在讨论近十年的美术创作时，最使我们惊讶的是，许多人简单地将新潮美术等同于前卫艺术。事实上，所谓 前卫艺术既不是追赶国际潮流的艺术，也不是仅仅以“新”为标志的艺术。一方面，按日本评论家千叶成夫的意 见，前卫艺术的重要原则是从现实的根本问题出发；另一方面，作为一个前卫艺术家，还必须将自己提出的文化 问题转换为十分具体的艺术问题，并予以成功的解决。在这里，完全停留在观念与手法上的简单移植是肯定无意 义的，它顶多只能为画家带来短暂的新闻效果，而不能导致学科自身的重大突破，这样当然谈不上实质性地进入 国际画坛及艺术史的问题。也正是基于以上的理解，我们对画家魏光庆新近搞的艺术实验格外看重，因为在这些 作品中，画家从强调文化针对性这一目标出发，已经着手创造出了具有明显地域特点的新东西，甚至在对前卫艺 术基本观念的解释的层次上，也正在形成某些不同的东西，我们觉得这在当前是非常非常难得的。
作为新潮美术的参与者，魏光庆的作品引起了国内外人士的关注。不过，由于整个新潮美术在追赶国际化的潮 流中，显得太匆忙、太急切、 太功利，所以，如同许多新潮美术家一样，魏光庆当时的作品无论在思想观念上，还 是艺术表现上都带有明显的摹仿痕迹。比如说，看其表达的思想观念，你会想到萨特、弗洛依德等西方思想家， 而看其表现，你又会想到培根、莱热以及塔皮埃斯等西方现代派大师，我们既可以说这是原创性不够的表示，也 可以说这是缺乏地域特点的表示。
显然是意识到了以上问题将会限制自己在艺术界的真实存在，画家在其后的创作中逐步修正了以往的做法， 进而成功地提出了自己的艺术问题，这就是如何运用中国化、大众化的视觉符号来对当代中国文化作出反应的问 题。毫无疑问，这一问题的提出，得自于画家对艺术史—准确地说，得自对于波普艺术以及当下中国文化的具体 研究，于是，画家便找到了一个超越前人与其他人的坚实出发点，并使自己的艺术获得了实质性的进展。魏光庆近 作的启示性在于，正像孩子需要父母一样，每个艺术家在创作时都需要影响，但是你必须想办法偏离那影响，惟 其如此，你才有可能在当代画坛中确立自己的位置。
如果说，在关怀现状与选择现成视觉符号上，魏光庆的追求颇与波普艺术相同，那么应该说，在具体的实验方 案中，魏光庆所提出的文化问题与表现方式则明显不同于波普艺术。首先，从特定的社会与历史情境出发，画家 有意识地偏离了美国波普以商业文化作为主题动机的方向，转而将传统文化当做了自己艺术作品的主题动机；其 次，在艺术表现上，魏光庆主要是选用传统文化物中的视觉符号，并且常常将其与现代视觉符号、文字符号结合， 为的是利用人们的视觉经验去领悟现实与历史的关连性。
相比较而言，画家新近创作的系列作品《红墙》显得较成功，这主要表现在，其主题的指向性与艺术风格的独 创性都更为明确。
《红墙》的视觉符号取自于传统道德文化的经典著作《朱子治家格言》，它们所涉及的主题是传统道德批判。
众所周知，出于封建权贵集团的整体利益、历代统治者一向十分强调君臣父子、上下尊卑的封建等级秩序，
倡导“三纲五常”、“三从四德”等封建伦理道德。特别是到了南宋朱熹，封建伦理道德不仅被弄得高度完备，而且被弄得深入浅出，以至逐渐普及到了民间的每一个角落。加上他在促使儒学哲理化的过程中，提出了“理一分殊”的观点，即将封建的等级秩序与伦理道德视为至高无上的天理，人们只能按照自己的本分依其行事，所以， 传统道德自此以后几乎成为一种不具法律形式的法律，对于人们具有无形的、巨大的压力—实际上，时至今日， 人们仍然无法摆脱这压力与纠缠。诚如许多学者所说，封建伦理道德的最大症结是，从“家庭本位”与封建整体 主义出发，力图将人们的行为规范化、条理化，结果严重扼杀了人的个性与创造性，阻碍了社会的健康发展。作为 一个对中国自身文化背景与传统有很强意识的人，魏光庆发觉，封建伦理道德乃是造成诸多现代问题的根源，因 此，他并不是像美国波普那样，以直接干预的方式关怀现状，而是以对历史进行反思的方式去关怀现状。他似乎 想提醒人们：一切现实问题都是历史问题，任何对现实问题的解决，都必须从对历史问题的清理开始，否则我们 就会重踏洋务派的老路。
然而，魏光庆终究不是一个“批判现实主义者”，这使得他不是直接从第一现实提取素材，进而用一种悲天悯 人的方式去进行说教。恰恰相反，他是将来自第二现实的素材与红墙符号组成画面的基本结构。有意思的是，这 种将历史与现实相溶合的手法，竟然巧妙地消解了传统符号的原来含义，使其变成了象征封建道德的抽象符号， 故任何对其作品稍有兴趣的人很快就会察觉到它所涉及的主题。魏光庆的聪明之处是，他把这无人能免于卷入 的文化问题转换成了可见的图式，并把人们习以为常的东西拎了出来，然后把它们公开地列入了意识的光照之下。
当然这就有可能激发一些观众的开放式探询，例如：难道打着道德旗号制定的封建道德本身是道德的吗？难道 封建社会所创造的道德神话不是恰恰显示了那些被压抑了的欲望和焦虑吗？从画面看去画家把回答这些问题的 权力交给了观众与历史。而这正是新一代艺术家与其前辈的不同之处。坦率地说，我们更欣赏前者，因为新一代 的艺术家并不好为人师，他们最大的希望是通过一种较完善的艺术手段，使观众与历史变成合作者，只要这样的 目的能够达到，他们就心满意足了。
越是仔细地研究魏光庆新近搞的艺术作品，人们越是会觉得借用现成符号乃是构成他艺术风格的手段。也许， 按照传统的观点看，这种赤裸裸地借用似乎是一种抄袭。但我们却觉得，发现现成符号中的深层文化含义，继而 将其带入一种超常规的、荒谬的、带有诗意的语境中，这本身就是一种新的原创性。事实上在《红墙》作品中，当 传统视觉符号被以变通的方式借用后，它的的确确具有对当下文化混沌层面的穿透力，这自然使作品获得了一种 特殊的形式感与美学意义。由此可见，所谓“借用”实质上是发现、是筛选，它需要的是智者的眼睛。从另外的角 度看，借用现成符号更多是出于文化上的考虑，而非纯形式的考虑。如果我们不理解这一点，仍然仅从美术的形 态学，不从其赖以存在的价值系统考虑问题，我们很可能会出差错。关于这一点，画家本人的一段话倒是颇为发 人深省：
“当代艺术是一种关注社会、历史、文化的艺术，可以说，在当代艺术家那里，所谓艺术语言只是表达的手段， 它决没有自身的意义。因此，这就涉及到了两个衡量艺术语言的标准。第一，你要看这语言是否准确地提示了画 家要表明的文化问题；第二，你要看这语言是否具有特殊的感染力。在我看来，只要能符合这样的标准，创造也 好，借用也好，那是无关紧要的。”—引自画家的《艺术笔记》
那么，魏光庆的想法会在中国当代艺术中产生一种什么样的反应呢？或者说，它在当代诸多艺术创造中能否引 起人们的关注呢？这显然是个不容立即作出判断的难题。但有一点是完全可以肯定的，画家毕竟向国内美术界提 供了一种新的启示，即当绘画放弃风格至上的目标，转而关注现实，似乎更容易向人类背景作深层渗透，正因如 此，我们殷切地希望所有关注当代艺术发展的人认真研究《红墙》作品为当代中国艺术史提供的现实课题—尽 管用以往的标准衡量，它表现得那么的不艺术。我们相信，随着这一课题的不断深入展开，随着一种新的观看背 景形成。中国当代艺术必将获得长足的发展，并为它赢得更广泛的观众。因为人们希望从艺术作品中找到他们焦 虑地企望从自身和世界上找到的道德和意义。
The Cultural Pop: Wei Guangqing and His Red Wall
ZHU Bin, LU Hong
When discussing fine art of the last ten years, we are surprised by how many people are conceptually mixing the
Avant-Garde with the new art trends. In fact, the so-called Avant-garde art is not just following the international art trend, nor just be termed “new”. On one hand, according to the opinion of a Japanese critic, the important principle
of Avant-Garde art is originated from realistic problems. On the other, an Avant-Garde artist must be able to convert
his or her proposed cultural problem to a concrete artistic one and successfully resolve it. It is meaningless to
dwell on transplanting concept to technique here. It can only bring a temporary interest from the media, but not
a major breakthrough in the art, or capture the international art scene and the attention of historians. Based on the above understanding, we give special importance to the recent art experiment made by Wei Guangqing, because in
his works, the painter has created something new that possesses clear regional feature by emphasizing the cultural bearing with his medium and formed a deeper understanding of the basic concepts of Avant-garde art. Although these works are not fully formulated, we feel they are valuable.
As one of the members of the art movement, Wei Guangqing’s work attract attention at home and abroad, but due
to the hasty and utilitarian mood that swept over the whole art scene which follows the trend of internationalization, Wei Guangqing’s works, same as many new movement artists have clear traces of imitation in their conception or the artistic expression.
For example, their concepts of expression remind us the western philosophers such as Sarte and Freud. The techniques lead us to relate to masters of modern art, like Bacon and others. We can say this shows the lack of originality or regional characteristics.
Realizing the limitation would be a threat to the art development, the painter gradually changes his approach in his later work and successfully solves his own artistic problem, which is to use the Chinese popular visual symbol to correspond to the existing Chinese culture and silicism. No doubt, the proposal of this problem arises from his careful study of art history and more accurately, the understanding of the Chinese culture. Thus, based on the surpassing of
his predecessors and the present artists, the painter has made a virtual progress in his art creation. Wei Guangqing’
s recent works, like children who need their parents, need influence from the outside and must deviate from that influence. In this way, one can establish his position in the contemporary art world.
If Wei Guangqing’s recognizable visual semiotics and his concerns with reality are quite similar to Pop Art, but the cultural problems he raise and his method of expression are clearly different from Pop Art. Firstly, his approach
is based on the special social and historical situation, and deviates from the motive of American Pop Art --- in its direct derivation of commercial culture. Wei Guangqing consciously takes his own traditional culture as his basis of creation. Moreover, he mainly uses traditional cultural symbols as his form of expression and often combines them with modern symbols in order to connect the visual experiences between reality and history.
Compare to his earlier works, his recent series named Red Wall is more successful. The work clearly presents the direction of his themes and the originality of his style.
The visual symbol of Red Wall is taken from the traditional moral classics Zhu Zi抯 Family Maxim and The Virtuous
Words. The themes target at the criticism of traditional morals.
From the privileged feudal superiors’ point of view, the ruling class consistently emphasized the importance of the monarch’s constitution of father and son, the superior and the inferior, and the feudal class order in the successive dynasties, and advocated feudal ethics, such as “the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues,” and “the three obedience and the four virtues,” etc. Especially in the Nan Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi completed the feudal ethical morals and brought them to popularization, so that they can penetrate into every social corner. In his effort to philosophize Confucianism, he put forward the viewpoint that “reason differs minutely.” Soon, the feudal class orders and ethical morals are considered the utmost justice, and people must behave accordingly. Therefore, the tradition morals became almost like a law that was not in law form, and exist invisibly, yet create huge pressure on people and even
up to now, people still can not break away from this entangling pressure. As many scholars pointed out, the biggest symptom of feudal ethical morals is its strangling effect on people’s individuality and creativeness. With the entire doctrine of the feudal system, it hindered on the healthy development of a society. As a man highly conscious of his Chinese background and traditions, Wei Guangqing has found that many of the modern problems are rooted in the feudal ethical morals, and thus becoming his introspective approach to speak about the status quo. Unlike American Pop Art, it is a direct assessment of historical problems to review the existing problem. It has strongly reminded us that, if we do not exactly intervention. He is seemingly reminding people the historical problems, we are unable to come up with a solution to the present and shall repeat our predecessors’ mistake.
Nevertheless, Wei Guangqing is not an advocate of “Realist—judgment”. He is not directly extracting his material from a primary source, his way is not sympathetically depressive or preaching to people. On the contrary,
he forms a basic composition for his paintings using materials from a secondary source and the red wall symbol. Interestingly, this kind of technique fuses the history and reality together, and has cleverly cleared up the original meaning of the traditional symbol, making it an abstract symbol standing for the feudal norms, and hence anyone having a bit of interest in his works can perceive the project’s theme. Wei Guangqing is smart as he changes this cultural problem that no one can be exempted from being involved onto a visible composition, and enlists it openly under the illumination of consciousness. Certainly this would possibly stimulate some viewers to question it. For
example, does real morality come from the feudal idea of morality, made in the name of being moral? Did the moral mythology that the feudal society created show those constrained desires and anxieties? Viewing the painting, one
can understand that the painter has given the right to answer these questions to the viewers and history. This is where
the new generation of artists differs from their predecessors. Frankly speaking, we appreciate the former more, because the new generation of artists is not lecturing people. Their biggest hope is to use a more perfected artistic means to let the viewer to gauge history; and they would be perfectly content as long as the aim is achieved.
After close study of Wei Guangqing’s recent experiments, more people would see the borrowing of recognizable symbols that formed his artistic style. Perhaps, according to traditional viewpoint, this kind of borrowing is
plagiarizing, but we feel that discovering the deep cultural meaning in these recognizable symbols and then taking
them into a surreal, absurd, and poetic context is, in itself, a new kind of creativity. It surely possesses the piercing power through the turbid layer of our present culture when the traditional visual symbols are flexibly borrowed; this
is true in Red Wall. This naturally makes the work gain a special kind of formal beauty and aesthetic significance. Thus, the so-called “appropriation” is essentially a development and a screening process, and it needs the wisdom’s eyes. From another angle, borrowing these symbols has more cultural consideration than pure formalist’s art. If we
do not understand this point, we may make mistakes considering it from the art morphology and not relying on the value system it is based. About this, the painter’s words are quite provocative: “Contemporary art is to relate society, history and culture. It can be said, for contemporary artists, the so-called artistic language is only an expression and has no meaning on its own. So, this involves two criteria in accessing the artistic language. First, whether the language accurately reveals the cultural problem the painter wants to show. Second, whether this language possesses
the power to touch the audience. In my opinion, if such criteria be reached, creation or appropriation means nothing.”
—quoted from the painter’s Art Notes .
Then, what Wei Guangqing’s creation bring forth to the contemporary art scene of China? Or will it influence
the other artists today? This obviously cannot be immediately identified. But one thing is for sure, the painter
has provided the Chinese art scene with new encouragement. In reality, when a painter quits its supreme belief in style and turns to reality, it is indeed more penetrable to human cultural background. We eagerly hope the people concerning about the development of today’s art would sincerely look into these realistic issues raised in Red Wall about China’s art history. Though judged by past standards, it is not real artistic. We believe with the constant assessment and revision of the new historical background, China’s contemporary art will have a rapid development
and gain a more extensive audience, for today’s people hope to find the new meaning of morals that they have been anxiously searching for years through this new concept of artwork.
July 1992