雷子人的画几乎不可说。

　　我尝试了几个视角，试图说说雷子人，每一次都让我扑空。

　　雷子人的画直溯传统文化渊源，又透视人性隐秘深处，犹如两部低沉和弦，在复调渲染中，扣问生命展开之“现象”。

　　《流星》仿拟华喦《天山积雪》，身着大氅的游侠与半裸的驴友在一个共时的空间，完成一个达达主义的命题。但附加的流萤在雪山天空有了难于言表的意味。他为何要植入“流萤”这个微末但又醒目的符号？当画家直觉到某个意象之际，“艺术的自觉”瞬间崩塌：画家也并不清晰他正在“妙手偶得”。他甚至说不清画中的诗意和惆怅。

　　但令我放心的是，我知道雷子人懂得激情释放时的艺术控制。于是，沉潜他的画里，可以感觉到“不到顶点”的焦虑与张力。我信这是“媚道”大匠之运斤，又是“天成”妙手之偶得。

　　这样说，没有问题，但感觉还在扑空。

　　他的神秘不在这里。

　　雷子人赠我《人迹于山——明代山水画境中的人物、结构与旨趣》并个人艺术展画集《贤o闲》。我阅读之际，但觉古风今韵扑面而来。翻动那些画页，可以感受到一个现代人在守死善道中的孤独，以及乐此不疲中的冲撞。

　　古今大匠造诣不过如此。

　　这样夸誉，雷子人当得，但感觉还是扑空。

　　他的神秘不可以由夸誉来描述。

　　阅读雷子人，我有扑向地平线的感觉：我感到我已经向他走过去了，但定睛看时，他还是在遥远之处。

　　我就这样一次次扑空。

　　南泉普愿禅师有一名言：“拟向即乖。”意谓：当你朝向它的时候，它即离你而去。另一个禅师临济和尚也有名言：“著即转远，不求还在目前，灵音属耳。”意谓：你若是执著地去觅求，它将后退得更远；你不去求它，它就在你眼前，且有天国的纶音于你耳畔回荡。

　　我想我可以“放下”种种假定，直面雷子人的画，不去讨论“文化”“审美”“元素”“符号”“图式”，不去讨论现代还是古典，不去招惹“后现代”这个狐狸或是刺猬，这样，是不是可以把握住一点他那种神秘后面的干货？

　　当我这样盯视他的画时，我忽然发现他在“铤而走险”。

　　雷子人在浩瀚的中国画中选择并打捞起各种深海意象，赋予它们前所未有的“形式”，在梦幻气氛中构筑为一种“险韵”。

　　《红蜻蜓》几乎颠覆了构图的稳定，但顺手拈来的齐璜画作中的一只昆虫让作品有了与人物内心神秘呼应的可能性。从传统中摘取一个意向“权充”作品中的一个符码，是雷子人的惯技。它仿佛“后现代”，但其实是“现代”的。德国作家马丁·瓦尔泽有著名中篇小说《惊马奔逃》。他在描摹男女爱情的故事中，插入了一个拦截惊马的段子。这个段子与情节无关，但却神秘得令人无从解释。它就是一个意象。它只能来源于小说家。《红蜻蜓》借助于齐璜的昆虫，给出了一把虚假的钥匙——看似可以解释什么了，但却令读画的人陷入了更深的坎陷之中。除非理解那个飘逸上升的红裙女子，否则，什么也解释不了。就像无法解释“道”一样——而画家之“媚道”，是永恒的方向感（方向感，不是方向）。

　　《意临<韩熙载夜宴图>》是康定斯基与南唐故事的“拼箱”。当画家用一种彩墨拼图完成这件作品时，我想到了错落有致摆放着的古籍拼箱，譬如“二十四史”，那种装在匣子内的线装书。每一箱都是一部史书，集合起来是一套丛书。雷子人在这里的拼箱，除了各个板块的自生想象之外，除了古典与现代的集合之外，还有更为难于言传的神秘。《韩熙载夜宴图》所蕴涵的恐惧与政治有关，但重述这种政治的艺术抽象令作品险象环生——稍有不慎，就是一个败笔。当画家不惮于坍塌而展开叙事的时候，我看到的是惊险一跳。

　　《庄子<三言>之寓言》从伏羲一直走到了假面舞会。

　　《彩虹》《多利》《夜来香》则几乎可以看做就是梦境的复原。

　　……

　　你看到的是永远的男女。

　　你也可以看到画家永远的叙事冒险。

　　当然，这是一种“闲滋味”，犹如李清照雅致地玩弄“险韵”那种自得。雷子人在不断的冒险中体验并叩问着生命的感觉系统，当他直觉到茫然的时候，他就画出他的茫然；当他直觉到困顿的时候，他就画出他的困顿；当他直觉到欢愉的时候，他就画出他的欢愉……在这样的时刻，雷子人是特别女性化的。但我愿意解释一下，就像当年杜拉斯认为小说应该是女性的，她因此还特别夸奖了男性作家普鲁斯特作品的女性化特征。旖旎、直觉、敏感，李清照如斯、杜拉斯如斯，普鲁斯特、乔伊斯、梵高、莫奈、曹雪芹、郑板桥、宋徽宗、齐白石……他们的作品都有沉湎于“险韵”中的“闲滋味”，也都有无与伦比的旖旎、直觉与敏感。他们拒绝烟火气。雷子人也不例外。

　　但雷子人毕竟是“现代的”。这个意思是说，现代艺术的自觉让雷子人有了“媚道”的担当。但是“道”在哪里？什么是“道”？如何去接近它不断地接近它？还是一个进行时态的故事。中国绘画的现代性是不是一个真命题？中国绘画的现代性如何才是可能的？个中的功能和价值系统该如何梳理？雷子人对此也许有不同于时贤的自觉。

　　我知道雷子人对艺术单纯和质朴有近乎宗教感的恪守，当他诉诸于传统水墨，坦荡地吐露他的语言，讲述他的旖旎、直觉和敏感时，我看到了他的谦卑和从容，以及对当下种种烟火气的厌倦与不屑。

　　他的谦卑来源于他对传统的敬畏。

　　他的从容来源于他对传统的信任。

　　如荣格所论：一个现代人，无论如何也是“与古为伍”的。雷子人在“与古为伍”的共时蹁跹中，仿佛李清照心怀谦卑地从容把玩殷周彝器秦汉碑拓，仿佛普鲁斯特心怀谦卑地从容讲述高卢往事贵族方式。他不是缩小自己，而是让自己融入传统，成为延展着的传统一人。

　　如是，“道”在其中矣！

　　我希望这一次没有扑空。

　　An Adventure of Narrative

　　--appreciating Lei Ziren's paintings

　　Jin Gang

　　It's almost a 'mission impossible' to comment on works of Lei Ziren. I have switched several perspectives trying to give a view of the painter with all efforts ending up with failures.

　　The paintings of Lei Ziren trace back straightly to the very beginning of traditional culture and sees right through the hidden depth of humanity. The two traits echo with each other as deep chords, questioning the origin of life.

　　In Lei's Meteor, an imitation of Hua Yan's Capped Snow on Tianshan Mountain, a Chinese knight in cape shows up synchronically with a half-naked backpacker, constituting a proposition of Dadaism. However, what is confusing on the painting is the fire fly- a tiny but outstanding symbol. Even Lei himself may not be able to explain his purpose by adding this element or he is even not clear about the poetic and melancholy flavor of his own works. The images just occur to the painter, shattering artistic consciousness all of a sudden.

　　But it won't bother me because I know very well that Lei Ziren never allows himself completely possessed by blasts of passion. His intentional control of himself produces the unique peak-less tension in his paintings. I'd like to say it's a talent endowed by god. But the description still misses the key contributor of Lei's enigmatic works.

　　Lei Ziren once sent me two books as gifts: People's Footprint on Mountains--the figures, structures and purports of landscape paintings in Ming dynasty and the painting collection of his personal art exhibitions Virtueo Leisure. Appreciating pages of paintings, I found myself embraced by ancient classics and modern charms while savoring the solitude and contradiction of the contemporary life. What the great masters could attain may be also no more than this. Lei Ziren definitely deserves such comment, but still, his fantasy cannot be expressed by praise.

　　The trial of identifying Lei Ziren may be compared to progressing towards skyline: I thought I have drawn near enough but only find him still faraway when I observe more closely. Thus, I failed once and again.

　　Renowned Venerable Puyuan once said: "It will skip away the moment you run after it."Another renowned master, Monk Liji also gave the instruction: "Detachment instead of obsession is the path towards accomplishment."

　　Under such guidelines, I didn't bother to talk about "culture", "beauty", "symbol" or "pattern" and simply tried to appreciate Lei's paintings in a direct and detached manner without any assumptions. Out of my expectation, I found him "taking risks". Lei Ziren selects various images existing deep under the sea and entrusted them with unprecedented forms, creating a charm of risk in fantastic atmosphere.

　　Red Dragonfly barely stands on the edge of a balanced structure due to casual brushes of an insect, from Qihuang's painting, which maks it possible to correspond with the internal secret of the human beings on it. It's a signature tactic of Lei Ziren to pick an image from traditional works as a symbol for his painting. Seemingly integrated with post-modernism, it is actually modernist feature. In Martin Walser's famous novelette Ein fliehendes Pferd ( A Runaway Horse), the German writer added a passage of intercepting a frightened horse, which in fact has nothing related to the whole plot line. This image could only exist in stories. With the help of Qihuang's insect, Lei seems to provide the viewers with a virtual key to understand but the real effect is just opposite. Without appropriate understanding of the up-flying girl in red dress, we are inevitably trapped in confusion and curiosity. While we can never define the concept of "Tao", the intriguing "Tao" of the artists lies in their permanent sense of direction.

　　Re-creation of 'Banquet at Han Xizai's' is a patchwork combining Wassily Kandinsky's style with Southern Tang legends. The painting in the form of color-ink puzzle reminds me of well-arranged boxes, each of which contains one piece from a complete series of classic books, such as the Twenty-Four Histories. Drawing on the cream of classical and modern masterpieces, each part of Lei's patchwork is inspiring by itself, conveying a mysterious message as a whole. The fear represented in Banquet at Han Xizai's has in fact nothing to do with politics but by retelling the artistic abstraction of political affairs, Lei did stake high --- any brush may lead to a gross failure.

　　Three Words of Chuang Tsu: Prophet traverses a journey from Fu-His to masquerade.

　　Rainbow, Dolly and Evening Primrose could be interpreted as imitations of dream scenes.

　　……

　　What you see is nothing but man and woman.

　　But you could also get the sense of Lei Ziren's enduring courage to take risks by telling stories. Meanwhile, it is also a taste of leisure tantamount to the pleasure and composure Li Qingzhao got when she elegantly play with obscure rhymes. Lei Ziren is experiencing and questioning the sensory system of life through constant adventures. He expresses his loss, his confusion and his joy all by painting. At such moment, Lei Ziren becomes quite feminine, in a good way, however. Marguerite Duras always believes that novel should be feminine and she spoke highly of the male writer Marcel Proust just because of the corresponding features. Gentleness, intuition and sensitiveness are shared characters of many great masters: Li Qingzhao, Marguerite Duras, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Van Gogh, Monet, Cao Xueqin, Zheng Banqiao, Emperor Huizong of Song and Qi Baishi, to name a few. No trace of roughness is allowed in their works. This is also true with paintings of Lei Ziren.

　　After all, Lei Ziren is living in our contemporary society, where the awareness of modern art forces him to produce intriguing and enigmatic works. But we cannot help asking: "Where is and what is the essence or core of modernist art?" How to draw as close as possible is still an ongoing story. Concerning the modernity of Chinese drawings and its functions in value system, Lei Ziren may have a sense of awareness surpassing other talents in our time.

　　I understand that Lei's pursuit of artistic purity and simplicity is as committed as religious beliefs. His humbleness, composure and indifference towards secular pursuits always betray him when he appeals to traditional ink paintings with unique charm, intuition and sensitiveness.

　　His humbleness comes from his awe towards tradition, composure, from confidence. Jung once argued that: there is no way a contemporary could be completely free from the past. In Lei Ziren's interaction with tradition, he tends to behave like Ling Qingzhao, like Proust. Blending himself into the classics without diminishing his own ego, Lei has become an envoy inheriting, enriching and exalting the essence of tradition.

　　By doing so, he has his own way attaining "Tao".

　　May I hit the bull's eye this time!

作者：金纲