玄應音義

 

文：卢玫

 

所有艺术家都是信使，在收发信息的过程中放松紧绷的“俗身诸多苦厄”。

 

在夏鹏的绘画中也常常若隐若现地呈现信使一般的形象，或是他希望化身于此。他们是来执行命令的，还是来寻找自我和身份的答案的？

 

在夏鹏的作品中，无论是源自中国艺术史还是西方艺术史的人物和场景，都在一种既宣泄又克制的笔触下展示了复杂与简单之间独特的交互作用，留下未知的不确定感。画面的模糊、朦胧和残缺部分无意中增强了戏剧效果。尽管画面没有特定的结构，但作品之间的序列感或许增强了某些元素的重要性。尤其是在夏鹏偶尔会突出画面中某些细节的时候，常常在抽象与具象之间摇摆，营造出一种动态的张力，引导观众探索其中的空间。他有时主观地展示了一个放大的细节——使这个看似有机的元素成为了焦点。有些局部可能被感知为处于某种胚胎状态，但这种表现方式的本质在于突出脆弱性，夏鹏常将图像的边缘展示得轻微透明、带有数字质感的印刷效果，从而加强了这种印象。这样的布局把观众置于一个非常活跃的图像空间中，视角和在画前的停留时间不断地为我们的意识带来新的元素。在这个过程中，我们可以感受到持续的动态，就像生命的周期和我们的世界一样。

 

夏鹏在德国生活工作二十余载，从2003年到德求学，再从2015年自卡塞尔搬到柏林至2021年间，夏鹏在艺术方法上经历了显著的演变，从一个水墨画家开始操弄画布，从主观视角转向关注时间与空间的微妙互动，以及如何通过细腻的色调和宁静的构图表达这些维度。他当时的作品趋向于更加抽象的美学，传统叙事在繁简互动的形式中溶解，通常以单色调呈现，反映了夏鹏对视觉艺术边界的持续探索，力图创造出不受常规结构限制、却能呼应和谐与无限可能感的图像。

 

自2022年开始结合自我认知和他人视角，他开始放弃固化的立场和身份，承认误读和错位，接受让人困惑的戏剧性失误。在近期的创作中，往往受到大历史观的影响，使他的主题更加泛化。他在绘画中实践着“明明密密，密密明明”应对着语简意隐的法门，他也期待着从“看山不是山”到“看山还是山”的顿悟和转变。在他近期神秘而复杂的绘画场景中，叙事结构是难以捉摸的。戏剧化的景象好像在一个平行世界中发生。画布的一部分可能是东方的罗汉的，而另一部分，则可能是古埃及的石像或某个奇怪的爬虫，但他们之间却不是相互封闭的，不知道周围发生了什么，他们带有一种悬浮的质感。除了时常出现的超自然平静之外，画面中还会出现不和谐的色彩、底片中的图像、突然出现的黑白山脉的景象或是被挤到画面边缘的主角。整体效果像是寓意画或是禅画“空山无人，水流花开”。这些实践使他再次回到对身份问题的探索，作为70后，在经历了丰富的文化融合和多样性的观察和表达后，在性别和后殖民主义批评以及艺术市场商品化的双重压力下，艺术作为纯粹自由表达的观点似乎都不再站得住脚了。相比之下，西方许多艺术家团结起来捍卫美学自主。过去，激进艺术家曾谴责反动的德国社会，但现在许多重要画家却成了指责政治正确自由主义的反动分子。这些社会现实使他对文化的认知发生了新的变化。他将这些经历作为创作的材料，个体的感受力仅作为潜意识的体悟。他在创作上转向了融合中国的写意和西方的具象表达，结合了叙事和冥想的元素。

​

夏鹏的艺术是对秩序与混沌、叙事与抽象、结构与自由之间平衡的沉思。他的作品邀请观众超越表面进行一段“指东说西，透辟一层”的思考，找到那些不立即显现的空间的意义和神妙的感应。

​

​

Sound Silence Sutras

 

Written by Lu Mei

 

All artists serve as messengers, relaxing the tense and burdensome “mundane body” while transmitting and receiving information.

 

In Xia Peng's paintings, a messenger-like figure frequently emerges, representing his aspiration to embody this role. Are they here to execute commands, or are they in search of answers regarding self and identity?

 

Xia Peng's works, whether drawn from Chinese or Western art history, uniquely engage with the interplay between complexity and simplicity through a brushstroke style that is both expressive and restrained, leaving an air of uncertainty. The blurriness, haziness, and fragmented elements in his compositions inadvertently enhance the dramatic effect. Although the visuals lack a specific structure, the sequencing among the works may highlight the significance of certain elements. Particularly when Xia Peng occasionally emphasizes specific details in his paintings, he often oscillates between abstraction and figuration, creating a dynamic tension that guides the viewer to explore the spatial depth. At times, he subjectively magnifies a detail, transforming this seemingly organic element into the focal point. Some segments may be perceived as in a nascent state; however, the essence of this expression lies in the emphasis on fragility. Xia Peng often presents the edges of his images with a slightly transparent quality and a digitally textured print effect, which reinforces this impression. Such a composition places the viewer in a highly active image space, where angles and the duration spent in front of the painting continually introduce new elements to our consciousness. In this process, we experience a persistent dynamic, akin to the cycles of life and our existence in the world.

 

Xiapeng has lived and worked in Germany for over twenty years. From 2003, when he came to Germany for studies, to 2021, after relocating from Kassel to Berlin in 2015, Xiapeng has undergone a significant evolution in his artistic approach. He began as an ink painter manipulating the canvas, transitioning from a subjective perspective to a focus on the subtle interactions of time and space. Through delicate tones and tranquil compositions, he sought to express these dimensions. His earlier works leaned towards a more abstract aesthetic, where traditional narratives dissolved into a dynamic interplay of complexity and simplicity, typically presented in monochrome. This reflects Xia Peng's ongoing exploration of the boundaries of visual art, aiming to create images that resonate with a sense of harmony and infinite possibilities, unfettered by conventional structures.

 

Since 2022, he has begun to combine self-awareness with the perspectives of others, gradually relinquishing fixed positions and identities while acknowledging misreadings and dislocations, and accepting disorienting dramatic errors. Recently, his work has often been influenced by grand historical narratives, resulting in more generalized themes. In his paintings, he practices the notion of “obscure clarity” as a means to address the subtleties of language, while also anticipating an epiphany and transformation from “seeing the mountain as not a mountain” to “seeing the mountain as still a mountain”. Within his recent mysterious and complex painting scenes, the narrative structure eludes definition. The dramatic imagery appears as if occurring in a parallel universe: one portion of the canvas might feature Eastern Buddhist figures, while another could depict ancient Egyptian statues or some bizarre reptiles, yet they neither form isolated entities nor comprehend the surrounding events, presenting a sense of suspension. Besides the often-present supernatural tranquility, the imagery also incorporates discordant colors, shadowy figures within the layers, sudden appearances of monochrome mountain vistas, or protagonists awkwardly pushed to the edges of the composition. The overall effect resembles allegorical or Zen art, echoing the sentiment of “empty mountains with no one, flowing waters with flowers blooming”. These practices have led him to revisit the exploration of identity issues. As a member of the post-70s generation, after undergoing extensive cultural integration and the observation and expression of diversity, the notion of art as a pure form of free expression seems increasingly untenable under the dual pressures of gender and postcolonial criticism, as well as the commodification of the art market. In contrast, many Western artists have united to defend aesthetic autonomy. Historically, radical artists have condemned the reactionary German society; however, now many prominent painters have become reactionaries critiquing politically correct liberalism. These social realities have prompted a new transformation in his understanding of culture. He utilizes these experiences as material for creation, with individual sensitivity serving merely as a subconscious realization. He has shifted his artistic focus towards a synthesis of Chinese expressive and Western figurative styles, integrating elements of narrative and meditation.

 

Xia Peng's art reflects a contemplation of the balance between order and chaos, narrative and abstraction, structure and freedom. His works invite the viewers to engage in a deeper reflection that transcends the surface, encouraging them to find meaning and elusive connections within those spaces that do not immediately reveal themselves.