闫博  花园 综合材料 116x80cm 2010

　　2007年5月，我有机会在纽约现代艺术博物馆看到一个名为“喜剧的抽象”（Comic Abstraction）的展览，在Roxana Marcoci为展览所写的评论中，对这一展览的定性是“图像的破坏，图像的制造”（Image-breaking, Image-making）。出于好奇，我仔细地观看了这个展览，目的是想了解西方抽象主义的最新发展。自美国的抽象表现主义达到高峰后，欧美就再没有新的流派与大师出现，反而是沃霍尔、弗洛伊德、李希特这样的具象艺术家先后成为20世纪60年代以来的代表性画家。而这个展览入选的作品有两个特点：一是作品并非都是无形象的纯抽象；二是作品受到当代大众文化的影响，具有流行艺术的轻松与幽默，现场甚至有与观众互动的快乐的行为游戏。而艺术家对于图像的态度，采取了一种宽容的接纳与自由的处理，从而使传统的欧洲经典抽象艺术走出了严肃与深奥，更加具有亲民的和谐与快乐。

　　在我看来，闫博的近期作品，就具有上述当代抽象艺术的欣赏特点，一是不拒绝形象，二是轻松与快乐。这里所说闫博作品中的形象，并非学院式的写生形象，而是指现代视觉意义上的图像的解构与重建。闫博的早期作品具有大卫•霍克尼作品中那种南加州的阳光与轻松，还有通布利绘画中儿童般的天真和自由。而在近期的创作中，闫博对自己以往的艺术语言进行了梳理。他反省以前某些风格化的作品，意识到在某些方面，那些家居悠闲生活的回味，已经具有某种复制性，必须跳出这一框架，进入到更具有形式差别的符号世界，从而获得一种与众不同的气质。

　　虽然闫博出身绘画世家，受到非常宽松的教育，并且较早地获得艺术界与市场的认可，但他却并没有同年龄段的成功画家所具有的那种优越感。他是我所见到的青年画家中，非常善于思考与有着执著追求的人。他所追求的，是具有艺术史价值的创造性工作，并期待能够为这个时代的中国当代艺术，贡献一些具有视觉艺术价值的新东西，所以近三年来，他很少参加群展，而是专注于艺术语言的精深研究，试图以中国文化的思维方式提出新的问题。为此，他不惜放弃媒体的关注与广泛的声名。

　　闫博选择了从物质的角度入手，研究画面材料的处理技术，进而达到艺术作品的精湛。他不断试验各种材料，寻找属于自己绘画的物质。这种物质不是现实中的既有物质，而是以新的材质处理方式获得的绘画材质。它具有建筑感、金石感，像建筑材料一样，逐步构建了闫博作品的完整，具有高度完善的技术美感，从而持续地吸引我们的观赏，打动我们的心灵。在“798”的一次展览中，我曾经反复走到闫博的画前，从近处观看他的作品，为画面上自然流露出的高贵和完美所吸引。

　　1914年，正在创造现代艺术史上的立体主义的毕加索，在与弗朗索瓦丝•吉洛的一次谈话中指出：“不同质地的东西可以被组合并成为堪与自然的真实相比的绘画的真实。我们试图摆脱‘欺骗眼睛’而‘欺骗灵魂’。如果一片报纸可以变成一个瓶子，这也可以使我们想到与报纸和瓶子都有关系的东西。这个置换的对象进入了这样一个世界，它不是为这个世界而造，而置身其中，它又在某种程度上保持了自身的陌生感。这种陌生感，就是我们想要人们思考的，因为我们很清楚我们的世界正在变得非常陌生，并且不那么确切可靠了。”（《影响世界画坛的十五个流派》，第26页，现代艺术特刊，2002.5）

　　闫博近年的工作，正是为了将熟悉变为陌生，从而使我们在欣赏中思考我们身处的世界。在这个生存环境中，有许多新的产品作为消费物品被生产出来，而我们曾经熟悉的许多传统物品正逐渐地消失。闫博提示我们重新认识我们身边的物质，他以一种环保、友善的态度，在画布平面重现物质之美，在持续的工作时间中，通过对创作过程的试验和把握，获得空间中形象处理的自由。

闫博   黑猫  综合材料 190x110cm  2011

　　闫博这种通过物质材料的处理创造新形式的思路，涉及的原则强度与他对个性中的某些方面的抑制有关。在许多青年艺术家那里，个性被理解为张扬与没有节制，但是闫博的作品并没有受到当代艺术中的时尚潮流的影响。他的作品包含着一种陌生的审美，追求一种平衡和谐的感觉，静静地散发出一种古典的气息。像他这样手法严谨和专心致志的画家，每一点新的探索都与他对精神空间的关注和心理体验的扩展保持关联。

　　在闫博的作品中，色彩的提纯与简化用来表现一种不涉及日常情感的主题性表达，其意图是主观性的，但采用的方法是强烈的反自然主义的。这些清晰的色彩使他的绘画获得了整体构图的抽象与具象符号之间的平衡。他作品中的形象作为一种符号，保持了现实物象的轮廓，但更多地是作为一种色彩的区域划分，作为一种抽象的构图元素，呈现出现实中所没有的视觉意味。

　　闫博以这种方式，将一系列的抽象形状与抽象色彩组合成一个共生的画面，这些形状保持了与现实生活的联系，但这些色彩更多地表达了画家内心中的某种意念。如此，闫博将一种日常生活的主题以一种抽象性的构图方式而非再现性的说明方式表现出来，从而再次验证了康定斯基所说的抽象与具象的内在关系，在画布上建立起艺术与生活、抽象与具象的虚拟性关联。在图像与材料之间，闫博将材料的物质性不动声色地呈现出来，使我们逐渐地从以往对于图像意义的解读惯性中解放出来，进入视觉的感知通道，并在其中品味到材料所带来的特殊之美，一如古董收藏者对于古玩长期与人相处后所获得的“包浆”。其实早在20世纪50年代，美国艺术家贾斯珀•琼斯就在其作品《带有石膏铸件的靶子》（1955）与《白旗》（1960）中，以布面腊画的形式体现了现代艺术对材料处理与主题表达的成熟思考，欣赏他的作品原作，可以获得印刷品所没有的材料的厚重与半透明的沉稳，大大提升了画面的视觉感受品质。而就简洁的形象结构与画面分割来说，毕加索作于1927年的《脸》一画，已经具有了在丰富的平面化光影中整体把握符号形象的能力。

　　在闫博的近期作品中，画面的表层具有一种色彩的“面纱”，这是指在一种色彩之上薄涂另一种色彩，它可以是冷色与暖色的交替，也可以是亮色与暗色的覆盖，还可以是透明色对不透明色的罩染。随着色彩的简化与颜料的厚重同步进行，闫博的作品获得了更多现实物的属性，与展览的场所更加接近，逐渐融为一体。在他的作品中，包含了一种柔和的亮度，即光线进入画面表层之后，被吸收进色层的内部，在那里谦逊地折射回来，从而具有一种厚积的寂静和渐进的蒙眬。在这样一种并非精确对焦、具有物质景深的色彩涂层中，图像与符号退隐于半透明的表皮之下，犹如在寒冬中结冰的水层下，我们隐约能看到水下的物质还在缓缓流动，产生了一种超验的幻觉。

　　在闫博的《起伏》（2010）这一作品中，这种色层的丰富伴随着形象块面的多样化结构组合，在视觉上达到了一种令人满意的饱和度。而在《观自在》（2008）、《近》（2009）、《初云》（2009）这样的作品中，色彩简化为一种浑厚的暖白色，形象则简化为极为精到的线条，柔和而自由地滑过画面，就像花样滑冰运动员在冰上留下的轻盈痕迹。

　　讨论闫博的作品，不能不指出，他的作品存在着相当强度的抽象性，但并非完全的抽离形象。形象作为符号的存在，是闫博作品的鲜明特点，以此，他保持了与现实的联系，并且使自己的作品获得了一种视觉感受的具体性。或者我们可以说，闫博的近期作品，达到了抽象与具象的最大张力，以一种符号化的方式，处理形象与抽象性的色彩与材料之间的关系。作品《兰》（2010）鲜明地表达了闫博近期的追求，人物作为符号达到最大的精简，在形与色的高度抽象中达到具象与抽象的边界，色彩也简化为蓝绿两个基色，但符号化的人物又能与环境共生，以山脉式的轮廓线条，转换成为另外一种具有风景意味的图像结构，使之具有符号的所指与能指共存的丰富意味。在闫博的创作思路中，他最关注的是作品中能否有一些有意思的东西。画家在画布上创作一个物，可以引申出更多的变化，而一幅作品的完整的面貌，不仅表现于结果，也表现为创作的过程和状态，这样，作品在完成后的样式背后，有可能产生一些艺术家关注的核心价值。

闫博    后花园   综合材料 20x40cm 2011

　　这种符号化的简约与丰富的转换性，在《指点江山》（2009）一画中更为强烈。在画面的右边，一只手指饱满而又精练，具有中国水墨画白描的高度凝练，曲线圆润而流畅；在画的左边，丰富的山树云天交织在平面上，以直线与曲线的对比互相穿插衔接，分割了画面的空白，与左边形成意味深长的视觉对比。比较闫博在2002年的作品《观塘》—— 两只狗看着一个男人在古典园林中沉思，我们可以看到，闫博的近期作品如《蒙古花园》（2010）、《一天晚上》（2010）、《庭院》（2010）等，虽然仍然保留着东方的审美气息，但在作品的形象处理方面，则更加简约，将解释性的说明因素剔除出去，代之以更加精练的视觉文化符号，有一种返璞归真的稚拙品质。

　　1951年，在一个名为“抽象艺术对我意味着什么”的讨论会上，德•库宁对一种“精神和谐”艺术的描述，暗示着他把这种艺术的支持者们看作是翱翔于超脱现实痛苦的生活空间中，他们从形式中获得舒适的美感，一如大桥的曲线让人们舒适地跨越河流，他们着迷于曲线与可爱的事物，像儿童一样渴望着非物质化的世界的表达。闫博的作品《成一线》（2009）就具有这样的品质，简洁而高贵。与此相似的是《渡》（2010），在斜曲线所形成的巨大的弧面上，有一只小巧精致的鞋停留在左下方。确切地说，那是一只没有体积与材质感的鞋的符号，它所具有的婉转丰富的纹样，鲜明地提示着一种东方国家曾经有过的精致生活。

　　如果说，20世纪欧洲的抽象艺术大师曾经以某种方式成功地梳理了人类与变化的物质世界的关系，建立起人类精神价值与现实生活的联系，从中得到了一种对未来世界的乐观信仰，那么，在物质生产发达、信息传播密集的今天，我们对抽象性艺术的期待，则更加趋向于内心的平静与和谐，那些曾经的画布上的激烈表现似乎正在远去，已有艺术的价值已经转换成为艺术史的偶像崇拜，束缚了我们的创造性思维与潜心的探索实践。

　　而闫博的艺术价值观在于，他强调艺术家对于现实的与众不同的观察角度，对于已有的既定价值观和艺术规范的质疑，只有在这样的怀疑与思考中，在持续的画布上的实践中，才能获得不同的、有价值的艺术判断。这些价值并非我们所习见的社会道德规范，而是和个人的体验、心态、精神、个性有关。在艺术上，它表现为线条、色彩、材质、描画、手感等等。特别是在心理感觉方面，闫博追求视觉活动所引起的心理感觉，通过物的本身，获得直觉的快乐。这是另一种人生的存在价值，为此，值得艺术家付出时间、精力和智慧，即使是在宽泛的或很小的题材中，也能够直抵个人化的生命体验。它有时表现为灵光一现，但它的到来却需要持之以恒的实践和大量的投入。

　　今天的中国当代艺术，似乎迅速地越过现代主义的经典艺术，进入到以观念表达为主的装置与行为艺术的时代，许多超大型的装置以巨型的形制和大量的资金投入，构造了一种震撼观众感官的视觉奇观。在这样一个时代，不仅是古典绘画，就连现代主义的艺术大师，也少有人去深入研究。这使得中国当代艺术特别是架上艺术，处在一个艺术语言贫乏与困顿的处境中，失去了创作具有丰富视觉感受性的绘画的基础。在许多展览和博览会上，我们看到太多的语言苍白贫瘠的流行艺术的绘画样式。不妨可以大胆预测一下，当那些20世纪90年代以社会对抗为姿态的前卫美术逐渐成为高昂的金融投资对象而日渐稀缺之后，我们还有什么样的绘画可以持续地与我们朝夕相处，并感动我们的心灵呢？

　　在这样的时代，看到闫博这些具有经典气质和品位的艺术，让我们的眼睛与心灵重新有了归属。以此，我们对于闫博以及与他同时代的优秀的中青年画家，有了更多的期待。

　　2011年5月8日 

（殷双喜：中央美术学院教授，艺术评论家）

　　Images and Symbols Reflection on Yan Bo’s Recent Artwork

　　　　In May of 2007, I had the opportunity to see an exhibition named Comic Abstraction at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), characterized in the art critic Roxana Marcoci's essay for this exhibition as Image-Breaking, Image-Making. Lately I have wanted to know about Western abstract art as seen in this new exhibition. Since abstract expressionism reached its peak in the US, virtually no new schools of abstract art or famous artists have emerged in the West. Instead the artists Warhol, Freud and Lichtenstein have become representative of the art world since 1960. The work in the exhibition shares two characteristics: first, the work was not exclusively non-representational; and second, the work represented contemporary popular culture with a sense of entertainment and humor, such as interesting games, which the audience can interact with. I think the attitude conveyed in the artists’ images is one of tolerance and freedom, creating a style that is relaxed from traditions of standard European abstract art.

　　In my opinion, Yan Bo’s work is close to the contemporary abstract art mentioned above. He doesn’t create non-objective works, and his images are also relaxed and joyful. His work is not an academic sketch, but represents modern visual life. His early works had the same feeling of southern California's sunlight and relaxation as David Hockney’s work with its childish naivety and freedom. Yan Bo reviewed his works, and realized these works shared certain aspects. Having a new frame for his exploration has made his works out of the ordinary.

　　Because Yan Bo had painters in his family background, he grew up in a very good educational environment. His ability was appreciated by the art market from very early on. He is very intelligent, with a clear vision of his art, and in the last three years he has rarely joined group exhibitions, because he has been focusing on his own research and work. By studying Chinese culture and thought, his work attempts to form a new cultural vision. He even gave up the attention of the media and his reputation, to focus solely on his work. Maybe he will contribute something great to Chinese visual art.

　　Yan Bo is skilled at using various painting materials. Because of his ability to work with different materials, the work he accomplishes is exquisite. He constantly tries all sorts of materials, to obtain his own painting language. His work has architectural and golden stone-like textures, resembling building materials that together express his perfect aesthetics in a way that attracts and touches the audience. Once he had an exhibition in the 798 art zone, where I saw his artwork up close, and I could clearly see the perfection that was expressed so naturally in his paintings.

　　In 1914, in the course of creating modern art's Cubist style, Picasso was in conversation with Francoise Gilot: “the different materials combined together might be much more real than the reality itself. We tried to get rid of ‘cheating eyes’, by ‘cheating peoples’ souls’. If a piece of newspaper turns into a jar, then it might remind us of things that are both related to newspapers and jars. This object of replacement enters this kind of world: it wasn’t produced for this world, but at some point, the object creates its new and strange impression. And this strange impression is what we want people to reflect upon, because we’re sure our world has become quite strange, and not that accurately reliable.” (15 Influential Art Moments in History of Modern Art page 26, Modern Art Special Issue, 2002.5)

　　Yan Bo’s work in recent years has turned the familiar into the strange, causing us to reflect on our own life when we appreciate the work. In our current living environment, many new products are manufactured for consumption, and familiar and traditional objects are gradually vanishing. Yan Bo reminds us to get to know our surroundings from different angles. He describes the beauty of things on his canvas. Through his continued work and experimentation, he is good at depicting the aesthetics of the objects, because he understands deeply the relationship between space, the objects, and people.

　　Yan Bo expresses his ideas through diversified materials on his canvas. Many young artists express too many emotional and characteristic things, compared to Yan Bo, who isn’t affected by trends and fashion, but rather pursues a kind of balance and harmony. You can also find classical elements in his work. He has a serious attitude towards art and technique; each new exploration is related to psychological experiences.

　　In Yan Bo’s works he uses pure color and simple imagery to express his ideas, which surpass daily emotions. These pure and rich colors balance the images between the abstract and the realistic. The images in his work at once symbolize things through realistic outline and yet use color as an abstract element, distinguishing the images from real life.

　　In Yan Bo's works, the simplicity and purity of color is used to demonstrate the kind of themes related to daily life; he uses abstract shapes and colors to create images which keep a relationship with the reality. The colors represent his belief and concepts, so his paintings depict daily life in an abstract way, just as Kandinsky stressed the relationship between objects and abstraction, art and real life. He was good at expressing his images and concepts through materials. Our visual sense can easily get access to the aesthetics in his work. We gradually decipher the meaning within his paintings becoming aware of a particular beauty, just as artifacts collected after a long time acquire a patina. In fact, as early as the 1950's, the American artist Jasper Johns’ work demonstrated a serious concern for the craft of painting. His targets and flags were objective, and with visual qualities. Picasso’s works showed his ability to grasp the concrete.

　　In Yan Bo’s works, there is a kind of layered surface. It can be a warm or cold color, bright or dark, transparent or opaque. The color and richness of the layers are natural to the audience. When his paintings are under the light, we seem to see something more beneath the several semitransparent layers. It is just as in winter we can see water flowing under the ice. This is the illusion.

　　Yan Bo’s work, Ups and Downs (2010), has abundant colors and a compositional framework that gives audience visual satisfaction. See My Own (2008), Close(2009), Early Cloud (2009), have precise lines, simplified colors and images that are natural and precise just like the traces on ice left by skaters.

　　Yan Bo’s work is intensely abstract but it is not non-representational; it has its imagery so it is related to the real life and has concrete visuals. We can say his late works use both abstract and concrete forms of expression through his techniques with color and materials. He uses the same technique in his work Girl (2010), it has the simplest symbols, colors and a perfect framework. The artist tried to find out something interesting, so when you see his work, perhaps you can see his attitudes reflected in his work. In the course of things, perhaps they are the core values which the artist most cares about.

　　His work also has a rich context. For example, in the work Mountain is Here(2009), on the right side there is a hand which has a simple character of Chinese ink painting on it that means a lot. On the left there are trees and clouds in straight and curved lines. The two sides together create visual contrast. From his works Watching the Pool (2002), Mongolian Garden(2010), One Night(2010), and Courtyard (2010) ,we can see his work uses Eastern aesthetics that are culturally symbolic and naïve.

　　In 1951, at a conference What does Abstract Art Mean to Me? De Kooning thought spiritual art was beyond realistic pain and that people can be comforted by the aesthetics of paintings. Just as a curving bridge makes people happy to walk above the river; they like the curve and lovely things, just as children long for naïve forms of expression. Yan Bo’s work A Line(2009) has just this kind of character, pure and noble. The same with his work Pass(2010), which depicts a fine shoe and a huge arc; this shoe is a symbol without volume and material, a reminder of the delicate life of the East.

　　If the European masters of the 20th century once successfully dealt with the relationship among humans and their spiritual and material world, then they had a kind of optimistic belief of the future world. Maybe in our modern times, we expect abstract art to comfort our heart and bring peace and harmony. Our thinking needs more creativity and exploration of our world, outside and in.

　　Yan Bo has a different point of view about reality, and he is suspicious of the values and the artistic standards set by society. Only in this way can he stand up for different values and his own artistic judgment. These values are more than social moral standards; they are more about individual experience, attitude, spirit and individual concerns. He is constantly challenging the technical possibilities of painting. He has created a body of rich and complex work in his rigorous attention to psychological imagery and abstraction. From his psychological feeling and his value of this world to his hard work, he has contributed his heart and time.

　　Today Chinese contemporary art has passed rapidly through modernism and quickly into expressionism. There are lots of installations and performances. The huge installations give audiences a visual spectacle and cost a lot of money. Artists have forgotten about classical painting and even modernism. As a result, we seldom find rich content in the paintings nowadays. The paintings lack abundant visual aesthetics. It is hard to imagine in this kind of situation, in which there are lots of investments, how many paintings can stand the test of time, and still touch our hearts.

　　In such times, I have seen Yan Bo’s art, which has high artistic value and which manages to satisfy our eyes and souls. I envisage more outstanding artists like him.

　　May 8th, 2011

　　Yin Shuangxi from Professor of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, art critic

作者：殷双喜