At the beginning of the new year, China National Museum of Fine Arts asked me to write something on the theme discussion of Spirit and Moral in China’s Oil Paintings. To be frank, such “Spirit and Moral” issues in certain fields seemingly have been rather vague and general, and have gone rather against the problem consciousness in academic studies. However, this topic associates me immediately with the comments on Fanbo’s works that I have been contemplating all these days. If we investigate into the spirit and moral of contemporary Chinese oil paintings from Fanbo’s works, it will, I think, have real problem consciousness and be worthy of study in academic point of view.

“Spirit and Moral” is undoubtedly the most fundamental to the diversified values of arts, but, whether to the painters or to the connoisseurs, it is rather hard to understand their patterns of existence and exhibition. Though there have been abstruse and profound comments in traditional Chinese literary critics and poetry as well as in-depth and detailed analysis on literary exposition among the surging western thoughts after the 1919 May 4th Movement, but for contemporary Chinese, the spirit and moral in arts are still brutally tied up with the subject matter for artistic creation, with certain relationship with certain ideas, or other collective consciousness and therefore, the complexity, subtlety and heterogeneity are difficult for in-depth study and discussion. Under such cultural context, the heterogeneity in Fanbo’s realistic works has exposed a deep but serene path full of personal consciousness and therefore is endowed with special significance.

In contemporary realistic oil paintings, Fanbo’s artistic genius and capability in forms is beyond suspicion. His early works, such as Seated Lady in Nude, Summer Solstice. Friend in Room, Black Friday, Frozen Zone and others have fully demonstrated his great talents and potentials. However, he is not satisfied with the prominence and reputation among the public. In his view, realistic oil painting is not something competitive with great pains, rather, he has developed more definite problem consciousness and strong aspiration for investigation. This album is collection of his critical works produced in recent years, and this explains his investigation and achievements in the dark tunnel of sprit and moral in cultivating realistic oil paintings. In his Endless Dusk (2004), he shows strong consciousness of estrangement, overtly subverting the past traditional aesthetic values. In his Men and Women series (2004), the inherent gender conflict is disguised under superficial logic harmony and the social metaphor in genders, or sexual implications are concealed under cold forms. If there is expressive interest in Fanbo’s realistic works, its expression is only concealed. He puts “expression” in a deep and devious in-depth spiritual space, full of complexity and mysteries. In his Blossoms and Withers (2005, other works such as Autumn Approach, Against the Wind, gentle Breeze, Drizzle, Shaking Trees can be viewed as the same series), Fanbo juxtaposes trees with human figures. This has been a long Chinese tradition: moaning the withering of leaves and expressing inner heart gloom, which will easily be tramped in the clichés of classical poetic aesthetics.  However, what Fanbo expresses through these traditional images is the absurdity of existence through subtle understanding of the spiritual state of the figures and the absurdity of the background. What sets against the blossoming and withering flowers are the indifferent human figures. Such indifference is a kind of real and thorough estrangement. Fanbo has shown astonishing perception and self-constraint in this aspect, he has been very careful in capturing any trace of breath in the dark tunnel and any flash of light in the soul. While commenting his works, I have noticed his conscientious efforts in establishing contact with the atmosphere of the times. For example, some critic writes: “Fanbo has created some virtual spaces for the young generations in his works, a space filled with colorfully misty background, decadent and inexpressible human figures, dynamic design with certain implications…, which sets off, represents and reflects the depressive, anxious, lonely, perplexed and wondering existence and psychology of contemporary city youth.” Such comments, though, are correct with certain reasons, but the heterogeneity concealed in Fanbo’s works has far beyond the superficial meaning. What it is, or what it is not, it is really hard to define by certain set patterns.

The heterogeneity in Fanbo’s works is some smell slowly emitting out of the dark tunnel of spirit and moral, which, at present, is just under slow accumulation and diffusion process. The heterogeneity in realistic paintings can’t be achieved only by simply changing drawing techniques or pattern languages, what it needs is the profound perception to the relationship between drawing language and the real world, and what’s more, scrupulous exploration into the in-depth spiritual realm, based only on which can a painter show his unique spirit and moral against the homogeneous tide and against the temptation by genius, meaning and effect. Though heterogeneity has not been the firm personal style in Fanbo’s current works, but Fanbo has shown fully his capacity in spiritual cultivation and his sensitive and decisive belief in moral.
                                                          

 Jan. 4, 2007
(the author is professor and dean of the Department of Fine Arts History of Guangzhou Fine Arts College, and famous art critic)

作者：Li,Gongming