童言无忌
文/赵力
曾健勇，一个广东出生、福建成长的青年画者，执着于自己的水墨创作并试图持续地给予观者惊喜。广东和福建，都是中国美术史上的特殊地点：譬如古代有所谓的“闽习”之说，指的就是流行于福建并且影响到浙江、广东、江西等邻近地区的独特的审美习惯和创作方式；在当代，广东、福建出现了像蔡国强、黄永砯、徐坦、郑国谷、陈绍雄等具有影响力的艺术家，他们各自以天马行空的想象力和匪夷所思的创造力，呈现了代表“南中国”的艺术创造力。我知道曾健勇的名字很早，2003年在一个同样来自福建的学生那里看到了他的作品。初步的感受至今仍然清晰，因为曾健勇在当时以一种非常清新活泼的风格而引人入胜。的确，2000年左右的国内画坛可谓是流派杂糅、各自表述，尤其是在水墨画的创作领域，更是缺乏共识、丧失目标。曾健勇的水墨创作，虽出自闽粤，但是他更关注的是当代观念和当代方式，并非纠结于水墨语言的表现甚至是笔墨的藩篱，这同样与闽粤地域文化中不落时流的秉性暗自契合，亦与广东、福建自80年代以来当代创作的勃兴密切相关。曾健勇很快就将自己的创作落实为“大队长”的系列（2007-2008）。这个系列很容易引起大陆观众的共鸣，因为画家将自己的画题聚焦于“童年”，并以“大队长”的突出造型作为画面主角。“童年”，是每一个人生都必经的时光阶段，也是值得不断回忆的一段天真岁月，因此美术史上关于“童年”的描绘何其多矣！但归根到底，不外乎有像穿过“时光隧道”般地将美好童年“情景再现”的，亦有藉助依稀记忆而为时光一去不复唏嘘不已的。在观众眼中，曾健勇的“大队长”系列，或许就是美术史上有关“童年”各种描述的“复杂统一体”：画家既提供了言之凿凿的人物造型--一个或者一群带着领巾的“少先队员”的形象，又具有了不可触摸的距离情境--对应于记忆的依稀而以水墨渲染模糊了观众的视线。曾健勇不是要在这里首鼠两端或者故弄玄虚，因为无论是“情景再现”抑或“藉助记忆”都不是画家所要的最终结果和方式方法。就如同画面中的那个主角--“大队长”那样，曾健勇塑造了它的形象又将其符号化--整齐划一的人物脸庞和人物姿态，描绘了它的身份细节又将其刻意消减--有意识地把“红”领巾、“红”臂章褪色为“黑”或者“灰色”，事实上曾健勇想要讲述的别有深意，却是指向了当代人针对“真实”的复杂矛盾--向往真实又拒绝真相，推崇真实又沉溺幻想--而就“在走与留之间，日子摇曳”（奥克塔维奥·帕斯）。
何谓“真实”？如果丧失“真实”，艺术将会怎样？这些本质性的问题对于曾健勇来说开始变得重要起来了。接下来的《伙伴》系列（2009），是曾健勇沿着针对“真实性”拷问而发展成为有关社会关系的别样讨论。“伙伴”，既是群体的整体概念，也是个体之间的关系命名。为此，曾健勇改变了“大队长”系列中以单个人物为主的描述，大多是以两个一组的方式来建构起画面中的“伙伴”阐释。引人注目的仍然是画家的“破题”方式--将成组的两个分别置于空间的前后位置，而从天而降的一块块帷幕更成为了分割彼此的客观依据--喻指的仍然是当代社会中人与人之间的那种“真实”关系：看似紧密其实疏远，看似亲密其实冷漠。《少年时代》系列（2010），无疑是在“大队长”系列和“伙伴”系列基础上的某种发展，曾健勇以“少年时代”为名，一方面推出了多人组合的“群像”，一方面也持续了单个形象的创作。《高危人群NO．2》、《排队》、《扎堆NO．1》是“少年时代”系列“群像”的代表，但是从作品构图布局上呈现了“纵向排列”、“横向排列”和“挤成一团”等三种方式，虽然在“大队长”系列也出现了各种的“群像”，但是此刻的曾健勇已经通过“群像”而进行了“时代”性的命名。事实是不管这些“群像”是由多少个人数构成，不管这些“群像”是“纵向”、“横向”还是“挤成一团”，个体性的寂寥表情已经衍化为群体性的孤寂情绪，看似牢不可破的时代神话也就此崩塌为不可名状的不安与忧伤。或许曾健勇认为“少年时代”是童年时代的“成长版”，而成长必然会经历那些的“少年维特之烦恼”，于是“失眠”也就成为了某种烦忧的代指，进而引申为日常生活中“肉体”与“精神”双重摧残的某种体验。《失眠NO．7》、《失眠NO．8》，描绘的是个体性的“失眠”，圆睁的“大眼睛”已将这种状态强调到了极致，焦虑而不安的情绪跃然纸上；《失眠NO．1》虽然抛离开了具体的“失眠”场景，但是它以空旷的背景将孤独的情境加以突出；《失眠NO．3》以四个单张拼接而成，形成了“失眠”的“群像”效果，回应的仍然是“少年时代”特征的整体概括。“夜游”系列（2009-2010），是时间跨度较长的一个作品系列，呈现的是曾健勇从“大队长”系列的身份反思→“伙伴”系列的关系研究→“少年时代”的状态阐释的共时性线索。“夜游”系列，大致可以分为“设色”的和“墨色”的两个部份，暗示的或许是“白天”和“夜晚”的两个情境，然而它们的共性是开始呈现出了与“真实性”截然不同的另一面--“虚构”，即如“白日梦”或者“梦游”似的状态。虚构，无疑是另外一种叙述的方式，看似荒诞不经其实未尝不是一种剥离开实物外表之后的“真实”存在。实际上，当曾健勇沿着对真实性的不断拷问而从生活的外表走向生活的内核之时，他已然认识到所谓的“真实”只存在于有限的范围之内，而现实生活中的“虚假”来自于我们内心的虚假，现实生活中的“真实”亦来自于真情实感的投射。因此，艺术对于真实性的深究并不意味着必须一味以艺术为工具而对外界世界之真相的锲而不舍，或许转而返观内心般的刨根问底才是出路。
在“夜游”系列中，曾健勇尚未完全转向虚构，只是藉助于真实和虚拟的互渗穿插以形成梦幻般的言说，对应于情绪化的状态而展现出似是而非的莫名情境。但是到了2011年之后，曾健勇的创作似乎不再纠缠于真实与现实之间的是是非非，更倾向于从自己内心出发去建构一个属于自我的真实世界。曾健勇认为这样的建构方式才是具有现实意义的艺术方法论，它代表了艺术家针对当代社会中种种荒谬和破坏的本质否定，代表了艺术家针对现实世界中高高在上的道德、理想和文化的价值怀疑。显而易见的是，曾健勇采取了某种“童话”式的叙述方式，并以此有意识地与现实生活保持距离。或许有人会将曾健勇的创作与超现实主义的方式联系在一起，然而超现实主义的特征是致力于探索人类经验的先验层面，力求突破合乎现实的逻辑和真实的现实观，尝试将现实观念与本能、潜意识与梦的经验的结合杂糅，以展现一种绝对的或者超然的真实情景。即便曾健勇也强调超离现实的建构目的，但是画家并未赞赏“纯精神的自动反应”，或者推崇无意识和潜意识的“彼岸”世界，而是听从善良纯真的人类天性，以幻想色彩的虚构叙事并藉助丰富的想象、夸张的手法和象征的寓意来折射生活。于是，曾健勇的作品出现了奇特的艺术效果，充满了出人意料的形象比喻，在这些具有“童话”色彩的画面中，没有晦涩难懂的哲理，没有高深莫测的逻辑，只有通俗生动的娓娓道来以及平铺直叙的坦诚告白。曾健勇让来自“大队长”系列、“伙伴”系列、“少年时代”系列和“夜游”系列的“小伙伴”们一起参与进来，“扮演”起了各种各样的角色。事实是“扮演”是画家非常有意思的人物处理方式，它既有人为预设的明显企图，同时也增加了虚构描述的故事性；“扮演”也让人物造型更为经典化，“那个男孩”和“那个女孩”成为了叙事中的“主角”，“他”和“她”不断参与到各个场景之中，构成了表面不同但情绪贯穿的“剧情”主线。虽然“主角”已定，然而“配角”总是丰富而变化的。在曾健勇的一些画面中，曾经的“配角”却出人意表地提升为了主角，就像“还上枝头”系列（2012）中的描绘，这里没有了“他”和“她”的出场，却有了“它”和“它们”的叙事。在曾健勇最近的作品中，“童话”的世界仍在继续，“童话”的叙事仍在展开，除了因“风景”的层出不穷所产生的插曲不断之外，变化的是画面里愈加弥漫着的暖暖温情。或许随着年龄的增长，画家对于“美好的童话更接近真相”也愈加信奉。的确，曾健勇试图以某种自我言说的“童话”方式，让我们信服那些纯真而美好的人间真相。亦如所谓的“童言无忌”，画家由此也打破了有关艺术的固有约束，让自己的创作天马行空、无拘无束，最终成为了自我寻真的独特方式。
赵力
English：
Children speak the truth
Zeng Jianyong，a young artist who was born in Guangdong and grew up in Fujian，is obsessed with ink and watercolor paintings and is always keen to surprise his viewers. The provinces of Guangdong and Fujian are special places in the history of Chinese art. In ancient times, the term "mingxi", or "Fujian style", specifically referred to the artistic style and creative features that were popular in Fujian and had influence in neighboring areas such as Zhejiang, Guangdong and Jiangxi. Today, Fujian and Guangdong are home to a group of influential artists, such as Cai Guoqiang, Huang Yongping, Xu Tan, Zheng Guogu and Chen Shaoxiong, whose rich imagination and creativity represent the dynamic art of southern China. I got to know Zeng Jianyong fairly early when in 2003 a student who was also from Fujian introduced me to some of his works. My original impression of the works remains clear to this day, as the paintings were fresh and lively, each fascinating in its own way. In fact, Chinese art in the early 2000s was very diverse and expressive. This was especially true for ink and watercolor paintings, where there was an absence of consensus and common goals. Before long, Zeng Jianyong put his efforts into the "Header" series (2007 - 2008). At the time it was a series that could easily strike a chord with the Chinese audience, as the artist focused his subject matter on "childhood" and used the image of a "Header" as the protagonist. Since "childhood" is an unavoidable yet innocent and memorable period in one's life, there are countless representations of "childhood" in the history of art. But in a general, these works either represent beautiful childhood scenes seemingly brought back by reverse time travel, or vague memories that have survived the irreversible flow of time. To viewers, the "Header" series seem to carry the complexity of all kinds of representations of "childhood" in the history of art. On the one hand, the artist presents a solid figure, the image of a single or a group of "Young Pioneers" in scarves; on the other hand, he creates a distance - corresponding to the vagueness of the memory - by using ink and watercolors to blur the viewer's vision. Here, Zeng Jianyong is not in two minds or trying deliberately to be mystifying, because depicting "a childhood scene" or "a vague memory" is not the artist's goal. Just like the protagonists in the "Header" series, Zeng Jianyong gives the image a symbolic meaning by using featureless faces and postures. He depicts the details of the protagonists' identities, but deliberately changes the red color of the scarf and armband to black or grey. It is true that what Zeng Jianyong wants to express has deeper meaning. He is referring to society's contradictory attitude toward "truth" - people yearn for it but refuse to accept it, worship it but are addicted to fantasy. As Octavio Paz puts it, "Between going and staying, the day wavers."
What is truth? What will happen to art when it stops telling the truth? In Zeng Jianyong's works, such fundamental questions become increasingly important. The "Friends" series (2009) is a discussion of social relationships developed from Zeng Jianyong's enquiry of "the truth". "Friends" is both a collective concept and a term for a type of relationship between individuals. For this reason, instead of depicting one single character, as in the "Header" series, Zeng Jianyong employs a group of two people to illustrate "friends" in the new series. What is noteworthy in the way the artist presents this theme is that he places one of the two people in the forefront and the other in the background with a curtain separating them. It is a metaphor for "the truth" of human relationships in modern society: People look like they are close, but in fact they are far away from each other; they seem intimate, but in fact they are indifferent. The "Childhood Days" series (2010) is no doubt a continuation of the themes found in the "Header" and "Friends" series. Under the series title "Childhood Days", Zeng Jianyong presents group portraits of several characters while at the same time also depicting single characters in his works. "Endangered Group No 2", "Queuing", and "Crowds No 1" are representative of the group images in the "Childhood Days" series. They display three different ways of composition: vertical formation, horizontal formation, and cramming into a crowd. There are various group images in the "Header" series, but this time, Zeng Jianyong leaves a mark of the times on his group images. In fact, no matter how many individuals are in these group images and no matter whether they are arranged vertically, horizontally or just crammed together, the lonely expression on each individual's face forms a collective loneliness. Consequently, a seemingly unbreakable modern myth is shattered by sorrow. Perhaps Zeng Jianyong believes the "Childhood Days" is the "grown-up version" of the earlier period and it is inevitable for one to suffer "the sorrows of young Werther" when one grows up. Therefore, "insomnia" becomes the signifier of some sort of sorrow, with further reference to the physical and mental suffering of daily life. "Insomnia No 7" and "Insomnia No 8" display the insomnia suffered by an individual, whose big, wide-open eyes dramatize this mental status, full of obvious anxiety and unease. Although "Insomnia No 1" does not depict insomnia with a specific image, it emphasizes the feeling of loneliness with a wide and open background. "Insomnia No 3" consists of four single images that together constitute a group image of insomnia. It is a summary of the general characteristics of the "Childhood Days" series. The "Night Tour" series (2009 - 2010) covers a long period of time. It represents Zeng Jianyong's multiple explorations starting from his reflections on identity in the "Header" series, to the study of relationships in the "Friends" series, on to the elaboration of these themes in the "Childhood Days" series. The "Night Tour" series can be divided into two parts: those with watercolors, and those with water and ink, perhaps indicating day and night respectively. However, both represent fiction, the opposite to "truth", as a situation similar to daydreaming or sleepwalking. No doubt, fiction is an alternative narrative. It looks absurd, but in fact could be a kind of "truthful" reality when stripped of its superficial outfit. In fact, as Zeng Jianyong's enquiry of the truth leads him from the surface to the core of life, he realizes that the so-called "truth" only exists in limited parameters, and the "phoniness" in our lives has roots in the phoniness of our heart, just as "the truth" in real life reflects the true feelings of our heart. In this sense, an artistic enquiry of the truth does not necessarily mean to use art as a means to relentlessly search for the truth in the outside world. Perhaps the right way is to just turn around to review and reflect on our inner world.
Zeng Jianyong has not yet shifted to fiction completely in the "Night Tour" series. He shifts back and forth between fiction and reality and only uses tales from dreamlike scenarios created during these shifts to suggest the uneasiness caused by emotional sways. After 2011, however, Zeng Jianyong stops taking sides on either reality or fiction. He focuses more on constructing an authentic, self-sufficient inner world in his own heart. He also believes that it is this kind of construction that has realistic significance in the artistic methodology. This represents the artist's denial of the absurdity and damage prevalent in modern society, as well as his doubts toward the value of seemingly superior morality, idealism and culture in the real world.
Obviously, Zeng Jianyong adopts the narrative of the fairytale style and consciously keeps a distance to the real world. One might compare Zeng Jianyong's work to surrealism, but surrealism features the exploration of the unconscious, seeking to break down the logic and true reality and attempting to juxtapose realistic concepts with human instincts, unconsciousness and dreamscapes in order to present an absolute or superior reality. Even though Zeng Jianyong emphasizes the reconstruction of reality, he is not in favor of "pure psychic automatism". Nor is he a big fan of the unconscious or subconscious world. He focuses on the kind and innocent human nature, hoping to reflect real life by using fictional narratives with imagination, dramatization and metaphors. That is why Zeng Jianyong's work has amazing artistic effect and is full of surprising metaphors. There is no obscure morality or enigmatic logic in his fairytale-like pictures, only lively, accessible narratives and honest confessions. He invites the children from the "Header" series, the "Childhood Days" series and the "Night Tour" series to play various roles. In fact, role-playing is an interesting character treatment by the artist. It has an obvious purpose and helps strengthen the fictional storytelling. Meanwhile, role-playing makes the characters look more classic. When "the boy" and "the girl" play the "lead roles" in the stories depicted in the paintings, and when "he" and "she" appear frequently in different settings with only superficial differences but the same feelings and emotions, they become the storyline. The "supporting roles" are always rich and changeable once the "lead roles" are set. In some of Zeng Jianyong's paintings, the former "supporting role" is surprisingly promoted to take on the "lead role". As in the "Back onto the Branches" series (2012), instead of a story about "him" or "her", it is about "it" and "them".
The fairytale world still exists and the fairytale is still unfolding in Zeng Jianyong's latest works. What is different, besides the changing interludes that keep pace with the emerging landscapes, is the growing warmth in his pictures. Maybe as he becomes older, the artist believes that "beautiful fairytales are closer to the truth". Indeed, Zeng Jianyong is attempting to use his self-expressive fairytales to convince us of the beautiful, innocent truth of society. And just like the saying "children speak the truth", the artist has broken down the conventional constraints of art, liberated his unlimited creativity and found a unique way of seeking the truth.
By Zhao Li
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