2024年8月21日新增
跨越时空的流变
——艺术家郭宏峰绘画观感
作者 : 倪卫华
译者：潘娜
Transformations Across Time and Space
——The Perception of artist Guo Hongfeng’s paintings
Author: Weihua Ni
Translator：Penny Pan
引言 :
郭宏峰是一位执着的实验者，他把实验过程当作结果断寻找、发现他图像世界里的结构、光影和肌理， 以及那些转折、穿插、叠层与熔融中的结合点、临界面和色彩阈值；就像一个古代炼金术士，不厌其烦、持之以恒地去淬炼出连他自己都会惊讶的视觉奇观。
Introduction:
Guo Hongfeng is a devoted experimenter who even regards the process of experimentation as an outcome in itself. Tirelessly, he seeks and discovers the structures, light, shadows, and textures within his world of images as well as the points of intersection, interfaces, thresholds, and color gradations in twists, layers, and fusions. Like an ancient alchemist, he persistently refines to create visual wonders that even astonish him.
逃脱桎梏:当代绘画语言的实验
自艺术从传统经验中获得解放以来，当代绘画的语言实验越来越呈现出开放性的特征，无论是西方还是中国的艺术家们都既想从现当代艺术文脉中获得养料，又想从艺术史强大的桎梏中逃脱，寻找属于自身的语言体系和符号辨识度。尽管如此，要想突破并形成新的语言迭代依然十分艰难。
剑走偏锋:选择水彩、构建新生
而郭宏峰总是剑走偏锋，以最小众和最不受主流关注的水彩画作为基点来探索他的语言形式，这可谓是难上加 难，但他似乎毫不畏惧、执意前行。在一系列的材料和方法的实验之后，他越来越摆脱掉水彩画固有的视觉经验，转而将水彩变异为一种全新的实验媒介，并结合其他材料的融合和创新性的艺术观念去改造它和重构它，从而让它获得新生。郭宏峰就是这样一位执着的实验者，他甚至把实验过程当作结果来看待，不厌其烦地去寻找、去发现他图像世界里结构、光影和肌理，那些转折、穿插、叠层与熔融中的结合点、临界面以及色彩阈值。他就像一个古代炼金术士，不厌其烦、持之以恒地去淬炼出连他自己都会惊讶的视觉奇观。
Breaking Free from Shackles: Experiments in the Language of Contemporary Painting
Since art has gained liberation from traditional experiences, the linguistic experimentation of contemporary painting has increasingly showcased an open characteristic. Whether in the West or China, artists strive to draw nourishment from modern artistic contexts while escaping the powerful constraints of art history, seeking their own language system and symbolic recognition. Nevertheless, breaking through and forming new iterations of language remains a formidable challenge.
Choosing an Alternative Path: Embracing Watercolor, Cultivating New Beginnings
Guo Hongfeng often chooses an alternative path, using the less mainstream medium of watercolor as a foundation to explore his language forms. This is indeed a difficult endeavor, yet he seems undaunted and resolutely continues his journey. Through a series of material and methodological experiments, he gradually sheds the inherent visual experiences of watercolor paintings and transforms the medium into a completely new experimental channel. By integrating other materials and innovative artistic concepts, he redefines and reconstructs watercolor, giving it new life.
Guo Hongfeng is a devoted experimenter who even regards the process of experimentation as an outcome in itself. Tirelessly, he seeks and discovers the structures, light, shadows, and textures within his world of images as well as points of intersection, interfaces, thresholds, and color gradations in twists, layers, and fusions. Like an ancient alchemist, he persistently refines to create visual wonders that even astonish him.
特立独行:跨界人生的气质与张力
郭宏峰“不合时宜”地以绘画为媒介，进行着关乎他世界观的构境，这既是对神性宇宙的叹，又是对不测未来的某种警示。究其原因，郭宏峰其人特立独行的性格可能造就了他绘画中独有的气质，更为重要的是，他几十年跌宕的精彩跨界人生经历也为他的绘画叙事提供了丰富的精神养料。
我与郭宏峰的初次相识是在三十多年前我曾工作过的某大型国企，当时他随全国各大高校的青年教师一起来上 海进行为期半年的社会实践。我俩因对新生事物的好奇心和对艺术的热爱而结识，并成为一生的挚友。几十年来， 尽管各自都忙于不同的事业，但为数不多的见面总能碰擦出思想的火花。我俩交流的方向都围绕社会上发生的 新事物和新观念，以及对当下艺术现象的看法。越深入，我越是感受到他身上那种用不完的劲儿。
他不仅做过大学教授和园林设计院院长，居然还染指过配音、电台主持等毫不相干的众多职业。而每当谈及他 的绘画艺术，他总是谦虚得像个小学生一样请我提各种各样的意见。记得十来年前，他常常在工作之余画一些 水彩小品，我从中看到了某种语言张力和驾驭画面的灵性。而这几年，他的艺术“野心”似乎突然膨胀了，开始 进行高密集和规模化的实验性创作，作品的尺幅也越来越大。为此，我经常收到他从微信或小红书发来的新作 品图片。我常常在想，他的这种绘画气质以及对世界、对事物的感知能力，或许得益于他在丰富的跨界经历中 所获取的边缘知识和能力，也得益于他周游世界所生成的关于东西方文化对比的独特领悟力。
Unconventional: The Temperament and Tension of a Cross-Disciplinary Life
Guo Hongfeng “inappropriately” uses paintings as a medium to construct a worldview that reflects both an admiration for the Divine of the universe and a warning about the uncertainty of the future. This inclination can be attributed to his unique personality, which has shaped the distinctive quality of his art. What is more, his decades of dramatic and exciting cross-disciplinary experiences have provided rich spiritual nourishment for his artistic narrative.
I first met Guo Hongfeng over thirty years ago at a large state-owned enterprise where I once worked. He had come to Shanghai for a six-month social practice program with young teachers from universities across the country. Our shared curiosity for new things and love for art brought us together, and we became lifelong friends. Over the decades, despite being busy with our respective careers, our rare meetings always spark insightful conversations. Our discussions revolve around new phenomena and ideas in society, as well as our perspectives on contemporary art. The deeper we delve, the more I feel the inexhaustible energy within him.
He used to work as a university professor as well as director of a landscape design institute, and has even dabbled in unrelated fields such as voice acting and radio hosting. Whenever we discuss his artistic endeavors, he humbly seeks my opinions as if he were a schoolboy. I remember about ten years ago, he often created small watercolor pieces in his spare time, from which I could see a certain linguistic tension and a spiritual command of the canvas. In recent years, however, his artistic “ambition” seems to have suddenly expanded, leading him to undertake densely packed and large-scale experimental creations. Consequently, I frequently receive images of his new works via WeChat or Red.
I often wonder if his artistic temperament and perceptive abilities regarding the world and its phenomena stem from the marginal knowledge and skills he has acquired through his diverse cross-disciplinary experiences, as well as the unique insights he has gained from traveling around the world and comparing Eastern and Western cultures.
走火入魔:少年 Guo 的奇幻探索
每每观看郭宏峰的绘画新作，总是能带给我一种惊艳脱俗的视觉享受，这是我在各大美术馆、画廊和艺术博览会上很少体验到的。
郭宏峰的绘画从水彩起步，继而发展到以水溶性颜料作为主要媒介进行创作。他往往以水彩为基底，辅以各种 丙烯色(如荧光色、金属色、珠光色)、塑型膏等材质进行语言实验，最近又开始尝试用 3D 笔介入其中，从而愈加丰富了他画作中的视觉肌理效果。他对各种材料和方法的尝试可说是无所不用其极。在他于杭州举办的小型个展上，我还从他很多绘画中看到他运用了一些粘贴、撕扯胶带和纸面的特殊手法，并取得了非常惊艳的 视觉效果。一次，他打电话给我，请教用不同品牌的颜料画起来的效果有何不同?怎样才能交融出特别的色彩 效果?可见他对材料语言的探索和尝试有多么的“走火入魔”。也因此，每当看到他的新作，我总会惊愕于他画 面上的创新性视觉效果 ---- 因为我每次总能发现那种不可思议的奇妙。
他的色彩运用、肌理效果之处理总是互动互补、相得益彰，很多画面色彩看起来如同哈勃和韦伯望远镜拍摄到 的宇宙深空，未知空间的色彩组合——流变中闪耀着灵光，毁灭中孕育着新生，交织中碰擦出耀斑!他的色彩有融合也有冲突，有停歇也有穿插，有平铺也有闪点 ...... 总之，无论怎样去排列组合都不违和，还能让观者激 发出莫名兴奋的多巴胺。
The Obsession of Exploration: The Fantastical Journey of Young Guo
Every time I see Guo Hongfeng's new paintings, I am consistently captivated by an extraordinary visual experience, something I rarely encounter in major art museums, galleries, or art fairs.
Guo’s painting journey began with watercolors, which evolved into the use of water-soluble pigments as his primary medium. He often starts with a watercolor base, complementing it with various acrylic colors (such as fluorescent, metallic, and pearl-luster), modeling paste, and other materials for language experimentation. Recently, he has even begun incorporating a 3D pen, further enriching the visual texture of his works. His exploration of different materials and methods is truly limitless. During a small solo exhibition he held in Hangzhou, I noticed that many of his paintings employed unique techniques such as collaging, tearing tape, and manipulating paper surfaces, resulting in stunning visual effects.
Once, he called me to discuss the differences in effects achieved with various brands of paint and how to create particularly special color combinations. This clearly illustrates his passionate obsession with exploring and experimenting with material language. Therefore, every time I see his new works, I’m always amazed by the innovative visual effects—each time revealing something astonishingly magical. His use of color and texture is always interactive and complementary, enhancing one another; Many of his color palettes evoke the deep space captured by the Hubble and Webb telescopes, with combinations that suggest unknown realms—shimmering with life amidst destruction, birthing new beginnings from chaos, and sparking flares of brilliance through intertwining forms! His color choices embody both harmony and conflict, stillness and movement, flatness and points of light… In short, no matter how they are arranged, the combinations resonate beautifully, igniting an inexplicable surge of dopamine in the viewer.
抽象表达:突破与破坏，不确定的未来感
当然，形式方法的革新、材料色彩的实验都是为他所要营造的图像服务的。郭宏峰的图像初看起来是一种抽象表达;但仔细探究，又觉得有很多奇妙的联想跃然眼前。
美国著名艺术评论家哈尔·福斯特认为“抽象绘画也是对绘画性语言的破坏。关于真理和动机的旧秩序被消解了， 而一种焦虑和随意性的新氛围又出现了，这种困境则是如今我们已然忘却的。在我看来，抽象主义就是这样的 一个症结(Crux)，具有突破和破坏的双重性，而如果我们不能尽可能完整地呈现其最根本的复杂含混之处， 那么无论是从历史研究还是理论解析而言，都不能算是公正地对待它”。
抽象艺术就是这么一种复杂的存在，它既是哲学现象学层面的，也是心理学层面的，甚至是社会学层面的。它是一种无所对应又极具对应性的滑动能指，而郭宏峰的抽象表达就是一种叠加态的、不确定的、又若有所指的 动态能指。它们看起来既是一种破坏，也是某种程度上的再生和重构。我们从他的画面中可以感受到一种工业风， 和对未来科技质感的强烈暗示。
它似乎把我们引入一部纷杂旖旎的科幻大片场景，让我们穿越时光隧道而进入未来世界的陌生境地，去感受那 惊艳绝伦的流变瞬间(如《索拉里斯海》、《燃脂》、《出位》等)。在整体呈现抽象结构的画面中，有时候 我们还可以依稀看到类似电脑键盘的局部(《算法下的矿石系列》)和一些对称性镜像组合的神性图腾(《星 际穿越》、《域外生物》等);有时候，又能从他的画中辨认出横贯星空的琴弦和飞扬的音符(《时光音符》) 的光影律动(如《触》、《恶》)和光速般穿越星际空间的场景(《寻找各种可能性》)，等等。
这些上天入地的诗意幻象让人感到既陌生又熟悉，似乎在诉说着人类对宇宙谜团永无止境的探索，和置身其中那种无可奈何的漂泊。
Abstract Expression: Breakthrough and Destruction, Uncertain Futurity
Of course, the innovation of form and method, as well as the experimentation with materials and colors, all serve the images that Guo Hongfeng aims to create. At first glance, his imagery appears to be an abstract expression; however, upon closer examination, many wondrous associations come to light.
The renowned American art critic Hal Foster believes that "abstract painting is also a destruction of pictorial language. The old order regarding truth and motive has been dissolved, and a new atmosphere of anxiety and randomness has emerged—a predicament that we have long forgotten. In my view, abstraction represents such a crux, possessing a duality of breakthroughs and destruction. If we cannot present its most fundamental complexities as completely as possible, then neither historical research nor theoretical analysis can be considered fair to it."
Abstract art is indeed such a complex existence; It encompasses philosophical phenomenology, psychological dimensions, and even sociological aspects. It is a sliding signifier that has no direct reference yet is highly significant; Guo Hongfeng’s abstract expressions represent a superimposed state—dynamic, uncertain, and yet suggestive. They seem to embody both destruction and, to some extent, rebirth and reconstruction. From his paintings, we can sense an industrial aesthetic along with a strong implication of future technological qualities.
It seems to immerse us in a chaotic and enchanting sci-fi film scene, transporting us through a time tunnel into the unfamiliar realm of the future, allowing us to experience those breathtaking moments of flux (as seen in works like "Solaris Sea," "Burning Fat," and "Out-of-Place"). Within the overall presentation of abstract structures, we sometimes catch glimpses of details reminiscent of computer keyboards (from the "Minerals under Algorithms Series") and divine totems featuring symmetrical mirror combinations (like "Interstellar Crossing" and "Extraterrestrial Life"). At other times, we can discern the light and shadow rhythms of strings spanning the starry sky and soaring musical notes (as in "Time Notes") in his paintings (such as in "Touch" and "Evil") and scenes of light-speed traverses through interstellar space (such as "Exploring Various Possibilities"), and etc.
These otherworldly poetic illusions evoke feelings that are both strange and familiar, seemingly narrating humanity's endless exploration of the mysteries of the universe, as well as the sense of aimless drifting that comes with being immersed within it.
学院派艺术与跨界艺术之争一直是业界的热门话题，我坚持认为:艺术从本质上讲应该是无限可能的开放体系，风格和经验传承固然重要，但它也意味着某种滞后。换句话说，所谓的专业经验和知识获取越多，所受到的规 训和桎梏也越多。反之，运用跨界经验和方法介入艺术，尽管缺乏参照系，所走之路也更为曲折崎岖，但一旦激发出艺术家的内在能量，就有可能打开一片广阔天地。这既需要艺术家用自己的方式去学习吸收专业知识，更需要他们通过实践去反复训练、迭代和更新自己的语言方式。从这个意义上说，郭宏峰的艺术既是专业的， 也是国际化的。作为老朋友和艺术知音，我真心期待郭宏峰的艺术之路越走越宽，期待他颇具跨界基因的独特 绘画艺术带给我们更多的惊喜。
The ongoing debate between academic art and cross-disciplinary art has always been a hot topic in the industry. I firmly believe that art, in essence, should be an open system of infinite possibilities. While style and the inheritance of experience are undoubtedly important, they also imply a certain stagnation. In other words, the more professional experience and knowledge one acquires, the more disciplined and constrained they become. On the contrary , when one engages with art through cross-disciplinary experiences and methods, the path may be more winding and rugged, lacking a reference point. However, once the artist's inner energy is stimulated, it is possible to open up a vast realm.
This requires artists to learn and absorb professional knowledge in their own way, and also needs them to continually practice, iterate, and update their forms of expression through experience. In this sense, Guo Hongfeng's art is both professional and international. As an old friend and artistic confidant, I sincerely look forward to Guo Hongfeng's artistic journey becoming broader and broader. I anticipate that his unique painting art, which has a distinctive cross-disciplinary gene, will bring us even more surprises!