王利丰的艺术轨迹在中国当代艺术界是独一无二的。当他的同行努力探索波普文化的犬儒主义时，王则在真实和虚构的历史中披沙拣金，采撷精华，将过去、现在和未来联接起来，融入到他个人的艺术语言中。作为驾驭多种媒介方式的大师，他创作的抽象主义作品中呈现出可读性极高的文化标志。

　　王承认自己是浪漫主义者，这一点在其系列作品的名字中表露无疑。《大明系列》向我们带来的是优雅、高尚、丰富的画面层次，以及充满国际化的吸引力。王的表现主义作品中，他在画布上精心嵌入了丝绸片段和古老的文献残片。这些精心陈列和注入的个性化象征，向我们说明，画家没有试图客观的陈述过去，而是将集体的记忆和个人的想象进行了整合。

　　王的作品还向我们揭示了他的舞台设计背景。他的构图很有舞台布景的感觉和气氛。画面的视觉线索向观众暗示了作品的历史环境，而抽象主义的表现方式则营造出一种独特的情感。画家成功地驾驭了各种元素，不仅激发出梦幻般的视觉效果，同时用强烈的史实性元素控制住了虚无缥缈的朦胧。

　　最新作品《大明系列》系列让观者感觉到一种扑面而来的气势。王对构图的把握炉火纯青，极大地丰富了观者的感官体验。他创造性地将传统的条墨用于作品创作。这种创新方式为他充满魅力的作品添加了新的层次、维度和味觉。

　　王按照传统工艺配方制墨。先在灯灰中加入明胶、丁香末和冰片(樟脑的一种)，然后将这种混合物倒入自己制作的模具中，待其自然凝固。最后得到的产物宛如雕刻作品一般，还带有传统条墨的强烈气味。他用中国古语“古香古色”来形容这种效果，意思是说这种特殊的感官怀旧体验，会带我们进入另一个时间和空间。

　　这些作品给人一种超现实主义的印象。式样优雅的明朝家具仿佛要从米开朗基罗雕塑式的黑玉石中挣脱出来。条墨的质感让人想起传统中国山水，而真铜元素的气息则把人带回到那个浮丽奢华、物质主义至上的过去。王将中国人物刻在墨条上，这种优雅的迷人注解，是他创造性想象力的不二证据。

　　这些新作品不仅进一步展示了画家的艺术风格，还证明了画家在艺术探索上的无畏精神和多样尝试。这些宏伟庞大的作品，用凝重浑厚的黑色和金属般的质感，颠覆了早期作品中那种梦幻般的轻柔。王花费了大量精力去探索、挖掘新的绘画介质，力求充分发挥其本身的质感。在新作品中，不再有过去那些飘忽、模糊不清的色彩层次和白底空间，取而代之的是固化的、层次分明的结构。但是，他为这些层次中注入了活力。尽管这些新介质本身蕴含着一种让人窒息的沉郁，但通过王的加工和处理，画面流动起来，充满了延展性和可塑性。

　　王的独特之处在于他能够提炼出中国历史所独有的那些象征性的元素，同时用全新的视觉语言把它重新发掘、呈现出来。他将模棱性和矛盾性融入作品，用这些工具打造出独特的、属于他自己的历史影像。

　　Wang Lifeng’s artistic trajectory is distinctive and unique in Chinese contemporary art. While many of his compatriots have focused on exploring cynicism expressed in the vocabulary of Pop Art, Wang mines history both real and imagined to concatenate past, present and future in his own personal idiom. An impresario of mixed media, he creates abstract compositions from which readable cultural signifiers emerge.

　　Wang admits to being a romanticist, and this is evident in the titles he gives to his series. He celebrates graceful elegance, opulent texture and international appeal in The Great Ming Dynasty. Fragments of silk commingle with old documents amid Wang’s expressive oil painting on the canvases. His careful juxtaposition and injection of his own gesture tell us that he is not attempting an objective narration but rather uniting collective memory and personal imagination. Wang’s background in stage design is evident in his work. His compositions suggest a setting and an ambiance. Visual clues give us historical bearings, and his painterly abstraction creates a discernible mood. He effectively controls the elements to evoke a dreamlike vision while reining in the ethereal nebulousness with emphatic historicity.

　　The latest works in The Great Ming Dynasty literally reach out to the viewer. Wang, already having mastered inviting textures, heightens the sensory experience. He inventively incorporates traditional Chinese ink in its solid form into his works. This novel addition adds further texture, dimension and scent to his engaging compositions.

　　Wang makes his own solid ink according to the traditional recipe. He combines lampblack with gelatine, crushed cloves and borneol, a variety of camphor. After pouring the mixture into moulds of his own creation, he allows it to set. The result is a highly sculptural work of art that carries with it the pungent smell of traditional ink. He describes the effect with the old Chinese saying, “Old colour, old smell,” which suggests the sensory nostalgia experienced when specific sensations transport us to another place and time.

　　The pieces give a surreal impression. Elegantly styled Ming furnishings seem to break free from the jet-black stone in a Michelangelesque sculptural manner. The texture of the solid ink recalls the abstraction of traditional Chinese mountain landscapes, and the accents of real bronze elements are iconic of China’s opulent, material past. Wang’s wit is evident in his etching of Chinese characters into the solid ink—charming grace notes that reveal his inventive imagination.

　　While the new works are a further articulation of the artist’s style, they also serve to demonstrate his fearlessness and versatility. These behemoth compositions, dominated by dark black and metallic solidity, subvert the dreamy lightness of the earlier works. Wang concentrates on the mastery of this innovative medium and focuses on the weighty volumes it provides. Cloudy colour gradations and white space give way to anchored, terrestrial solidity. Nevertheless, he imbues these works with an energy that breathes life into them. In spite of the daunting stasis that would seem inherent in this medium, Wang makes them appear fluid and malleable.

　　Wang’s uniqueness lies in his ability to remain focused on the iconography of China’s past while simultaneously inventing a new visual language in which to portray it. He embraces ambiguity and paradox and transforms them into tools with which he forges his own subjective view of history.

作者：裴大利