您的作品被放置在北京怡亨酒店内，怎样看待艺术以这样一种形式与生活连接？

Your works are placed in Hotel Éclat Beijing. What do you think about this kind of connection between art and life?

完全是以一种全新的思维方式去构筑一个非常现代化的酒店。但是这个酒店完全没有其它的酒店那个模式，说到底他就是以文化来做的，而现代建筑只是一个建筑物。

I think this is a completely new way of creating hotels. However, this model is very different from other modern hotels: culture is the core value of this hotel and the modern architecture is just embodied in the building. 

他的理念非常好，还是说理念问题。因为他建在北京，你说让客人一到住的地方，他就能了解当地的，用艺术品了解当地的风俗民情。他还没出去玩儿呢，他就已经告诉大家了，北京是什么，而我们画的是北京胡同，应该说是最底层的，最接地气的艺术作品吧，那么他就是看到了这一点。我的画摆在酒店里头，然后客人只要一下塌到宾馆里，下塌到这里，他马上就了解了北京的风土人情了，这是一个非常完美的结合。

The ideas and concepts behind the realization of this hotel are great. As soon as the guests get into the hotel, while looking at artworks like the ones I create, they can already have an anticipation of local people’s habit and customs. Before they go out to visit Beijing, they have already a taste of the characteristics of the city: through my artworks, they get to know the hutongs. My works are displayed in the hotel, so guests just need to go in and they can grasp a first sense of what the city looks like and what local people’s habits are. I think this is a perfect combination.

《美术馆东街》

Meishuguan East St.

这是一个艺术空间，人活在这个世界上，等于是他的时间让我们一下子走进了时间隧道，你看达利的作品放在这一块，就是走进了那个年代。然后某一个画家的作品，又走近了他的思想。我的作品，他又走进了北京胡同。他就是等于让你的客人感受很多历史文化，这是一个很大的工程。

This is an art space. People, while experiencing the hotel dimension, can also enjoy a sort of time travelling experience. For example, Dali’s works are scattered throughout the space and guests, all of a sudden, are drag into this historical time. Other works are displayed in the space and guests can experience an identification with the creative thoughts of different artists. While looking at my artworks, they can get into Beijing’s Hutongs. Guests of the hotel can experience a lot of art and history, and this is a very ambitious project.

是如何构思开创“宽线条铅笔画”，并以此来表现胡同的？

How did you conceive and create “penciling with wide stroke” to represent the Hutongs？

为什么拿铅笔表现胡同，其实当时我在胡同里写生，然后就画水彩，水彩画的表现力还是画江南的山水表现的比较合适吧。我在用水彩画表现胡同时，有一个小伙子就看见我画了胡同，他有一句话，其实他是表扬我，老师您画的真棒，有点像江南的山水了。这句话就让我触动很大，我想我把北京胡同画成江南的山水了，就像阴雨绵绵的江南，我感觉不是在表扬我，而是在骂我的感觉。

Why do I use pencil to represent Hutong? In fact, at that time, I used to do the sketch painting from nature, directly in the Hutongs. I would then use watercolour, given that it has a strong expressive power and it suits the representation of the classical landscape of the South of the Yangtze River. When I was painting in the Hutongs, a boy would often walk around me. Seeing me painting, he would say: “your works are really good, they really resemble the landscape of South of the Yangtzee river”. This statement moved me deeply. I had the feeling that this boy was criticizing me, rather than praising me, because of the fact that I wanted to paint the Hutongs in Beijing in a way that resembles the landscape of the Southern part of the Yangtzee river.  

我就探索，怎么探索呢，我找出了以前很多铅笔画，然后一看，我就又拿铅笔画画画看，当时全靠写生吧，就是画的很简单。铅笔，因为它是硬东西，但是胡同非常的丰富。因为他的肌理效果，不是说做出来的，而是它经过常年风化，因为是几百年的产物，肌理效果非常好。

I did a lot of research about this drawing technique: I studied pencil drawings from the past and I used to practice a lot panting from nature with very simple subjects. I explored and find out a lot of pencil used before and then I took the pencil to draw and I was drawing outdoor. Pencils are hard, Hutongs in terms of visual repertoire are very rich. Exposed to atmospheric phenomena for a long time, their texture is very good also when it is represented in the painting.

《大门砖雕》

Brick Carving

但是铅色呢，又正好跟这个胡同的颜色差不多，就是说两者很巧妙的联合在一起，有评论家这么说，就是题材邂逅了它的知己，很贴切的表现手法。这是等于怎么去说呢？就是南方的房子的砖头上长的是青苔，青苔就是绿色的小草。但是北方不一样，北方的砖缝里头是塞的尘土，它比较干燥，长不出青苔。但是南方的砖头上都是青苔，就是两个截然的不同吧。但是我们用铅笔去表现胡同，画完了之后，我好像找到感觉了，看的人也很喜欢。

However, the color of the pencil is similar to the tone of the Hutongs, or it would be better to say that they match each other well. Some critics say that when the subject matter and the technique match, the perfect artistic expression can be achieved. For example, in the south, moss is growing between the house bricks; in the north, house seem filled with dust, the weather is too dry for moss to grow, which makes them very different from the houses from the South. When I start using pencil to illustrate the Hutong, I finally found the right feeling and people naturally love my drawings.

《北锣鼓巷》

Bei Luo Gu Alley

因为那时候正好是变革比较大的时候 — 拆房子。那时候搞画展时自己的名片放在桌子上，随便拿。之后就天天接电话，“况老师，我这里要拆了，你快来抢救吧。”我说我怎么抢救，你来画一下吧。然后就这样，等于我所有的资料都是北京市民，很多热爱胡同的人告诉我哪里要拆了，哪里有古建筑，我就跑过去。那时候应该是经常跑胡同，一条胡同我可能跑了N次，春夏秋冬，下雪什么的，哪一个时间我都要去跑。不是跑一年，而是跑N年。等于我跑胡同是跑的比较多的。我收集的资料，应该目前来说没有谁能跟我比。

At that time the city underwent a big urbanistic revolution: a lot of houses were demolished. I used to leave my name cards on a table every time I had an exhibition and people used to take them. I used to receive many calls: “Professor Kuang, they are about to demolish my place, please come quickly to rescue us”. I used to answer: “How can I rescue you?” “Please come over to paint”. At that time, I used to have all the information from Beijing citizens. Many people who love the hutongs tell me which ones will be demolished and suggest me where to find ancient buildings. So, I go there. I might have been to the same hutong several times, across all seasons, and not just for one year, but for several years. This means I went to so many Hutongs and collected so many information that nobody can compete with me.