我曾在一篇文章中呈述过这样的看法：在现代化的都市生活中，人们所经历的和感觉的，是一个非自然的、由人工建构的公共空间，而不像传统社会那种是经过长期演化自然形成的地缘空间。在一个非人格化的、陌生的都市空间里，人们的交往已经丧失了传统社会的地缘与血缘纽带，而按照一种新的规则进行。这种新规则，不再是寻找共同的历史根源感，而是取决于多元复杂的公共空间。这就是说，当代水墨(当然也包括工笔)画家与传统水墨画家的不同，首先在于他们所处的生存空间发生了巨大变异。在农耕文明时代，中国社会是一个以乡村文化为其标志、以时间为脉络的传统社会。相比之下，以都市文化为标志的现代社会，则更多地是一个以空间(物质空间和文化空间)为核心的社会。人类从传统社会向现代社会的变迁，实际上就是一个都市化的过程，而都市文化的兴起正是以乡村文化的失落为代价的。传统绘画在日益都市化的消费主义时代面临的挑战是显而易见的。生存现实与文化环境的转型，已经极大地改变了我们的时间概念和空间观念。传统文化所植根的土壤被抽空了，在这种情况下，坚定地持守传统反而是不自然的，我们不得不做出新的选择。因此，艺术家作为一个都市人，要在这个陌生的公共空间中获得一种自我认同，就必须首先认同这种新的文化环境，以及由这种新的文化环境给艺术家的审美趣味和艺术取向带来的深刻影响。

　　徐华翎的工笔画正好印证了这一新的文化环境给这位艺术家的审美趣味和艺术取向带来的深刻影响。

　　徐华翎就读中央美院研究生期间，是在导师胡勃名下主修工笔画。学院所给予她的造型基础和表现技法，充分体现在她的作品之中。因此，就表现手法而言，她的作品基本上是沿用写实主义的造型观念和传统工笔画的既有程序。在这个层面上，她的作品与一般的工笔画并无太大的区别。但同样的技法程序，却产生完全不同的结果。她的工笔画之所以不同于一般的工笔画(指那些依然恪守传统、不敢越雷池一步的工笔人物或工笔花鸟)，就在于她的画与当代生活一脉相通，表现出的是一种新的审美趣味。这里所说的“新”，是指她的艺术虽然来自于学院，得益于传统，却与学院与传统拉开了距离。这距离，既不在造型，也不在技法，而在于一种与她所生存的文化环境相融洽的时尚趣味和都市情调。

　　徐华翎的基本主题是处于青春期的都市女孩。没有背景，也没有多余的道具，有些甚至与学院的人体写生十分接近。事实上，她也确实是充分利用了从学院习得的“十八般武艺”。但她又能从学院与传统中跳出来，用她的学院优势和传统功力去表现一种来自女孩内心的不易觉察的微妙变化(这可能与她自己作为一个女孩的切身体验有关)。同是一个人体背影，肩上增加一个小小的纹身图案，臂上增加一圈红线，或者胴体增加一件半透明的时尚内裤，一下子与学院人体写生拉开距离：它不再是一个习作意义上的女人体，而是从人体中折射出一个带着时尚气息的现代灵魂。都市女孩是新兴的都市文化的一个缩影，名牌、时尚、追星，青春、亮丽、性感，开放、另类、自我……她们身上具有消费主义时代流行文化的一切特征。而这些，也正是这些情窦初开的都市女孩所向往所追求的。

　　但徐华翎笔下的女孩，又显出一种纯朴，她们矜持、羞涩、内向、自恋。画家虽然没有做背景的交代和渲染，但她们显然是处在属己的私人空间，否则，不会这样放松、自然、坦然澄澈。徐华翎以“没骨”的方法放弃以线造型，没有线的框定，人物的体态更显出一种轻盈、虚幻和朦胧的美感。柔美的身姿、纤细的肌质加以轻纱般的内衣，所有这些正好为工笔画的渲染技法提供了用武之地。

　　但徐华翎的个人化表达还在于她对传统工笔画图式的突破。传统的工笔人物画，一般都是要完整地表现一个或几个人物，而徐华翎却大胆地“掐头去尾”，只表现身段，甚至是身体的一个更具细节性的局部：一双放在腿上的手、只有嘴、下颌和一只手、拽着内裤在欣赏的动作(却只有胴体部分的身段而没有构成欣赏主体的头部)，甚至一个优美的颈部和一只耳朵也成了要表现的主题。这种将画面局部化、特写化的做法，可以看作是对人体的“断章取义”，虽然就传统章法而言是不完整的，但也恰恰是这种破格的不完整，才构成徐华翎所特有的一种面貌。我们甚至可以说，连同这种“断章取义”的做法，也完全有可能是来自都市文化的暗示，商店里那些供展示内衣的“塑料模特”就常常是被“截肢”的、局部性的。所不同的是，商店里的这些“局部”只是为着展示内衣的方便，而徐华翎的“断章”，所揭示的却是一种青春的气息和内心的隐秘。

　　徐华翎近期的作品有所变化，她不再孤立地画人或人的局部，而是把人物放到一种环境中加以表现，但依然是穿着内衣的花季少女。让她们这样出现在大面积的花丛之中，很难说是表现女孩在园中休闲的生活情节，画家或许只是想把花和少女这两件相互关联的事物放在一起而已，但以花喻人这样的手法并没有什么新鲜。值得一提的是花丛画得非常放松，没有勾勒，没有特别确定的形，没有刻意的描绘，如雾里看花，雾中看人，予人一种虚幻的美感。但就总体而言，还是那些“断章取义”的作品更有特色。

　　徐华翎是一个很有灵气的画家，工笔画最忌的死、板、结被她那有分寸的晕染一扫而空，不断向着通透、空灵的境界攀登。

　　Vogue Taste City Sentiment Comment on Xu Hualing's fine brushwork painting Jia Fangzhou

　　I have mentioned in an essay that in modern urban life what people experience and feel is an artificial man-made public space but traditional geographical space formed along the history. In the non-personified and alien urban space, communication which follows a new rule is no longer the link of traditional geography and consanguinity. This new rule isn't to seek the common sense of history root but decided by multiple public space. Thus, contemporary wash painting including fine brushwork painting differs from traditional wash painting. First of all it lies in the huge change in their living space. At the time of farming civilization, Chinese society is a traditional society featured in rural culture and history. On the contrary, modern society featured in urban culture is society focused on space both material and culture. Human society changing from traditional one to a modern one is an urbanization process in fact. The upsurge of urban culture is at the cost of rural culture. It's obvious for traditional painting to face the challenge brought by consumerism time. Transition between survival reality and culture environment has enormously changed our time and space concept. Since the root of traditional culture is losing, it's unnatural to keep on so we have to make a new choice. Therefore, as an urbanite to get a self-identity in an alien public space, an artist should at first identify this new culture environment and its influence on aesthetic taste and trend of art.

　　Xu Hualing's fine brushwork painting is the very example.

　　During her graduate study in China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Xu Hualing is majoring in fine brushwork painting under the supervisor Hu Bo. Modelling art and technique of expression learned from school have been fully applied in her work. So as to technique of expression, her work follows the modeling art of realism and the set process of traditional fine brushwork painting, on which her work isn't unique. But following the same art process, the result is different. The difference comparing with general brushwork (stick to tradition) lies in the connection with contemporary life showing a new aesthetic taste. The new means her work origins from the school and tradition but distance them, which lies not on the modeling and technique but a harmonious vogue taste and city sentiment with her living culture environment.

　　The basic theme of Xu Hualing's is urban girls at their adolescence. No background and extra props, some are similar with school's body portrait. In fact, she did fully use what she learned from school. But she also can distance from it. Taking the advantage of school and tradition art, she displayed girls' undetectable inner subtlety (which probably has something to do with her own experience). A painting of a girl's backview distance from school's body portrait by a little tattoo on the shoulder, or a round red thread on the arm, or a semi-transparent fashionable underwear. It is no longer an exercise of composition of a female body but a fashionable modern soul from it. Urban girls are epitomes of newly emerging city culture: brand name, fashion, groupie, youth, the beautiful, the sexy, openness, self-centeredness and so on are features of their consumerist popular culture, all of which are what urban girls pursue who are first awakening of love.

　　In Xu Hualing's work, girls are also simple, reserved, shy, introvert and narcissistic. Although the background isn't foreshadowed, they are staying at a private space obviously. Otherwise, they cannot be so relaxed, natural and calm. By the method of spineless, Xu Hualing gives up using lines to portrait, so the posture shows a denser aesthetic feeling of lightness, transience and haziness. Graceful demeanors, fine-skinned texture plus fine gauze underwear support the romance technique of brushwork painting.

　　Xu Hualing's individualism rests with the breakthrough in the traditional brushwork painting pattern. Traditional one requires wholly expression of one or more than one person but she boldly cut down to figure, even detailed part such as hands on the thigh, mouth, chin, a hand, a motion of appreciating underpants (only body part no head) or even a graceful neck and one ear. This kind of portrait showing parts and close-up can be regard as quoting out of context which is partial as for traditional technique. But just this point features Xu Hualing's uniqueness, which can be boldly taken as the hint of urban culture, for instance, plastic models in stores displaying underwear generally are amputated and partial. The latter focuses on the convenience of displaying underwear and the former shows a flavor of youth and inner secret.

　　Her recent work has changed. A person or a part of the body is no longer the only theme but adding background in it. That a young girl in underwear in a large area of flowers can hardly express the leisure time in garden. Maybe the painter just wants to put flowers and a girl together. But girls are likened to flowers are no longer fresh topics. It's worth mentioning that flowers are good, no drawing outline, definite shape and painstaking sketch, this haziness gives an illusory aesthetic feeling. In general, those quoting out of context work present more characteristic.

　　Xu Hualing is an intelligent painter. Fine brushwork painting abstains from stereotype and rigid method, which is shunned by her discreet flavors and ascent continuously free and natural stage.

作者：贾方舟