童雁汝南大部分时间生活、工作在杭州，这次在北京举办展览，对北京的艺术圈和艺术家们都有着非常重要的意义。各位专家朋友从不同的角度，对他的艺术创作进行分析，也由他的展览引出关于当代艺术话题的讨论，更加说明此次到北京举办展览，同大家共同交流，是对他非常有价值的。每个展览从布展的设计可以看出艺术家的整体追求。童雁汝南此次的展览，从作品到布置，都很有自己鲜明的特色。其中，除了作品布置得非常用心外，文字部分，包括众家的评述、自己陈述，都运用一种片断化方式与他的艺术作品相协调。

　　为什么此次展览在北京举办很重要？它特殊的布置带给我这样的感受：作品的跨度是15年，其中的片段不仅具有作品的物质性，同时体现了时间性。片断汇聚，所形成的展示结构透露出艺术家多年的心路历程，也使得童雁汝南的自身艺术形象得以确立，引起诸多老师的分析和评价，同样，我也认为很值得评价。过去的15年对于快速发展的中国社会来说，景观形象、文化心理，尤其在文化的语境中，发生了天翻地覆的变化。艺术作品既呈现出时代社会的改变，又流露出艺术家内在的不变。童雁汝南最早的作品创作于1998年。2000年前，随着计算机技术的快速发展和普及，人们只是隐约觉察到全球化的时代似乎即将来临。2000年后，中国同世界各国的关系已完全从全球化的进程中，发展成为命运的共同体。我们暂且不去描述政治、军事和经济，从文化、从视觉艺术的角度出发，这15年来中国的巨大变化和发展趋势带来艺术家们的文化观念变革是不可避免的。如从之前的注重国际潮流，到建立中国新世纪的艺术价值取向，艺术家个体也从原来对国际历史大师的参照，到更多的建立自己的语言、图式，以及展览等社会活动方式，这些都发生了巨大的变化。

　　童雁汝南这15年来也是双重的，一方面他坚持自己的一套做法，即15年如一日地创作肖像画，说明他心中有定力。他看到了艺术家真正要做的工作，即做与自己特别切心、真诚描述的东西。因此在这方面，他做得很好，并且坚持下来。另一方面童雁汝南并不是封闭型的画家，他也同很多人接触，借助中国美院的成长环境，他与艺术评论界、媒体界，尤其是与北京的艺术评论家也有深入的交流。在中国美院年轻群体中，他属于较为观照外部世界，具备广泛交流心理的艺术家。这些交往活动对他很重要，因此他可以在明确方向的前提下，广泛地交流和思考，不断地进行艺术尝试，在中国美院的群体中具备鲜明的个人特色。中国美院的很多艺术家会有课题性的学术目标，如具表（具象表现绘画）。童雁汝南的导师是许江、司徒立，他们十几年来坚持具表教学，童雁汝南也是从具表的学术目标中培养出来的。具表教学有其非常固执的、偏系统化的思想方法，从观念的观察方法到具体的表象方法，其自身存在一套小体系，也是一个小世界。在座的章仁缘老师也在具表体系内，但稍有不同。童雁汝南作为中国美院具表体系的一员，受其影响较深，与此同时，他又能广泛地考虑艺术与社会的关联，将自己的艺术代入当今时代的语境中作更细致的打磨。总体来说，童雁汝南一方面对待艺术坚持和执著，像做日课一样运用同一种方法；另一方面他也同外部交流，将更多的东西带进来。这两方面造就了他的作品在这15年间既具有一致性，又富有变化性，包括很多自画像也可以体现出他的精神追求。

　　那么他的绘画究竟是属于社会性，还是属于艺术性呢？即他塑造的价值，是这个时代的社会性表述，还是个人的艺术性建构？这同样值得重点讨论。不久前，我与张晴一同会见了德国的柏林汉堡火车站当代艺术馆的馆长，我们向他展示了一批近几年中国绘画的作品，特别是现场图。在这之前我们有初步的判断，绘画在当今的信息时代、图象时代面临着巨大的挑战，甚至呈现出衰落和边缘化现象，但仍有国家在绘画上保留自身非常强的传统，毫无疑问，德国和意大利都具有非常强大和理性的传统，甚至包括西班牙，绘画作品都展现出强劲的生命力。德国艺术文化在我们印象中比较纯粹，我们向他展示中国的艺术作品考虑的是在绘画领域内，形成相互间的对话。据我了解，西方的馆长们并非真正了解中国的当代艺术，他们只了解中国当代艺术中非常观念化、图式化、符号化的作品。对方看了这些作品之后，非常有兴趣，表示要与我们合作，同时也告诉我们一个重要的，且又有趣的信息：柏林的几个博物馆现在正同时推出一个“永远的绘画”的主题展，谁也想不到在我们以为很前卫，具有当代性的西方艺术界，会办这样一个通俗题目的展览，似乎这样主题的展览不应是他们举办的。所以反过来审视自己的话，同样会发现绘画中所存在的问题。首先对当代艺术中的绘画形式，我们要引起高度的重视。其次我们要从不同角度展开更多的交流。德国馆长也表示，他们先是意识到绘画中的挑战与危机，进而举办此次展览，以此引起大家对画进行思考。这个话题是不会过时的，在中国的艺术界亦是如此，这是世界性的话题。中国艺术家所思考的问题究竟是落后于国际艺术形势，还是已经到达其边缘，值得大家的共同关注。

　　童雁汝南坚持多年创作同一题材，其本身不仅是一种现象，也是一例个案，必然存在其所遵循的法则，所侧重的方向，引人深思。顾振清老师分析得十分透彻，在这些肖像作品中，并没有表现出鲜明的、被形象化的社会特征，譬如没有描绘服装、首饰、模特肤色的细腻或者风吹日晒后的沧桑，更看不出模特是白领还是劳动群众。但总体来说，他画的是社会大众，且将描绘对象的身份刻意隐藏。由此看出，童雁汝南更追求其艺术语言的自我性。黄笃老师提出，童雁汝南的作品非常有深度，既表达出对模特的直观情感，又能将这份表达的力度运用自如，这是非常值得肯定的。尤其是一些作品运用从具象多层次，到抹去重来的虚化的语言表达，体现出艺术家对眼前的人物，对世界的一般看法。从塑造人物形象到将其虚化成为一个画面，一种气息，而不是一个形象，一个符号。这些语言具有重要价值，也令人喜欢。在小的作品中便能体现出艺术家全部的精神面貌，这同样是值得肯定的。相比之下，肖像画比半身像更有利于艺术家的表达。因为半身像的作品特点使得你所表达的语言更加分散，但肖像画能将其更集中的体现，并且肖像画在展览中更适合不同的排列方式，能够更强烈地诉说一贯的追求。

　　肖像艺术在西方现代艺术中被研究得很透彻。从弗兰西斯·培根开始，肖像便成为一门系统、新颖，充满现代性的课题，后来到费欣，到格哈德·里希特等人的研究，包括一些中国的肖像画，德国的表现主义，意大利的"3C"（注：指桑德罗·齐亚、 恩佐·库奇、弗朗西斯科·克莱门特）等，肖像艺术由此演变出诸多的语言表达类型，可贵的是，童雁汝南同前人相比，已构建出独有的语言表达方式，这将成为他在肖像艺术语言体系上的专利。因此，将个人所追求的文化性和作品的艺术性建立更好的关联，而非过多地强调所谓的个性，这可能是童雁汝南下一步要达到的目标。

范迪安 2013年11月于今日美术馆发言

​Duality of Tong Yanrunan's "Dismembering an Ox by a Skillful Butcher Pao Ding"

　　Tong Yanrunan lives and works in Hangzhou most of the time. Today, he comes to Beijing to hold an exhibition, which is of great significance to Beijing's art circle and the artist himself. Experts had made an analysis on his art creation from different aspects and some discussions on his exhibition involving several contemporary art topics, which further proved that it was very valuable for him to hold the exhibition and communicate with all of you. Actually, the overall pursuit of the artist can be seen from the layout of each exhibition. In this exhibition of Tong Yanrunan, the distinct characteristics were embodied in the works and its layout. His works were arranged very carefully. And for the text, the comments of numerous scholars as well as his own statements were coordinated with his works in a fragmented way.

　　Why did I say it was important for this exhibition to be held in Beijing? Because I was impressed by its special arrangement—in the past 15 years, these works had the material natures and they formed a demonstration structure together with the pieces of timeliness. This structure revealed Tong Yanrunan's long-term mental journey, and also enabled him to establish his own artistic image so that many seniors analyzed and evaluated these works. And I hold the same opinion that they are worth evaluating. For such a rapidly development Chinese society in the past 15 years, great changes have taken place in the external image, cultural psychology and, in particular, the cultural context. These works may reflect not only the changes of times and society, but also the inherent immutability of the artist. Tong Yanrunan's earliest piece of works was created in 1998, namely, prior to 2000, when people vaguely perceived that a global era was coming with the rapid development and popularization of computer technology. After 2000, China and the world had completely formed a community with a shared future in the process of globalization. From the perspective of culture and visual art, instead of politics, military, and economy, the great changes and the resulting revolution of cultural concepts are inevitable for Chinese artists in the past 15 years. For example, they used to pay more attention to the international trend, but now they tend to create China's artistic value orientation in the 21st century. The artists used to take the international historical masters as their references, but today they have established their own language and schema, and the way of the social activities of the whole exhibition，all of these have taken great changes.

　　Tong Yanrunan are figured with dual features in the past 15 years. On the one hand, he insists on his own way of doing things by seeing from his 15 years' portraying. He learned what the real work an artist should do. And he knew he was doing things that he was particularly concerned with and could sincerely describe. So, he has done a good job in this field and has been holding on. On the other hand, I have found that Tong Yanrunan was not a closed type of painter. He contacted with many people. Growing up in the environment of China Academy of Art, he also had in-depth contacts and extensive communication with art critics, media circles, especially many art critics in Beijing. He was an artist who cared more about the outside world and could broadly communicate with others in psychology. These interactions are very important to him. And therefore, he is always trying creating his art in a consistent direction and with much communication and thinking, which brings him distinct characteristics in the group of China Academy of Art. Many artists in China Academy of Art have topic academic goals, such as figurative expressionism, where Tong Yanrunan started from. His tutors are Xu Jiang and Situ Li, who have been teaching figurative expressionism for more than ten years. Figurative expressionism teaching has a very rigorous and systematic way of thinking. From the concept and specific observation methods to concrete representation methods, it has formed a small world with a small system. Zhang Renyuan present was also from the figurative expressionism system. But it was slightly different. As a member of figurative expressionism system in China Academy of Art, Tong Yanrunan was deeply immersed in it. At the same time, he broadly pondered over the relationship between art and society, and put his art into the context of this era to polish. Generally speaking, on the one hand, Tong Yanrunan is very persistent for he uses the method as if he had day classes; on the other hand, he is communicating with others, and has brought more thoughts in. These two aspects made his works in the past 15 years both consistent and changing. Many of his self-portraits reflected his spiritual pursuit.

　　Were his paintings figured with society or artistry? In other words, was his main value the social expression of times or individual artistic construction? It is worth to be discussed. Recently, Zhang Qing and I met with the curator of the Contemporary Art Museum of Hamburg Railway Station in Berlin, Germany. As soon as we met him, we showed him some Chinese paintings in recent years, especially the ones of the scenes. By a preliminary judgment, we found paintings facing enormous challenges, as a whole, in the information age and the image era, and even tending to decline and marginalize. However, some countries have their own strong traditions in painting. Undoubtedly, Germany and Italy are the ones that have strong and rational traditions, as well as Spain. Germany arts impress us with its purity. We then introduced a number of Chinese works to him so that form a dialogue with each other. As I know, curators in the West really don't understand Chinese contemporary art, and they only know about the very conceptual, schematic and symbolic works of Chinese contemporary art. After seeing these works, he felt very interested and decided to cooperate with us. He told us an important and interesting message: several museums in Berlin were simultaneously holding a theme exhibition called Painting Forever, such a common theme. We all didn't expect that such an exhibition was held in the western art circle which we thought was much contemporary and avant-garde. So, we should face up to ourselves in turn. And there must be a lot of problems in painting. First of all, we must pay great attention to its forms in contemporary art. Secondly, we should communicate much more from different aspects. The German curator said that they needed to hold this exhibition to help them to think more about paintings when they realized the challenges and crises in paintings. This topic will never be outdated in China, in our own art circle. It just happens to be a worldwide topic. Do the questions we are thinking about lag behind the international situation? Are they marginal? We need to focus on this mainstream.

　　Tong Yanrunan has been persisting in drawing with the same type of materials for many years. It is a phenomenon, a case and a set of distinct methods. And it is worth considering what he focuses on. Gu Zhenqing said very well just now. In these portraits, there are not distinct and visualized social characteristics, such as no clothes, no jewelry, no delicate complexion or age and youth. It is hard to recognize whether they are white-collars or ordinary workers. But generally speaking, the persons he draws are ordinary social members, whose identities are deliberately concealed. In this sense, we can see that what Tong Yanrunan pursues is the self-nature of his artistic language. Huang Du mentioned that Tong Yanrunan's works were meaningful. These portraits showed the painter's emotions towards objects in scenes, as well as the ability and strength of expressions, which was much approved. It seemed to be a kind of linguistic expression when some of the works changed from concrete multi-level expressions to erasing the original ambiguities. In fact, we could find the artist's general view towards the person in front of him, and even towards the world. He made a shift from shaping the image to obscuring it, and turned it into a picture, a breath rather than an image, a symbol. These languages themselves are valuable and likeable. It is affirmed that small pieces of these works have embodied artist's mental attitude and overall outlook. In contrast, portraits are better than busts for artist's expression. Because the characteristics of these busts and the artistic language you express are not going to be diverging. Relatively speaking, these portraits are more concentrated with the artistic language. And portraits have different arrangements in each exhibition so that can more strongly show the consistent pursuit.

　　The portrait has been deeply studied in the series of western modern arts. We witnessed that portrait had become a systemic, new and modern subject. There are many language expressions belonging to the system of portraits, due to the researches of Fitchin, Gerhard Richter, some Chinese portrait painters, German expressionism and Italian "three Cs" (refers to artists Sandro Chia, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente), etc.. What valuable is that Tong Yanrunan has constructed a different way of language expression from history, which will become a patent of his language system. On this basis, how to better connect the individual culturality more to the artistry of the works instead of pursue the personality too much, that will be the Tong Yanrunan's next goal to accomplish.

By Fan Di'an

From the speech at Today Art Museum, Nov., 2013

作者：范迪安