式的结合点，从而拓展了雕塑的形式语言，为中国雕塑的当代发展做出了贡献。

　　田世信的作品类型非常丰富，一方面他眷恋乡土，运用丰富生动的造型，洋溢天真自然的生活趣味；另一方面追求古风，尤其对历史英雄和文化名人持有精神上的向往。在他的一批文化名人雕塑中，寄注了内在的人格精神力量。在以《王者之尊》为题的系列作品中，表现了历史英雄的威严恢宏，也展现了他的历史观念。他将雕塑语言与大漆塑形相结合，“既有还原，但不完全；既有自解，但不标新”，使人物形象生发出博大而深刻的气度，同时展现出自我超越性的精神境界。

　　田世信先生的艺术对中国雕塑的发展是可贵的，可贵在题材、材质与表现手法的多样性，可贵在他在沉浸于劳作过程中的工匠精神，铸就了力与美、文与质的统一，正所谓：大匠之作，起于感性，持于琢磨，止于魂神，岿然如山。

中央美术学院院长 范迪安

2017年10月

Preface

　　The students and teachers of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the entire sculpture community, have long wanted to hold a scholarly retrospective for Tian Shixin. His artistic path has been full of long exploration and diligent cultivation, while also reflecting the connections between Chinese sculpture and the developments of the Reform and Opening era. His life and artistic achievements reflect the artistic ideals and convictions of a generation of artists. I am particularly moved by the determined and profound artisanal spirit that he poured into his sculptures.

　　Tian Shixin's artistic journey has a legendary quality to it. He was born in Beijing, and after completing his art education in the capital, he was assigned to a middle school in a mountainous region of Guizhou, in China's southwest. There, he served as an art teacher, and the folk customs and distinctive regional culture of this border area nourished his artistic soul. Once a sculpture left his hand, it seemed to manifest the atmosphere of rural life. The modeling of the figures was full of a substantial yet simple power. When his work was exhibited in the 1980s, this language, which came from the earth and from life, resonated deeply with people. He closely combined the tradition of academic sculptural education with lived experience among ordinary people, which gave his work the aesthetic refinement of academic modeling, as well as an exciting vitality that touches the soul.

　　In his work, Tian Shixin had one foot on the earth, but he also explored tradition; he engaged with tradition from his own unique perspective, consciously delving into the depth and breadth of Chinese sculptural styles. He emphasized the powerful imagery of Qin and Han sculpture, while also drawing on the beautiful, lyrical manner of the Xiang-Chu culture, successfully fusing inspirations from these two cultures. As a result, his work has mysterious qualities, powerful forces, and simple forms, which reflect a personal view on art that harmonized material and learning.

　　Tian Shixin always believed in experimenting with and exploring different media; his wooden sculptures retained the natural grain and texture of the material. He used an artisanal and almost clumsy method to retain the marks left by the chisel. In his shift from clay to bronze, he focused on the textures and traces left by the act of sculpting; the rich skin textures are like Impressionist brushstrokes, flowing over the sculpted surfaces. His works are like the living earth at the beginning of creation, quivering with living vitality and full of solemn power, reflecting a vivid, lively sensibility worth savoring.

　　Tian Shixin's devotion to lacquer sculptures could be considered unorthodox. Chinese lacquer techniques have existed since antiquity, appearing often in traditional painting and handicrafts; however, applying these to sculpture was still unexplored territory. Tian was fascinated by lacquer, focusing his energy on the medium and trying to find points of unity between material and expressive form. As a result, he expanded the material language of sculpture and contributed to the contemporary development of Chinese sculpture.

　　Tian Shixin's body of work is exceedingly varied; he was attached to the villages of Guizhou, using rich and vivid modeling to present an innocent and natural side to life. However, he also pursued an antique sensibility, especially through his spiritual identification with historical heroes and cultural figures. He imbued his sculptures of notable cultural figures with an inherent spiritual power. In the series entitled Dignity of the King, he expresses the magnificence of these historical heroes and demonstrates his views on history. In his lacquer pieces, he brought together the language of sculpture and the form of lacquer. "It can be restored, but not entirely; it can be freed from restraints, but not be something new." His figures have a magnanimity and depth, while also representing a spiritual realm that transcends the self.

　　Tian Shixin's art is important to the development of Chinese sculpture; it is valuable for its diversity of themes, materials, and techniques, and for his artisanal spirit steeped in the working process. Tian unified power and beauty, material and learning. Masterworks, towering like mountains, begin with perception, are improved by contemplation, and end with the soul.

Fan Di'an,President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts

October 2017

作者：范迪安