有一则关于现代艺术的笑话：在某国一次画展中，观众颇为一位名家的抽象作品叫好。不料后来有人发现，这幅画居然挂反了。于是此事成了奚落现代主义绘画的口实。

　　其实，所谓正反、上下、左右无非是依据观者的眼光，以自身的某个固定视角为基准，对所观看对象的一种主观设定，而对象存在的本身是无挂无碍、自由自在的，怎么看，不过是个方式问题。人类囿于“自我中心化”的偏见，产生了一种相当顽固的视觉惰性。所以，真正要紧的倒是应该冲击那种机械、僵化的观看方式。

　　如果说，本文开头说到的那位画家偶因不慎，落下了笑柄，那么，当代中国的一位艺术家则在这种讥笑声里听出了愚味、痴迷和顽固。他便是左正尧，一位自觉树起反叛大旗的艺术家。他的艺术实践，无疑是一种视觉的革命。

　　左正尧从《二元统一的图像表达》开始，以一种正反对立组合的方式，形成了一种特殊的画面结构，这种形式应该说赋予观者以一种新的观看形式，让观众通过这种形式，获得了心灵的自由。

　　当然，怎么看毕竟还仅仅是一种方式。尽管这种方式本身所具有的突破性已经足以给人们带来鲜活的视觉刺激，但我们以为，左正尧的绘画更具魅力的，还是它们向观众散发的“看什么”的诱惑。

　　从1991年开始，左正尧的作品便开始在

　　“一正一反”的反向对称图式中完成。尔后，1993年，他又进入“对称破缺”的创作状态。从他绘画演进的逻辑里，我们发现画家对正反系列的深化，随着作者一个个系列的完成，画家思想的触角也随之变得更为敏锐、更为犀利。我们有足够的理由相信，这种思想的触觉已经达到了常人一般难以企及的程度。

　　神秘、奇诡、幽深，左正尧总是善于营造出一片超现实的天地。奇异的造型，鲜明的色彩对比，仿佛来自另一神秘世界的极光，让人们深深感到这个世界深邃和幽冥。在这个超现实的世界里，人们的凡俗之心隐遁了，消失了，人们都仿佛变成了纯真的孩子，睁大眼睛，看着这个几乎是完全陌生的世界。它是神秘而又神圣的，它使人们一洗饱经红尘浸染的心灵，在这个世界面前感到敬畏，甚至颤栗，产生一种仿佛是混沌初开或是地老天荒的感觉……

　　或许在人类的灵魂深处，总是潜藏着一种代代相传的种族记忆。或许，这就是迄今人们对原始的符号、神秘的咒语、奇异的法术仍保持着一种不可思议的畏惧之心的原因。

　　左正尧所努力的，正是要把我们带入到这种仿佛是开天辟地的原初的感觉中去，去发现潜沉在大千世界之中的最基本的图式、符号;去体察在芸芸众生背后那种永远存在，但又永远难以形诸笔墨的神秘的联系。

　　《信息时报》，1994年11月6日第12版。

　　The Pros and Cons World of Zuo Zhengyao

　　Sun Zhenhua

　　There is a humorous story about the modern arts. The visitors gave high regards to one of the abstract paintings by a famous painter in an exhibition held in a foreign country. However, some people found later that the painting was hung upside down. As a result, the story has become a reason for people to scoff at the modernist paintings.

　　As a matter of fact, it is simply a question of a viewer’s perspective whether it is front or reverse side, upward or downward or on the right or left and a subjective proposition to look at the objects by taking a certain fixed perspective as a basic point. However, the existence of the object itself is free and unrestrained. It is none other than a way of observation. Blinded by the prejudice of individualization and ego-centralization, the human beings have quite a stubborn visual sluggishness. Therefore, what is really critical is a shock to the mechanical and rigid way of observation.

　　If the painter that we have mentioned at the beginning of the article laid himself to ridicule due to his accidental carelessness, then, one of the contemporary Chinese artists has already had a clear sense of ignorance, infatuation and obstinacy from such a ridiculous story. It is Zuo Zhengyao. He is an artist who has consciously raised up the flag of rebellion and, undoubtedly, his artistic practices have already been regarded as a visual revolution.

　　In his Dual Unity Images Expression series, Zuo Zhengyao has established a special structure in his paintings by using a contradictory way of pros and cons. Without any doubt, such a way of expression has given the viewers a new perspective to enjoy the paintings, consequently, giving them a sense of mental freedom in such a style.

　　Quite certainly, it is simply a way after all. Although the breakthrough of such an expressive way is strong enough to give the viewers a refreshing visual excitement, we believe that the paintings by Zuo Zhengyao is more fascinating, tempting the viewers to see “what to see”.

　　After 1991, Zuo Zhengyao finished series of paintings in a “positive-negative” reverse and symmetrical way. However, he began to introduce the “symmetrical tatters” in 1993. From the logics of gradual evolution of his paintings, we have found that the painter has gradually deepened his thinking over the Pros and Cons series. With his completion of each series, the painter has a more sagacious and incisive perception than before. We have every reason to believe that it is really hard for any common people to have such a way of thinking.

　　Zuo Zhengyao is always good at creating a surreal space which looks quite mysterious, wonderful and profound. The queer forms and sharp contrast of bright colors seem to be the polar light from another mysterious world, giving the viewers a feeling of depth and tranquility. In such a surreal world, all the mortal desires that people in their minds have disappeared and all the human beings seem to have become pure and innocent children. With open eyes, they are looking at the completely strange world. It is mysterious and holy. It is a baptism of human souls. Standing in front of such a world, people have a feeling of awe and even shivering and, consequently, producing a feeling of emergence or eternity.

　　It may be possible that there is a deeply hidden racial memory in the depth of human souls, which have been inherited one generation after another. Quite possibly, it is the very reason that people have had a feeling of unimaginable awe for the primitive symbols, mysterious imprecations and fantastic magic arts even up to now.

　　What Zuo Zhengyao has spared no efforts to do is to give us an original and seemingly epoch-making sense perception to discover the most basic graphics and symbols hidden in the boundless universe and to observe the eternal existence behind all the living creatures and the secret of mystical relationship which is never explainable with brush and ink.

　　Message Times Newspaper, 12th Edition, November 6, 1994

作者：孙振华