A mature artist can always control the obscurity and clarity of the intentions in his works skillfully. Too obscure meaning makes viewers dizzy and misunderstand even if they think hard (of course the works which are worth thinking hard by viewers are rare); conversely, too clear works are dull, and are even misunderstood to underestimate viewers’ intelligence. In his good works, an artist should seize the subtle balance between clarity and obscurity, just like a forger to seize the right time to quench steel.

　　As a series of dozens of works prepared within two years, Feng Zhengjie’s ‘Recounting of Skin’ has drawn the outline of the gradual track of seizing the relation between obscurity and clarity. In his early work Purpose in 1992, he filled lined anatomic picture in some parts of film star paintings to analogize and tease popular fashion. The intention is clear and it is quite a pop art but not strong enough. From the 1994 paintings to present Recounting of Skin, the painter has fixed his painting symbols in women (that usually be-come the main part of a painting), marriage (such as Wedding Festivities, Mandarin Ducks), children, pets (dogs, cats, fish) and scattered flowers and so on. The painter has turned his viewpoint from caring about big culture problems to private sexual relations. We don’t know whether there exists a personal factor in this change, but the balance of the intention between clarity and obscurity has gradually been clear.

　　Of those paintings, in Mandarin Ducks and Image of Poses (1994), quite a few symbols are juxtaposed by piling up images. The bright color and rich images mean a lot to say. Compared with Purpose, the two seem to be mysterious fatally and have more connotation than the former. But too many symbols and pop-like collage make the paintings a little medley. The followed Red Candle especially Staggered Space is regrettable. In the latter the imitated way of staggered space, the simple shapes and decorative dots are clumsy.

　　Probably because the painter was also conscious of the over direct regret, he started to weaken the symbols in his Three Poses followed in 1995, in which the attached symbols that are juxtaposed in the previous paintings start to melt in the background into a symphony of dark peach bodies (female). A female body is stressed in the foreground, with dots all over the body (to make a king of isolation from viewers, isn’t it?). Here the painter was aware of that purifying the subtle relation between main part and background would be helpful to fix the way of handling. If we think the painter was hesitating in Hands series, he can control the way of handing skillfully in Totem of the Century. From the title, the painter’s purpose is very clear: Totem of the Century---Female nudes filled in the painting. If it is just to exhibit nudes, this way is the simplest but takes in everything at a glance, while what Feng Zhengjie has done is to stress a light area in the symphonic dark peach background. The light area becomes the key of the painting. Women’s desires and difficulties, women’s many natural states of affairs which are hard to mention, have hidden potentially behind the sunny social approvement and psychological phenomenon of scrambling. The painter has mixed all these together to form an obscure contour, so as to contrast the light in the painting. And the scattered petals are helpful to the atmosphere. Here the obscurity and clarity of the painter’s intentions have come to a subtle balance.

　　Apparently the painter’s viewpoint is of a typical male. It is enternal, forcible and examinational. The object is passive, isolate-ed and penetrated. The esc-ret that can be hidden in the sun is limited. It seems to have decided the limitation of tapping potencialities on this subject matter. When the possibility of one style comes close to the end (perhaps it’s an unnecessary anxiety), it would be better to change the viewpoint. With Feng Zhengjie’s acuteness and perseverance, I believe he will bring us new surprise soon.

　　Note： This text was published in ‘Recounting of Skin’, 1996

作者：,Gu,Chengfeng