采访背景

　　魏新在接受记者采访时说：他认为“油画”起源于古老的中国，我国最早的“漆画”就是油画的鼻祖，一语既出，画坛震惊。

　　绘画是一种慧性的感觉

　　记者：看过您的不少画作，感觉表达的内容和画面很抽象，抽象的艺术似乎距离人们十分遥远，观众会感觉莫名其妙。您怎么看待这现象？

　　魏新：这是个无法用语言来回答的问题，是个难题！哈哈！大概，人们认为看不懂的绘画作品就是抽象作品吧！我以为图像与眼睛处于一种自由状态，可能就是抽象。

　　我作画的过程像某种“祭礼”中的舞蹈，在这过程中，我的整个身体在运动，似乎进入一种迷醉状态。我认为催眠状态般的专心致志和彻底的身心投入是一幅画形成其“独立生命”的关键所在。从追摹天象、物理、心源为师。就拿《慧眼看世界》来说吧，画面上有一头牛，牛的眼里，又是怎样的世界呢？牛眼所看到的又是怎样的一番风景？也许和我们人类看到的正相反吧。

　　很多艺术是相通的，绘画和音乐有着某种关联。梦想、自由始终与严酷的训练、娴熟的技艺联系在一起，理想与现实之间持续冲突又构成了艺术家生活的响亮音符。抽象画追求一种慧性的感觉，很随意。心灵活动以参与改变了它的审美意识。观众在观看的过程中，也是体验一种随意的美，就象听音乐一样，感觉舒服就很美了。

　　记者：您的国画、油画、漆画和版画，表达的内容很厚重，色彩浓烈，但表现形式却不同于传统的手法，国画象油画，油画象版面，多种形式巧妙融合在一起，为什么？

　　魏新：我认为艺术作品不要把油画、国画、漆画、版画等画种分别太清楚，应把它们纳入同一个轨道，艺术家的灵感源泉要扩大，只要能表达作者的真实感受就行。有人说，我的画远看好似混沌一片，近前细读又可发现颜料之间隐藏了数不清的奥妙。既有楚文化图式，又有云南岩画图式，还有错版的印刷纸。这大概就是艺术带给人们不一样的感受和想象的快乐吧！

　　我受父亲影响很深，父亲的漆画在色彩上有鲜明的楚文化印记，我把父亲的漆画运用到油画中来。我学过工艺，注重多种元素的运用，特别注重视觉效果。从李青萍老师画里，我悟出很多东西。在亲眼看见她作画的过程中，我感受到“泼彩”的灵性与魅力。尚扬教授常说：“画就要画出自己的视觉和心灵。”我所理解的绘画就如同空气弥漫在我们的感觉器官中，关键是我们如何将现实生活中激发我们创作热情的原始素材敏锐及时地捕捉到，展开虚构、想象甚至幻想的翅膀，去思考，去工作，去创造。艺术创作说到到底还是生活赋予我们精神世界的情感表达，只是表达的方式各有不同而已。

　　中国的“漆画”是油画的鼻祖

　　记者：油画是西方画种，可您却说“油画”起源于东方，中国的“漆画”是油画的鼻祖，这是怎么回事？

　　魏新：油画是西方画种，形成于15世纪欧洲文艺复兴时期的尼德兰。它在19世纪传入亚洲的日本，日本人管它叫“洋画”，20世纪初，伴随西学传入中国，则被称为“西画”。但我不同意这个观点。

　　“油画”是指透明的植物油如：亚麻油和核桃油调和矿物质等颜料粉，在制作过底子的布、纸、木板等材料上塑造艺术形象的绘画。

　　“漆画”以樟脑油、桐油为主和无毒矿物质颜料调合而成，在制作底子木胎上加裱麻布，然后上漆。上漆后打磨平整光滑，不露接缝痕迹。

　　我国漆画历史悠久，在战国时期河南信阳长台关出土的乐舞狩猎纹瑟，长沙出土的舞女漆奁，所描绘的人物漆画，是多么的生动，又如湖南长沙马王堆出土的西汉彩绘漆棺。描绘着流云、神仙、异禽、怪兽，达百个以上的各种形象的大型漆画，湖北江陵出土的汉代漆扁壶描绘七豹图，和漆木篦上的人物画，仅举这几件，就可看出那一幅幅的动人漆画。当时已有红、黄、紫、蓝、灰、褐、白、金、银等多种漆色。其中有的加入油料配制，有的纯用油调白粉的，彩漆描绘花纹，使花纹色彩更丰富。再运用红、黄、蓝色彩之间的关系上已达到巧妙异常的能力，使人惊叹。

　　“楚汉漆画”远远比现在所谓 “油画”早，称得上鼻祖。所以我们中国人要认真研究和发展本土“油画”。

　　记者：能介绍一下近年来您创作的获奖画作的情况？

　　魏新：2007年，油画《慧眼看世界》 入选观澜国际版画双年展，在观澜美术馆展出；2007年版画《天禅系列》入选全国十八届版画作品展览，在上海美术馆展出；2008年巨幅油画《九歌》入选并获奖由文化部艺术司、中国油画学会联合举办的《拓展与融合 — 中国现代油画研究展》，在中国美术馆展出。2009年油画《西域圣礼》入选并获奖2009中国大东方当代油画作品展。在上海大东方当代艺术中心展出。《九歌》主要是表现楚文化的梦幻神秘感受。《西域圣礼》主要是纪念西藏民主改革胜利五十周年而作，藏地无以伦比的山川大美，藏人极为顽强而又超然的生命意识，深深打动了我。

　　《色彩跃动的荆州》是我的梦想

　　记者：经常回故乡荆州吗？家乡给您留下怎样的印象？

　　魏新：我常常回荆州看看。我在沙市出生长大，1991年离开家乡到珠海生活，对故乡有很深的情感。荆州地处江汉平原，早在四、五千年前的原始社会，我们的祖先就生活、劳动在这里，在这块富饶的土地上留下了丰富的文化遗产，著名的“屈家龄文化”，就是1954年首先在京山县屈家龄发现而得名的，说明长江流域同黄河流域一样，也是中华民族的摇篮。

　　我四岁开始学画，从小深受父亲的艺术熏陶，李青萍先生热情奔放或安宁静谧的抽象形式，在我少年时代已产生很大影响，后来青年时代尚扬老师的作品那种纯净、轻盈之美让我重新思考艺术的问题。我一直想构思创作一张题为《色彩跃动的荆州》的大型壁画，反映荆州的城市风景，想在荆州举办一次大型当代艺术展，文化荆州走向世界，也是我的梦想。

　　记者：看过以前您为纪念“512汶川大地震”创作的画作，当时，在电视荧屏上，看到您是留着眼泪作画的，您认为画家在这个时代应扮演什么样的角色？

　　魏新：“为善至乐”、“古君子莫大乎与人为善”，构建和谐社会需要大力发展慈善事业。我们书画家也应投入慈善事业中来。我把入选观澜国际版画双年展《慧眼看世界》等作品捐给了珠海市慈善会等相关机构，我也希望会有更多的艺术家投身到慈善事业中。

　　记者：您目前的生活工作状况如何？

　　魏新：目前，我正在广西创作一批以半抽象为主的“泼墨山水”油画作品和制作以广西本土材料为主的艺术装置。人奋斗一辈子，最终能挣得个终日快乐，就已经实现了生命最大的价值。我们应以感恩之心，回忆我们的快乐，好象回忆夏日的收获。

亚洲艺术40年总策展人 纽约市立大学美术馆国际策展人 朝伦·巴特整理

Feel the Mystery: Painting is the Dancing in Sacrificial Rites Dialogue

signs of artist Wei Xin

　　Background of the interview

　　During the interview, he said that oil paintings originated from ancient China because Chinese lacquer paintings were the ancestor for oil paintings. His words have aroused shocks in the circle of fine arts.

　　Painting is to sense the nature of wisdom

　　Reporter: I have seen many of your works. I feel that your works are very abstract. Abstract arts seem to be far away from common people, and audience will probably be at loss. How do you see the problem?

　　Wei Xin: I am not able to answer the question. It is puzzle. Maybe people think the incomprehensible paintings as abstract. I think that when pictures are at a free status with the eyes, abstractionism arises.

　　When I’m painting, I am like dancing in a certain sacrificial dance. In this process, my whole body is moving, just like I am drunk. I think that hypnotic concentration is the key for a painting to have “independent life”. Take the painting See the World with Wisdom Eyes as an example, there is a cow. What is the world like in the eyes of the cow? What sceneries does the cow see? Maybe it sees completely different things from mankind.

　　Many fields of arts are interconnected. Painting is connected with music in a certain way. Dreams and freedom are always accompanied with harsh training and perfect skills. Ideal is continuously collided with the reality, which composes the loud music note in the life of an artist. The abstract painting seeks a leisurable and wise sense. So the audience will experience a leisurable beauty before the painting. If they feel comfortable, just like enjoying music, it is enough.

　　Reporter: your traditional Chinese paintings, oil paintings and prints express thick contents and use rich colors, but their ways of expressions are different from tradition. Your traditional Chinese paintings are like oil paintings, oil paintings like prints, many skills are fused together ingeniously. Why?

　　Wei Xin: we cannot distinguish oil paintings, traditional Chinese paintings, lacquer paintings, prints and other types of paintings too clearly. They should be incorporated into the same area. The sources of an artist’s inspiration should be expanded. A certain type of painting is good only if the real feeling of an artist can be expressed. Some people say that my paintings are a chaos in the far, and countless secrets can be found hidden in the colors at a short distance. In my works, you can find not only the paradigms of the Chu culture as well as the rock paintings in Yunnan Province, but also the wrong prints. Maybe these are the unusual senses and happiness that art brings to the people.

　　I am deeply influenced by my father. My father has put clear impressions of the Chu culture in his colors. So I use my father’s skills in lacquer paintings in my oil paintings. I have studied about art crafts, so I pay attention to combination of many factors, particularly to visual effects. In the paintings of my teacher Li Qingping, I have perceived many things. I was there when she was painting, and I could feel the grace and spirit of her “color-splashing”. Prof. Shang Yang always says that “you have to paint your vision and soul.” The painting in my understandings seems like the air diffusing in our sensory organs. So it is critical to sharply and timely catch the source materials in the real life, because they will stimulate our creative enthusiasm. Starting from such materials, we will make up things, use imaginations, and fly the fanciful wings in order to think, work and creation. Artistic creation, in the essence, is the emotional expression which life endows us with. Different types of artistic creations only differ from each other in terms of the way of expression.

　　Chinese lacquer painting is the ancestor of the oil painting

　　Reporter: the oil painting is a western genre of art. But you claim that the oil painting originates in the east, and Chinese lacquer painting is the ancestor of the oil painting. Why is it on earth?

　　Wei Xin: according to common understandings, the oil painting is western, and it comes into being in the Netherlands in Renaissance in 15th century. It spread into Japan in 19th century. Japanese called it the Western Painting. In the early 20th century, it entered into China together with western sciences. But I disagree with such opinion.

　　The oil painting creates artistic images that are made up with the mixture of the transparent vegetarian oils and mineral colors on the coated cloth, paper or wooden plates. The oils include the linseed oil, walnut oil, etc.

　　The lacquer painting is made up with the mixture of the Chinese wood oil and poisonous mineral colors. Firstly a linen cloth is mounted on the coated wooden plate, then the lacquer is applied, and finally the painting is polished. There are no traces of seams.

　　The lacquer painting has a long history in China, which can be proved by many antiques. For example, a zither-like plunk instrument with the pattern of dancing and hunting figures was unearthed in Changtaiguan, Xinyang, Henan Province. And a dressing case with the pattern of dancing girls was unearthed in Changshai City. These antiques are from the period of the warring stages. In Mawangdui tombs of Han Dynasty (B.C.202 – A.D.8) in Changsha City, a painted lacquer coffin was unearthed. On the coffin, there is a large-size lacquer painting with more than 100 images, including the floating clouds, fairies, rare birds, weird beasts, etc. And a lacquer flat pot with the pattern of seven jaguars and a wooden lacquer comb with figure paintings from Han Dynasty are found in Jiangling, Hubei Province. The above-mentioned antiques are some examples of the history of Chinese lacquer paintings. In the ancient time in China, many lacquer colors were in use, such as red, yellow, purple, blue, grey, brown, white, gold, and silver. The ancient Chinese artists of lacquer paintings have obtained unparalleled delicate skills in the application of the colors of red, yellow and blue.

　　The lacquer paintings in the Kingdom of Chu (more than 2300 years ago) and Han Dynasty are much earlier than the so-called oil paintings. Therefore, the lacquer painting is the ancestor of the oil painting. We Chinese should carefully study and develop our local “oil paintings”.

　　Reporter: could you please introduce your works that are awarded in recent years?

　　Wei Xin: in 2007, my works - See the World with Wisdom Eyes was selected in Guanlan Biennial Block Printings Exhibition in Guanlan Arts Museum. In the same year, my works - Zen Series were selected in the 18th National Block Printings Exhibition in Shanghai Arts Museum. In 2008, my huge oil painting – Nine Songs was selected and awarded by the Contemporary Chinese Oil Paintings Review and Exhibition: Expansion and Infusion which was hosted by the Arts Dept. of the Ministry of Culture and China Academy of Oil Paintings in the National Art Museum of China. In 2009, my oil painting - Holy Ceremony in the West was selected and awarded by 2009 China Oriental Contemporary Oil Paintings Exhibition in Shanghai Oriental Contemporary Art Center.

　　The oil painting - Nine Songs is mainly to express the dreamlike mystery feelings about the Chu culture. And the Holy Ceremony in the West is mainly to memorize the 50-years anniversary of the victory of the democratic reform in Tibet. I am greatly moved by the unparalleled mountains and rivers in Tibet as well as the tenacious and detached consciousness of life in Tibetan people.

　　My dream - Jinzhou with Vibrating Colors

　　Reporter: do you often go back to your hometown – Jinzhou? What are your impressions about your hometown?

　　Wei Xin: I often come back to Jinzhou because I have deep emotions to my hometown. In 1991, I left my hometown to Zhuhai. The city is located in Jianghan Plain. In the primitive society 4000 to 5000 years ago, our ancestors were living and working in the place. They have left behind rich cultural heritage on such fertile land. The famous Qujialing Culture was first found in Qujialing, Jingshan County in 1954. The relics has proved that the Yangtze River basin, just like the Yellow River basin, is the cradle of Chinese nationality too.

　　I began to learn painting when I was 4 years old. I was deeply influenced by my father, a famous artist. When I was a teenager, I was greatly influenced by the enthusiastic or quiet abstractionism of Li Qingping. Later, when I was a young man, the pure and light-weighted beauty in my teacher Shang Yang’s works have made me rethink the issue of arts. I am always thinking about a large mural with the title of Jinzhou with Vibrating Colors. This mural will reflect the urban sceneries. And I also want to hold a large-scale contemporary art exhibition in the city. I hope that the culture of Jinzhou can be known to the world. It is my dream too.

　　Reporter: I have seen your works to memorize 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake. On the TV, I saw you were painting with tearful eyes. What do you think is the role of an artist in the current era?

　　Wei Xin: ancient Chinese sage says that “to do charity is happy”, and “for gentlemen, the most important thing is to give things to others”. To build a harmonious society, we have to develop the cause of charity. We artists should contribute to charity too. I have donated some of my works to Zhuhai Charity Association and other relevant organizations. The donated works include See the World with Wise Eyes. It is selected in Guanlan International Biennial Print Exhibition. I hope that more and more artists will contribute to the cause of charity.

　　Reporter: how is your present living and working condition?

　　Wei Xin: at present, I am creating a semi-abstract “landscape ink-splashing” oil painting as well as the art installation based on the local materials in Yunnan Province. A person will realize his biggest life value if, after a whole-life hard-working, he can earn all-day-long happiness. We should always harbor a thanksgiving heart, memorizing our happiness, just like memorizing the summer harvest.

ASIAN ART 40 YEARS (1972-2013)

independent curator CHAOLUN BAATAR

作者：朝伦·巴特,整理