白蒂的艺术，可以放在两个群体背景下加以讨论：一个是女性艺术家群体，一个是青年艺术家群体。

　　以性别归类艺术，在近年中国不断受到质疑。她们对 “女性主义”特别是“女权主义”这样的概念表示反感，不愿与其为伍，但她们又常常不自觉地将自己封闭在一个自我空间之中。她们将自己屏蔽于外在世界，是基于缺少与外界沟通的经验，基于对外部世界的恐惧感而产生的一种本能的自我保护意识。她们宁愿在自己的精神家园中漂泊，也不愿在现实世界经风历险。因此，在她们的作品中，我们的解读就不得不停留在个人经验的层面。但在白蒂的作品中，并不全是来自作为一个女性的个人经验叙事，而更多表达的是她这一代人的精神苦闷和灰色无望的情绪。这也是旅居海外的艺术家常有一种远离“家园”和寻找“家园”的“乡愁”情绪。

女肖像，2014年

　　青年女艺术家白蒂，毕业于中央美院油画系第三画室，这使她具备了坚实的造型基础和创造个性化语言的能力。她用一种在墙上“抹灰式”的表现性语言诠释她笔下的人物，探索这些同龄人的不同经历和命运。在她的画中，虽然还保留着一些学院情结和浪漫情调，但愈来愈强化了一种鲜明的个人化的语言风格。她画中的人物和场景，仿佛是从抹来抹去的调色板上整理出来的。笔刷和刮刀留下的痕迹，自带着一种破败、凋敝之感，一种凄清、落寞的情绪。事实上，她的作品不只带着自述性特征，更触及到她这“一代人”各种心理问题，无论是借酒浇愁的男青年，还是昂首演唱的女高音；无论是站在空荡荡大巴车上，还是坐在破旧的老式椅上，都不能摆脱一种孤独感和无奈的情绪。面对着纷繁多变的社会，画家运用象征手法搭建起一座座“情景剧场”，用以展现不同人物的精神空间，这些无法逃避的现场，实证着灰色情绪的由来。同时也表现出画家对这个没有安全感的生存环境的敏锐把握，透过表面光鲜物质泛滥的时代表象，以艺术的方式洞悉这一代青年的真实心态。

　　改革开放后，中国发生翻天覆地的变化，相比父辈们艰苦的生存环境，出生在80年代的“80后”青年，在相对富足而安定的环境中长大。但当他们走向社会之后，一系列问题应运而生。经济的飞速发展导致高消费社会的兴起，传统文化和现代社会结构之间的反差造成了青年人乃至全社会的紧张和迷茫。快乐成长起来的“80后”面对社会的种种问题和生存困惑，迷茫、无望、无助和无奈。工作、房租、婚姻、单身族、蜗居族、月光族、啃老族、剩女和房奴，他们的前途在哪里？找不到工作索性不找工作颓废着、无聊着、无所事事着。将旧有的一切抛在身后，却不知道应该保留什么，而所有这一切都在白蒂的作品中得以呈现。

奈何，2015年

　　但在颓废无望的消极情绪掩盖不住他们对生命意义的追问。在许多作品中，画家似乎习惯于用心绪不宁的大笔触来暗合主体形象的心理特征，将人物由现实困境内化为一种精神困境。《夜》、《途》、《奈何》、《女肖像》、《无题》等很准确地表达了这一代人的真实状态。特别是在《女肖像》一画中，端正独坐的女子表情沉重，瞬间性的光与色，通过强而有力的绘画性笔触塑造出人物的体积感与量感，加以阴暗背景与主体白色布衣的相互映衬，形成压抑、沉闷的气氛，使画面语体进一步强化为伦勃朗式的“暗影强光”手法，让作品具有了一种凝重的戏剧效果，诠释出人物真实状态。而在《无题》一画中，人物面部的有意破坏更呈现出一种撕心裂魄的痛楚和内心的绝望。

孤，2015

　　画家在多幅作品中一再宣泄的同一主题就是孤独。其中《孤》是最具代表性的一件。一位背朝观众的女子，独自坐在一个看似常规却陌生的摆满病床的输液室中。显然，这又是画家搭建的一座非日常的“情景剧场”，这那里是医院？完全是一个破败的仓库空间！画家实际上是在描绘女子如地狱般黑暗的心境和坏透了的心绪。内心充满了恐惧、孤独、绝望和一种厌恶感和被遗弃感。医院本来就是见证生命的诞生与死亡的场所，也是见证欢乐和悲痛的场所。而病痛和死亡却时时威胁着人类。

　　英国人类学家埃德汶？阿登那夫妇从文化学的观念来阐述男女文化之异同：如果把男女文化分属于两个文化圈，它们又是互为交错的两个圆，其间主体部分是重叠的，那些溢出的月牙形部分，这是异性所无法探知的“野地”，具有其独有的性别意识和感知经验。因而女性文化就具有两重性，她既是总体文化的成员，又有自己的领地。她们在反思中越来越意识到个体与整体的和谐统一，才是艺术充满着生命活力的生态环境。她们不再停留在纯粹“自我表现”的个人经验的层面，以开放的心态和女性的敏感，跨越性别的界限，进行更为宏观的对社会、对历史、对人类的思考。白蒂的作品正说明，她表达的不仅是作为一个女性的存在，也表达的是作为一代人的存在。

寻，2015年

　　白蒂在《寻》这件作品中，描绘了一只在林中奔跑的小鹿，它是迷路了？还是在逃离？抑或是向着自由的远方奔去？。画家暗示的应该是后者。白蒂在不断的艺术劳作中要追寻的正是心灵的自由。她在艺术中自我修炼、自我反省、自我怀疑，最终实现了自我拯救，在个人化叙事中真实地呈现了“自我”，也呈现了她这一代人的内心真实。

贾方舟

Jia Fangzhou: One Generation's "Homesickness" ——A Reading of Bai Di's Works

　　Bai Di's art can be discussed among two different groups of people: among female artists, and among young artists.

　　In modern China, art classified by gender has consistently been met with suspicion. These women show contempt towards the concepts of feminism, and particularly that of women's rights. They do not wish to be labeled as such, but without realizing it, they frequently close themselves off inside an individual space. They shield themselves from the external world because they are lacking in both communication and experience with the outside world, because of an instinctual sense of self-preservation brought about by their fear of the external world. They would rather roam aimlessly among their own spiritual homes than take risks out in the real world. Therefore, in our readings of their works, we have no choice but to linger on the level of personal experience. With Bai Di's art, however, one does not find themselves entirely facing a narration of a woman's personal experience; what is expressed to a greater degree are her emotions of melancholy and pessimistic hopelessness. This very much feels like the emotions of someone who has lost their home and is looking for a home of their own, like a kind of homesickness.

　　The young female artist known as Bai Di graduated from Studio Three of the art department of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. This imbued her with a solid foundation for conveying form and the ability to create an individualized language. She explains the human figures she paints through a language of expression similar to wall plastering, exploring the different experiences and fates of these people of the same age. While some academic qualities and romantic touches still remain in her paintings, her individual language and style have grown stronger. The figures and scenes in her paintings seem to have been drawn straight from a well-stirred palette. The marks left behind by the brush and the painting knife bear asense of dilapidation and destitution, a bleak and lonely mood. Her works actually do not just contain autobiographical characteristics; they touch more upon the various psychological issues of her "generation." Whether her subject is a young man who drowns his sorrows in alcohol or a soprano performing with her head held high, whether her subject stands inside an empty bus or sits upon an old-fashioned chair, they cannot extract themselves from the same mood of loneliness and helplessness. Facing a vastly changing society, the artist employs symbolism to create one "theater of scenery and sentiment" after another. In doing so, she displays different people's spiritual spaces; these inescapable scenes prove the origins of these gray moods. At the same time, they demonstrate the painter's acute grasp of these living surroundings that utterly lack a sense of security. Through the presentation of an era that appears neat, clean, and materially abundant on the surface, Bai Di uses art to thoroughly grasp the true mentality of this young generation.

　　China experienced earth-shaking changes after implementing its policies of opening up and reform. Compared to the arduous conditions their parents lived in, the generation born between 1980 and 1989, known in China as the "post-80" generation grew up among relatively stable and abundant surroundings. A whole series of problems cropped up once they set off to make a living for themselves, however. The economy's rapid development brought about the rise of high-consumerism society, and the contrast between the structures of traditional culture and modern society created the anxiety and bewilderment that plagued young people-and even society as a whole. After growing up in a state of happiness, the post-80 generation faced all kinds of problems and existential predicaments: bewilderment, hopelessness, helplessness, and powerlessness. Work, rent, mortgage slavery, and marriage… Singletons, "snail dwellers" (referring to people living in cramped dwellings), "leftover women" (a common term for unmarried women beyond their mid-twenties), "moonlighters" (young people who spend the entirety of their income each month), young people living off their parents-where are their futures? If they cannot find work, they simply stop looking, dispirited, bored, and idling away their time. With so much of the past behind them, one does not know which things should be preserved. All of this has been encapsulated in Bai Di's art.

　　However, dispirited negative moods cannot cover up their inquiries into the meaning of life. In many of these pieces, the painter seems accustomed to using bold, agitated brushstrokes tomatch the subject image's psychological characteristics, transporting the figure from reality-based predicaments to spiritual predicaments. Works such as Ye ("Night"), Tu ("Path"), Nai He ("No Alternative"), Nü Xiao Xiang ("Female Portrait"), and Wu Ti ("Untitled") all accurately express the true state of this generation. This is particularly true in Female Portrait. The lone woman sitting upright bears a serious expression; through forceful brushstrokes reminiscent of sketching, momentary light and color combine to create a sense of scale and weight for the figure. Moreover, the sharp relief between the dark background and the subject's white cloth clothes create an oppressive and stifling atmosphere, bringing the register of the painting closer to that of Rembrandt-style lighting. This gives the work a rich dramatic effect, illuminating the figure's true state.In Untitled, the intentional disfigurement of the figure's face presents soul-rending pain and internal despair.

　　One theme that the artist repeatedly gives vent to in many of her works is that of loneliness. Among these works, Gu ("Lonely") is most representative in this regard. A woman with her back facing the viewer sits alone in an IV room filled with sickbeds; the room appears simultaneously ordinary and alien. This is clearly another one of the artist's "theaters of scenery and sentiment." In what way does this place appear to be a hospital? It is nothing but a dilapidated warehouse! The artist is actually depicting the woman's dark, hellish mood, and her terrible emotional state. Her heart is filled with fear, loneliness, and desperation, along with feelings of disgust and abandonment. After all, a hospital is witness to both the beginning and end of human life, just as it is also witness to joy and sorrow. Humanity, on the other hand, is always threatened by sickness and death.

　　Along with his wife, the English anthropologist Edwin Ardener used concepts from cultural studies to expound upon the cultural differences between males and females: if male and female cultures were classified under separate cultural circles, these circles would also overlap. Their primary parts would overlap entirely; the crescent-shaped areas that did not would be the "wilderness" that the opposite sex would be unable to explore. These wildernesses would possess their own unique gender consciousnesses and perceptive experiences. Thus, feminine culture possesses a duality. The female is a member of culture as a whole, and she is also her own domain. In their reflections, females have become increasingly aware that the harmony and unity of the individual and the whole are prerequisites for an ecological environment in which art brims with vitality. They no longer solely linger on the aspect of individual experience known as pure "self-expression." They cross the boundaries of gender with an open sense and the sensitivity of female perception，and they carry out a more macroscopic contemplation of society, history, and humanity. Bai Di's works show us that what she is expressing is more than the existence of a single female, but also the existence of a generation.

　　In Xun ("Searching"), Bai Di portrays a young deer running through the woods. Is it lost? Or is it running away? Or is it perhaps running towards freedom in the distance? The artist is very likely implying the third possibility. Over the course of her constant artistic efforts, Bai Di has been searching for freedom of the soul. With art, she has engaged in self-cultivation, self-reflection, and self-doubt, finally achieving self-salvation. In individualized narratives, she has truly presented her "self," and she has also presented the innermost truths of this generation.

作者：贾方舟