许多年轻的中国艺术家们都在学习现代西方绘画技法技巧，这些技巧他们主要是从书本上了解得来的。但与此同时，旅居新加坡的中国人林祥雄却产生了将西方绘画技巧与中国绘画材料相结合的想法，其初衷是将新鲜血液注入中国艺术中。

　　他目前正在位于中国首都西部的北京图书馆大堂举办画展，该画展反映了他在该领域所作的坚持不懈的努力。

　　所展出的60件作品全部采用火红和漆黑颜色绘成，以黄色作为点缀。

　　这位画家说这些颜色是他在新加坡和马来西亚所见到的热带风光的颜色。

　　大多数的绘画作品都以新加坡和马来西亚的风景为主题，没有任何人们期待传统中国绘画所要描绘的花草。

　　林祥雄说：“作为一个艺术家，我历来努力坚持去作为我的绘画作品中不同文化的一个媒介。”

　　现年45岁的林祥雄是新加坡的一位有影响的画家，出生于广东省潮州市。1956年移居新加坡，并居住至今。

　　他自孩提时代就热爱艺术，并于20世纪60年代在新加坡艺术学院接受正规的美术教育。1971年至1973年在巴黎深造。1975年至1985年多次前往西欧作绘画旅行。

　　这样的经历使他对于东西方文化有了一种特殊的看法。他也因此而得以将自己的理解融入了自己的绘画作品中。

　　实际上，对他的画品很难分类。他虽然采用中国画所特有的色彩和纸张，但是却在自己的作品中运用了很多油画和水彩画中所用的技巧。

　　尽管他主要采用红、橙和黑色这三种颜色，但是他却用自己的绘画创造出了一个五彩缤纷的世界。

　　题为“重建城中新城”（Rebuilding a New City within the City）的画品为观者提供了城市建设的一个生动画面：高耸的红色吊车散布在黑色立柱之间，背景是一片橙色，而挥洒的泼墨跃然纸上。

　　题为“稻田秋景”（Scene of Autumn in the Ricefield）的这幅作品主要采用黄色和黑色创作，看上去像是一部歌剧，无数的燕子在电线上排成行，下面的稻田里有稻草人，而更多的鸟儿还在不断飞来。

　　在另一幅题为“黑暗之中总有光明的未来”（It's Always a Bright Future in Such a Dark Environment）的作品中，他将油画、水彩和中国水墨画的技巧娴熟地融为有机的整体。

　　在漆黑颜色之上，他涂抹了几条红线来使得景色具有活力，这在油画中是经常见到的。他采用一些简单的线条来形成房屋，鸟儿在房屋上空盘旋，使得整个图画显得一片平静安宁。

　　在“为生存而挣扎”（The Fight for Living）中，他描绘了三只公鸡，盯着几只昆虫，跃跃欲试，表现出他对画法和油墨的掌握。他采用大胆点缀的浅墨来表现公鸡的身体，而采用浓墨来表现尾巴，并利用更多的浓墨来勾画出引人注目的红色鸡冠下方的眼睛，使得公鸡栩栩如生。

　　在“开花了？那是我的”（Blossoming？ It's Mine）这幅画中，十几只鸟儿似乎在一颗开花的树上叽叽喳喳。作品表现出他对最传统和最现代技法的处理。

　　他画的鸟带有中国画中的简朴和奔放。同时，他还倾倒了一些灰墨，使其从上到下自然地流淌，作为树干和树枝。而他在画纸上点缀的红色则形成了怒放的花朵。

　　在渔村中居住的人们的生活是他所喜爱的主题之一。他画出象征性的线条来表现水，将浓厚的色彩用于渔船。随意泼洒在画面景色上的彩色斑点使得静物获得了短暂的真实感。

　　虽然这次个人画展仅包括了他在过去几年所完成的画品，但是仍然为我们提供了一个机会来观摩他是如何努力将东西方风格结合起来的。

　　除绘画之外，林祥雄还写诗和文艺评论。

　　他的诗歌才华对他的构图提供了极大的帮助。

　　虽然不同于常常会留出很多空白空间的传统构图，他的三色构图带有一种诗歌韵律，似乎为忙碌的现代生活平添了一种平静。

　　他为自己的画作所起的标题利用了他的诗歌天赋。描绘华南地区风景的“难忘的家”（Unforgettable Home）；他为在一池泥水中盛开的莲花画面所起的“出于污泥而不染”（Be Proud, Stand up Despite Such an Environment）；描写一对小鸡的“我们能说什么”（What Can We Say）以及很多其他标题都给予他的绘画一种真正的神来之笔。

　　他在北京图书馆举行的画展将于10月8日结束。

　　（原刊于《中国日报》，1990年10月2日）

Artist Lim blazes a fresh trail

　　While many young Chinese artists are picking up modern Western painting skills which they have learnt about mainly from books, Lim Siang Hiong, a Chinese living in Singapore, has come up with the idea of adopting Western painting techniques with Chinese painting materials. His intention is to inject fresh blood into Chinese art.

　　His current exhibition in the hall of Beijing Library in the west of the capital demonstrates his persistent efforts in the field.

　　The 60 pieces in the show are all painted in burning red and pitch black, interspersed with some yellow.

　　These, the painter said, are the colours of the tropical scenery he has been exposed to in Singapore and Malaysia.

　　And most of the paintings are devoted to the landscape and scenery of Singapore and Malaysia, with none of the flowers and blades of grass one may expect of traditional Chinese paintings.

　　"As an artist," Lim said, "I have always made it a point to try to serve as a medium for different cultures in my paintings."

　　Lim, 45, now an influential painter in Singapore, was born in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province. He moved to Singapore in 1956 and has lived there ever since.

　　An art lover since his childhood years, he received his formal education in art at the Singapore Academy of Fine Arts in the mid-'60s. Between 1971 and 1973, he was in Paris to further his art education. Between 1975 and 1985, he made many painting trips to Western Europe.

　　Such experiences have offered him a special view of Western and Eastern cultures, and he has thus imparted his own understanding into his paintings.

　　Actually, one can hardly classify his paintings. He takes the colours and paper specially required for Chinese paintings, but exploits many of the techniques used in oil paintings and water colours in his works.

　　Though he mainly uses three colours, red, orange and black, he has created a colourful world with his paintings.

　　With towering red mechanical cranes scattered among vertical black columns, all crammed together against an orange background, and the free splashes of ink dashed through all of these, the painting entitled "Rebuilding a New City Within the City" presents the viewer with a living picture of city construction.

　　The painting "Scene of Autumn in the Ricefield" was created mainly in yellow and black. It looks like a lyric drama, with innumerable sparrows lined up on the electric wires, scarecrows beneath them in the rice field and more birds flying in.

　　In another painting which is named "It's Always a Bright Future in Such a Dark Environment," he skillfully combines the techniques of oil painting, water colour, and Chinese water and ink painting into an organic whole.

　　Over the pitch dark, he smears several red lines as would often be seen in oil paintings, to enliven the scene; the birds hovering over the houses he has created with some simple lines, making the whole picture a peaceful one

　　"The Fight for Living," in which he draws three roosters staring at a few insects and poised to attack, reveals his mastery of brush work and ink. With the thin ink dotted boldly to represent the bodies of the roosters, the thick ink for the tails, and more thick ink to line out the eyes and beaks under the eye-catching red cockscombs, Lim has brought the birds to life.

　　The picture "Blossoming? It's Mine", in which a dozen birds seem to be chattering in a flowering tree, shows how he has handled the most traditional and modern skills.

　　All the simplicity and boldness found in Chinese painting is iri his birds, and at the same time, he pours some grey ink which flows down naturally as the trunks and branches of the tree. The red colour he dotted on; the paper makes the plants blossom.

　　The life of people living in fishing villages is one of his favourite topics. He draws symbolic lines for the water and applies thick colour to the boats. The colourful dots he offhandedly splashes onto the scene turn the still life subjects into a transitory moment of truth.

　　Although the solo exhibition embraces only the works he has painted in the past few years, it gives us an opportunity to see how Lim has endeavoured to combine Western and Eastern styles.

　　Besides painting, Lim also writes poems and art criticism.

　　His talent in poetry has helped him greatly in designing his paintings.

　　Though different from the traditional designs which often leave much space unpainted, his designs with three colours also carry a kind of poetic rhythm that seems to add some sort of peace to the bustle of modern life.

　　The titles he gives to his paintings draw on his poetic talent. "Unforgettable Home", for the landscapes of South China; "Be Proud, Stand up Despite Such an Environment", he gives to the picture of the lotus blossoming over the muddy pool of water; "What Can We Say", for a couple of chickens, and many others render a real master's touch to his paintings.

　　His exhibition in Beijing Library will close on October 8.

　　( Printed on "CHINA DAILY", 2-10-1990 )

作者：马建国