Fan Bo’s oil paintings have been attracting the audience ’s attention for their indistint but forceful qualities. In the empty void of the canvas, human figures seem to wander aimlessly. These figures originate from the everyday world-sometimes they even are friends of the painter-but they seem to have lost their last connection with reality and to have become mere simulacra of our mortal beings.

Fan Bo always says “I don’t paint people as people”. Thinking this over, this statement seems to contain a double meaning. Technically speaking, Fan Bo pays more attention to the light and shade and volume of the people he paints than to their forms and emotional expressions. The intensely spatial effects are part of the unique quality of Fan Bo’s works. Viewed from a spiritual perspective, however, the figures on Fan Bo’s paintings are not portraits of particular people, but rather constitute some kind of spiritual and emotional substitute.

Since its inception, Western painting has been inseparably linked with the manipulation of light. Five hundred years ago, Leonardo ad Vinci wrote in his Treatise on Painting that the greatest magic in painting is “to make a flat surface display a body as if modelled and separated from the plane, and he who most surpasses others in this skill deserves most praise. This accomplishment... arises from light and shade, or we may say chiaroscuro…”①. In Europe, the use of light in oil painting to create a sense of contour and spatial volume eventually developed into two different approaches or traditions: in the areas south of the Alps, the tradition was to focus on the application of light and shade (chiaroscuro) to create a sense of sculptural volume, while north of the Alps the technique of “lustro”, of how light was reflected off of surfaces, was more emphasized in the creation of realistic effect. ② From then on, the emphasis on the technical se of light has been the primary question to be considered by the painters, whether from Baroque to Rococo, Neo-classicism to Romanticism, and all the way through to ImpressionismThe techniques of perspective, chiaroscuro and anatomical modeling used in oil painting gradually were accepted in the Chinese art world, although not without some resistance. In the 100-year history of oil painting in China, the application of chiaroscuro in particular was seen as in contradistinction to Chinese artistic traditions, and was often subject to suppression and rejection, either intentionally-as in the drives to develop a “nationalized painting style”-or subliminally.

From the mid-1980s on, oil painting in China embarked on a journey of return to its authentic artistic language. Chinese painters began to pursue this authenticity by practicing techniques such as chiaroscuro and volume, and to reconsider the use of light and shade as an expressive force. It can be readily be seen that Fan Bo has gone farther than most in the study and effect use of light and shade in his paintings. This can clearly be seen throughout his oeuvre, from his celebrated works such as Seated Nude (1993) and Black Friday (1998) to his award- winning Endless Twilight (2004) and his recent series of works such as Man.Woman, Flowers Bloom, Flowers Fall, and Landscape with Trees. In a time when Chinese oil painting is stylistically diversified, Fan Bo’s insistence on the extensive application of light and shade has become the most forceful characteristic of his individual style. Fan Bo uses this element not only to create volume but to create emotion and emotion. The application of top lighting in particular is most characteristic of Fan Bo’ s style, and a key element in understanding his brushwork..
 
The masters of the High Renaissance conducted extensive research into the most favorable ways of lighting in depicting form and volume. Da Vinci concluded that the most effective approach was to place the light source at a 45°angle from above the object. He pointed out that ‘ a large but not too strong light source coming from bove can give much elegance to the details of the object.”, a concept which has long been an accepted criterion of later painters. Therefore, this approach to lighting is often referred to as “classical light”. Da Vinci also advised that: “when the light shines from below, you can hardly recognize a person no matter how familiar he may be to you.”③Just by virtue of such accumulation of experience, bottom lighting and top lighting are generally not seen in Western portraiture, except under special conditions. Similar to the bottom lighting, top lighting placed directly over a person will throw their facial features into shadow (especially eyes and mouth) but make the forehead and nose especially prominent. The overall effect is to convey that the image is nothing but an object, lacking the individual charm of a living person.
We don’t know when Fan Bo begin to apply top lighting in his works-perhaps it began with working in the daylight studio of the fine arts college. But for the general viewer, such light may evoke direct associations with the spotlight in the interrogation room or the dark balconies of ancient Southern houses. All features that particularize the individuals portrayed are erased from his paintings: all that remains are these single beings seemingly made naked under the top lighting, vulnerable and alone. Top lighting also enhances the sense of volume, making the figure more strongly solid, yet without expression or soul—merely a lump of flesh. Under the light, the constrained eyes of the figure are veiled in darkness, while his/her body language tries subconsciously to conceal an inner uneasiness and lack of vitality-an uneasiness which the humbleness of the figure makes ridiculousandunnecessary.

Fan Bo lives in a city of nonentities, people rushing about all day long, living out their lives in a forest of reinforced concrete. It may seem bustling and alive on the surface, but within every heart is a waste land. Fan Bo keenly grasps the common spiritual state of the city dweller and through application of top light, creates somewhat absurd visual image, which, though rare in real life, deeply touches on our true psychological state. Fan Bo says: “I have always been worried by the loss of ideals and alienation of moral values in our materialistic society and hoped for the rebuilding of and return to our spiritual homeland.” We might as well consider such “Return” as the nude state of modern people after removing their social masks.

The background and spatial implication in Fan Bo’s works are also worthy of consideration.

Light gives the object a sense of unevenness, which, for certain, will result in depth field and spatial imagination. A painter expert in using spatial imagination will certainly give certain visual impact to the audience through his paintings. Rembrandt’s Night Watch is a typical example for successful treatment of light and spatial implication.

Fan Bo has also developed profound understanding to spatial implication. In techniques, he pays much attention to the significance of spatial positioning to the creation of forms. Every part of the form has to be treated in a depth field. Therefore, for Fan Bo, the manipulating of overall spatial depth and control becomes the core of techniques and the backing to express the spiritual orientation of the works.

To express a psychological feeling, Fan Bo makes exquisite but indiscernible treatment to the spatial implication in his works. Usually in his work, the figures stand on bare ground and the small shadow cast by he figures on the ground implies the only clues for the figures’ relation with the external world. The background in his work is just a simple skyline, to distinguish the earth and the sky. The skyline is simple and rough, creating associations to empty deserts or vast seas. The absurdity is readily discernible when a person in our real life is suddenly put in such a background.

From 2005, Fan Bo has changed the background in his works somewhat: first, some cloud-like objects appear in the sky, usually placed just above the figures and basically parallel to them, and enhancing the atmosphere.; second, trees begin to appear behind the figures. Under the top lighting, the trees seem so lonely, with sparse leaves, or no leaves at all, as can be seen in his Flowers Bloom Flowers Fall series and in Light Rain. This can be viewed as Fan Bo’s innovative attempt for broadening his expressive methodology. In fact, the emerging of trees and clouds in his works does not damage the atmosphere of the paintings, but rather, it enhances the absurdity.

When a living tree appears in front of the figure and empty background, the original space is changed. This tree also lacks connection with the environment and is lonely the same way. The tree is always painted behind the figure and parallel to the figure. We can regard this tree as a psychological image of the figure,; yet not being of the same nature as the figure, it has no possibility of communicating with it. The cloud behind the figure can be interpreted in the same way.

In his recent Landscape with Trees series, the tree becomes the main subject of his works and the compositional structure changes somewhat, yet the emotion expressed remains unchanged, revealing his terror and his anxiety. This demonstrates Fan Bo’s ability to expertly treat differing subject matter even when altering his usual painting techniques. In the contemporary period, many Chinese oil painters have consciously focussed on issues of the alienated and the unnatural in our daily physical and spiritual existence, and use many different methods to warn people of these issues. This correlates contemporary Chinese paintings with contemporary Chinese culture. To most contemporary Chinese oil painters, the important point is not how to realistically portray nature and events, but rather to transcend the superficiality of reality and to penetrate into the real nature of the world. Therefore, contemporary oil paintings express not “events”, but rather the “interpretation” of such events.

But artists adopt completely different techniques in creating their works. Some create symbolic works with strong expressive force, such as Shang Yang, Xu Jiang, Zhou Chunya, and Ji Difei; some depict conceptual or behavioural themes, such as Shi Chong and Leng Jun; some assemble cultural images from history and reality throughjuxtaposition and irony, such as Wang Guangyi, Zhang Xiaogang and Wei Guangqing; some boldly reconstruct the images from reality by way of satire, distortion or super-realism, such as Liu Xiaodong, Fang Lijun, Luo Zhongli, Wei Erjia, and Mao Yan. Fan Bo can be classified as this type of painter.

The visual elements in Fan Bo’s works are realistic, but they are placed in a super-realistic, absurd space. Therefore, these “realities” are transformed into “ideas” and these living figures and trees are disconnected from the real world, becoming mere symbols of alienation. Fan Bo’s works are imbued with a reserved, quiet quality and an authentic oil painting language that sets them apart from the works of many contemporary artists that are aimed at creating publicity and noise . His works are born from the sensitivity of his hearthis works are the very birth of his sensitive heart, giving his works some lofty and noble qualities.

From Fan Bo’s oil paintings, we discover that Fan Bo has developed a profound understanding and technique in expressing light and the spatial volume resulting from light. This is consistent with the tradition of Western oil painting, but with new elements. The integration of technique with spiritual orientation results in the unique language in Fan Bo’s paintings and also establishes Fan Bo’s position in contemporary oil painting. Of course, Fan Bo’s study and practice in this field have not come to an end. “Every artist shall investigate certain visual possibilities before him and constrained by him.”④Luckily, Fan Bo has maintained a clear sense of direction in his creative development. From the beginning he has maintained a distinctive metaphysical perspective in place of emotional expressiveness< and a calm but penetrating vision> process,and has been progressing with superorganic abnormal ideas in stead of inherent emotional expressions. He has expressed in his works with calm but penetrating vision. However, this is destined to be a road full of difficulties and loneliness. We hope bon voyage to Fan Bo in his way towards his reconstruction of individual values and ideology.

March 7, 2006

Wu Yangbo
Graduated from Central Academy of Fine Art , 2000, oil painting department, Bachelor degree ;
Graduated from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art ,2005, art history department, Master degree;
Now is teacher of art history department ,GAFA.

Notes:
①Da Vinci, Treatise on PaintingPage 8, 36, People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, 1979
②Gombrich, Application of Light and Shade, Forms and Texture in Paintings in South and North of the Alps, in Collections of Gombrich, Arts and Human Sciences edited by Fan Jingzhong, published by Zhejiang Photography Publishing House
③(Same as in p①，127，130)
④(Heinrich Wolfflin, Principles of Art History Tr. by M.D. Hottinger , Dover Publications,Inc,1932,11)

作者：Wu,Yangbo