在香港水墨画的创作群体中，王秋童是以表现恢宏壮阔的城市水墨而著称的中国画家。

　　笔者之所以使用中国画去归类秋童先生的艺术创作，是缘于他对城市的人文观照仍然深植在笔墨的审美范畴内，并因此强化了这种水墨与中国画民族艺术精神的内在联系，而不是无限度地把水墨拓展到材料美学的概念，将其归属媒材自立的现代艺术体系。王秋童的城市水墨画探求，一方面，因城市表现而进行水墨语言的拓展，另一方面，则是他的这种水墨语言仍以中国画的笔墨为筑基，从而体现出回归之后的香港，在文化根源上对于中华民族文化母体的皈依。

　　和一些有着欧美留学经历的香港水墨画家不同，王秋童更注重水墨画的中国画艺术精神的熔铸。这不仅体现在他与内地诸多当代中国画大师名家的频繁交往上，并在这种密切交往之中获得了对于中国画笔墨精神的深切领悟，而且体现在他自己对于中国花鸟画的创作实践中。他对于荷花这个非常典型的传统花鸟画的研习与创作，让他透过荷花外形的呈现而更深入地走进了笔墨个性与境界的中国画精神空间。这形成了王秋童的城市水墨探索以宣纸、水墨和书写性用笔为主调的审美取向，并试图在水墨之中渗入更多的传统中国画的笔墨意蕴、笔墨格调和笔墨精神。

　　香港是他最爱表现也是他表现得最为切近的城市。在他的这些描绘香港的作品里，最为精彩的是他表现中环、铜锣湾和从太平山上远眺维多利亚港湾两岸楼宇矗立、鳞次栉比的壮观景色。在表现中环与铜锣湾高楼比肩的街景中，他总是把视平线压得很低，楼宇林立已难见天日。不论贵人商富，还是白领蓝领，他们都栖息在这密集的由水泥、玻璃和钢材构筑的空间之中，而这个密集的空间，却成为影响全球经济与创意文化发展的中枢。香港之所以繁荣和奢华，并不止于高楼林立，而是隐藏在这座城市的集约空间背后所承载的当代全球经济的核心智囊与多元文化的平等共存。

　　秋童先生的城市水墨，以水墨为主，这是他始终将他的绘画归属于中国画的重要方式。作品不仅相应减弱了色彩在画面上的比例，而且色彩大多降低了饱和度，用色的机率也多出现在城市夜景的表现上，以色彩渲染出城市的灯火迷离、璀璨夺目。香港之夜，是他城市水墨的最爱。在香港繁华璀璨的夜色表现中，他大多通过水墨表现其夜色的迷离与幻化，而这种迷离与幻化又巧妙地和水、墨、色的自然渗化、难以料想的形态机变相吻合，也可以说，夜色之都成为王秋童发挥水、墨、色艺术技巧与语言的重要载体。

　　应该说，城市水墨画运动是中国画现代性转型的第三次浪潮(第一次、第二次浪潮分别推进了中国画的现实主义与现代主义的探索与表达)。这次浪潮以对城市的观照为主体、以笔墨的媒材性转换为表达方式，由此而体现出在后现代社会人类对于信息文明与城市发展、科技研发与生态平衡以及人类居所与精神家园等命题的考量与反思。王秋童的城市水墨也跳出了一般水墨画家的审美方式，而具有了更深层面的文化隐喻。

　　2011年6月1日夜客次杭州西湖玉皇山庄

　　A Magnificent Urban Landscape: Wong Chau Tung’s World of Ink Painting

　　Shang Hui

　　(Director of China Artists Association, Member of China Artists Association Theory Council, Executive Editor-in-Chief of Art magazine)

　　Amongink and wash painters in Hong Kong, Wong Chau Tung stands out as a Chinese painter known for his portrayal of magnificent urban landscapes.

　　The reason why I classify Wong’s art works as Chinese painting is that his humanistic approach to observe the city is a manifestation of the aesthetic value of traditional ink painting. This has enhanced the inner connection between this type of ink paintings with the national art spirit of traditional Chinese painting rather than extended the concept of ink art infinitely into material aesthetics, which is part of a contemporary art system where media independence takes place. His pursuit and exploration of urban ink paintings, on one hand, embodies the development of ink expressions inspired by cities; on the other hand, it is also based on the tradition of Chinese paintings, thus reflecting the cultural conversion of Hong Kong to the culture of the motherland after its return.

　　Different from otherHong Kong ink painters with overseas study experience in Europe or the United States, Wong Chau Tung pays more attention to the artistic and spiritual shaping of traditional Chinese paintings in the creative process. This is not only reflected in his frequent communications with well-known painters from the mainland, which enables him to get deep understanding of the spirit of traditional ink and wash paintings, but also embodied in his creative practice of Chinese flower-and-bird paintings. His works of lotus, a typical flower-and-bird painting object, allows him to delve into the spiritual space of Chinese paintings featured with personality and artistic state through portraying the flower. This has formed his aesthetic interest in the utilisation of rice paper, water and ink as well as artistic calligraphy in paintings. Moreover, he has been trying to penetrate more implications, style and spirit of traditional Chinese paintings into the creation of ink paintings.

　　Hong Kong is his favourite city to paint and the one he depicts the best. Among all his paintings about Hong Kong, the most wonderful are the ones revealing the magnificent landscape of Central, Causeway Bay as well as skyscrapers in orderly rows on both sides of the Victoria Harbour, as overlooked from the Victoria Peak. When portraying the streetscape and crowded high rises in Central and Causeway Bay, he always lowers the eye level, making the sky nearly impossible to see. Be the objects rich business elite or white-collar or blue-collar workers, all are living in this narrow space constructed by cement, glass and steel. It is this crowded space that greatly influences global economy and creative culture. Hong Kong’s prosperity and extravagance are not only due to its high-rise buildings, but also brought by the core brainpower of today’s global economy as well as the equal coexistence of diverse cultures that hide behind the intensive space of this city.

　　The urban ink paintings of Wong Chau Tung focus on the usage of water and ink, which is why these paintings are classified as traditional Chinese paintings. Not only is the proportion of colours decreased in his works, but also the colour saturation is reduced. Most colours are used to describe the night view of the city which is full of brilliant illumination and dazzling lights. The night of Hong Kong is his favouritesubject of urban ink painting. When expressing the glittering night of Hong Kong, he would choose ink and water to describe the mystery and fantasy, which areskilfully matched with the unpredictable natural pervasion of water, ink and colour. It could also be said that metropolitan night has become an important carrier of his artistic skills of water, ink and colour as well as the ink painting language.

　　The urban ink painting movement marks the third wave of the modernity transformation of Chinese painting (the first and second have respectively boosted the exploration and expression of realism and modernism in Chinese paintings). The movement this time centres on the observation of cities, with the medium shift of brush and ink as the means of expression, thus conveying mankind’s reflection on several topics in the post-modern society, including the information civilisation and urban development, science and technology research and development and ecological balance, as well as the human habitation and spiritual home. Wong Chau Tung’s urban ink paintings jump out of the general aesthetic ways of ink painters and possess a deeper level of cultural metaphor.

　　At the night of June 1st, 2011, in Jade Emperor Hotel

作者：尚辉