黎里

作為一個(gè)藝術(shù)的“門外漢”，其實(shí)我是看不太懂楊鵬誠的作品的——集印象派、結(jié)構(gòu)主義于一身的畫，總是需要觀者更多的想象力;但是作為一個(gè)經(jīng)常訪談藝術(shù)界人士的人，我和楊鵬誠聊起關(guān)于藝術(shù)的話題，卻是很愉悅的。因?yàn)槲腋P(guān)注他身上體現(xiàn)出的一種朝氣、一種精神——當(dāng)下中國青年畫家常顯現(xiàn)出的突破和包容。特別是他談起藝術(shù)時(shí)的那種熱情和昂揚(yáng)的情緒，讓人覺得他真是一位認(rèn)真的、努力的藝術(shù)家，正向著自己選定的路不斷前進(jìn)。

楊鵬誠剛剛參加完第41屆紐約國際藝術(shù)博覽會(huì)，獲得了本次博覽會(huì)的卓越獎(jiǎng)。這次獲獎(jiǎng)，是對他自大學(xué)畢業(yè)以來12年藝術(shù)之路探索的一個(gè)國際性的認(rèn)可，證明了他作品的價(jià)值，也是他開始邁向國際藝術(shù)界的一個(gè)重要節(jié)點(diǎn)。此前，他那些不安分的突破欲望，仿佛正是為了此刻的收獲。

美國最大的中文報(bào)紙《世界日報(bào)》評價(jià)他的畫作時(shí)稱，“通過照片肖像，進(jìn)行超出空間、引發(fā)無限想像的創(chuàng)作，讓人在看畫的時(shí)候產(chǎn)生‘又像又不像的感覺，獨(dú)特地感受畫作的多樣性”。

不安分的畫家

楊鵬誠是一個(gè)畫著畫著就出戲的畫家。

他是學(xué)中國畫出身，小時(shí)練書法，后開始練習(xí)國畫，高中畢業(yè)后考入中國美院國畫系。你以為他會(huì)沿著中國水墨畫的道路走下去？不是的。對于他來說，考入美院國畫系只是意味著他的藝術(shù)之路的開始。

在本科求學(xué)期間，學(xué)習(xí)中國畫優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)技法的同時(shí)，他開始大量接觸西方的繪畫語言，并嘗試著將它們?nèi)谌胱约旱膰嬜髌分?。那?huì)兒就有同學(xué)對他說：你不適合畫傳統(tǒng)國畫，你的畫很超前。

2007年畢業(yè)時(shí)，同學(xué)們各奔前程。時(shí)至今日，仍堅(jiān)守在藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作一線的同學(xué)已是寥寥。而當(dāng)時(shí)，楊鵬誠則是不假思索地決定走專職畫家之路。他第一時(shí)間租了個(gè)房子，建立了自己的工作室，一畫便是3年。這3年對于楊鵬誠來說，意義匪淺，因?yàn)樵谶@時(shí)期，他開始認(rèn)真地思考自己的未來藝術(shù)之路，并開始形成自己的畫風(fēng)。

沒有了學(xué)業(yè)考核壓力，楊鵬誠瞬間釋放出巨大的探索熱情，他結(jié)合借助多種西方繪畫材料，運(yùn)用國畫的意境、技法，體現(xiàn)出不同文化背景下的藝術(shù)差異，并試圖尋找出一種沖突中的和諧。

有一天，一位從事藝術(shù)收藏的藏家找到他說，我?guī)湍戕k個(gè)畫展吧。于是，《朋鳥言成》抽象畫展在杭州加納藝術(shù)機(jī)構(gòu)開幕，展出了他的30余幅抽象畫。他的大學(xué)啟蒙老師來看了畫展，對楊鵬誠說了一句話：去北京吧，那兒才是你的天空。

楊鵬誠沒有猶豫，立刻背起畫板前往著名的北京宋莊畫家村，成為“北漂畫家”，這一待，就是8年。

北京宋莊，這是一個(gè)很奇特的地方。一個(gè)藝術(shù)家，可以在這里汲取大量的藝術(shù)信息，由此而成長而自信而成功;也可以因太多牛人的存在，由此自卑由此不蹶一振。年輕的楊鵬誠在這里則是如魚得水，直到現(xiàn)在談起宋莊，他都會(huì)兩眼放光，覺得那實(shí)在是個(gè)寶地，讓他更多地了解世界是怎樣看待中國藝術(shù)的。他的工作室也一直設(shè)在宋莊，沒有搬離。

這8年的探索，讓他形成了自己的藝術(shù)理論：藝術(shù)總是處在時(shí)代里的，是要與自己發(fā)生關(guān)系的。國畫是傳統(tǒng)藝術(shù)，傳承很必要，但是我們學(xué)到的東西必須與現(xiàn)在的我們有關(guān)系并掛鉤，而不是和一千多年前的古人掛鉤。他們的思想不是我們的思想，他們的審美情趣未必是現(xiàn)代人的審美情趣。

不安分的畫

正如文為心聲，畫，同樣也是一位畫家內(nèi)心世界的真實(shí)寫照。

楊鵬誠的畫，和他一樣不安分。他的作品早已脫離出中國畫的范疇，直奔西方印象畫派而去，無論是筆觸還是繪畫材料?，F(xiàn)代西方美術(shù)史的各個(gè)流派，解構(gòu)主義、超現(xiàn)實(shí)主義、表現(xiàn)派等等，都能在他的畫中找到影子。而他的畫嚴(yán)格說來又并不屬于西方美術(shù)，因?yàn)槔锩嬗钟兄罅康闹袊嬙?，比如線條、色彩等等，甚至是畫畫的材料。

在早期的作品中，他已經(jīng)開始運(yùn)用皮紙、布料等材料，結(jié)合西方油畫的技法去表現(xiàn)中國重彩。他創(chuàng)造了一大批重彩作品，都是使用了皮紙和布料，在這些材料上作畫，顏料很難著色，但他通過西方油畫的筆觸疊加來表現(xiàn)，克服了技術(shù)難度;而在畫的結(jié)構(gòu)上，還對傳統(tǒng)圖式進(jìn)行了解構(gòu)，拉開了與傳統(tǒng)工筆重彩畫的距離，畫完后再用國畫的托裱方式去呈現(xiàn)。有一次他無意中接觸到硫酸銅溶液，天空般純凈的藍(lán)色頓時(shí)讓他產(chǎn)生了濃厚的興趣，由此，他的畫作有了更為豐富的層次和肌理?！妒澜缛請?bào)》在評價(jià)其早期作品時(shí)認(rèn)為，“其早期作品在本就充滿視覺張力的畫作上加入皮影、剪紙等元素，在一塊畫布上充分發(fā)揮想像力，雖天馬行空又不失動(dòng)感韻律”。

創(chuàng)作的過程很漫長，思考的過程更加漫長。楊鵬誠會(huì)先選擇他喜歡的素材，比如以兒童畫作為基礎(chǔ)，一遍遍地增加，一遍遍地刪減，還會(huì)剪裁和拼貼其他元素，比如線條以及不規(guī)則圖案……看似無邏輯，但是每個(gè)位置卻都不是隨意擺放的，有的是憑直覺，有的看審美效果，而有些是進(jìn)入狀態(tài)后順其自然的羅列。這便是楊鵬誠努力想突破并達(dá)到的——在破壞和重塑中達(dá)到東西方藝術(shù)的有機(jī)融合。

東西方藝術(shù)交融的探索成功與否，重要的是在于觀展者的反應(yīng)。2017年楊鵬誠參加了法國戛納國際藝術(shù)展，這是他的畫作首次在國外展出，不錯(cuò)的反響促使他緊接著在第二年參加了第40屆紐約國際藝術(shù)博覽會(huì)。而博覽會(huì)上發(fā)生的一件事，讓他十分開心。

當(dāng)時(shí)有一位觀展者在一幅抽象人物肖像作品前駐足許久，看完出門后折了回來，又在這幅畫前看了許久。他最后找到楊鵬誠問：你這幅畫賣嗎？我實(shí)在太喜歡了。而且，我覺得它和我很有緣，因?yàn)槲宜伎嫉臅r(shí)候也喜歡像畫里的人那樣手托著腦袋，我要把它掛在我的書房里。這位想買畫的人，是美國一所常春藤名校的一位教授。

而今年，楊鵬誠的畫又被一位臺(tái)灣畫廊老板收藏。

在國際交流的過程中，楊鵬誠也逐漸對中國書畫如何走向世界，如何打破東西方藝術(shù)之間的壁壘越來越有自己的想法。不同文化背景差異是必然存在的，無法避免，那么又怎么理解“藝術(shù)家有國界而藝術(shù)無國界”這句話呢？為什么有的現(xiàn)代國畫作品不被認(rèn)可，而有的則被認(rèn)可呢？楊鵬誠覺得，關(guān)鍵在于傳承背后的創(chuàng)新，如果藝術(shù)品沒有創(chuàng)新，那么就是在重復(fù)著古人的思想，那為什么不直接去看流傳了千百年的名畫，而要來看現(xiàn)代人畫的古畫呢？一些作品不被認(rèn)可的原因也在于此，因?yàn)椤澳銈儺嫷牟皇亲约?，畫的只是你們的祖宗”?/p>

楊鵬誠的畫還在路上，遠(yuǎn)沒有盡頭，而正是這樣的創(chuàng)作狀態(tài)，讓人對他更有期待。不管楊鵬誠的藝術(shù)之路會(huì)走到哪一步，前行總是比停留更讓人看到未來的希望。

Yang Pengcheng in Search of Breakthrough

By Li Li

It would not be easy to understand Yang Pengchengs paintings， I think， but it is a huge pleasure to talk with him about his art and his pioneering search of breakthroughs， I find. I have had a talk with the artist， born in 1982 and now based in Songzhuang， Beijing.

My interview with Yang occurred after he came back from New York. He won an award of excellence at Artexpo New York in April 2019. He thinks the international award confirms his 12-year exploration and recognizes his desire to find breakaways and breakthroughs in his artworks the value of his artworks. And he thinks it is a key turning point in his career toward the international art world.

Born in 1982 in Zhuji， a county-level city in eastern Zhejiang， Yang began learning art when he was very young. He first focused on calligraphy and then studied Chinese painting in the traditional style. Upon graduation from senior high school， he was enrolled into China Academy of Art as a major of portraiture painting at the Traditional Chinese Painting Department.

While studying the Chinese style， he exposed himself to the western elements of art at the university. He integrated western techniques and media into his painting. His classmates commented that confining himself to the traditional study was no longer enough and that his paintings testified to his avant-garde passion. Upon graduation in 2007， he chose to be a full-time artist while many of his classmates turned to other professions for personal development. He wasted no time to set up a studio in a rented space in Hangzhou and began to work as hard as possible. He spent three years experimenting and exploring possibilities for his unique individual style. With passion， he fused the western art and Chinese art in an effort to harmonize the both. Then one day an art collector sought him out and offered to hold a solo exhibition in Hangzhou. The solo show took place， presenting 30 plus paintings， all done in the abstract art style. After viewing Yangs artworks at the exhibition and seeing what Yang had accomplished， his university mentor advised him to go to Beijing.

Yang took the advice and uprooted himself immediately. In 2011， he put his roots down in Songzhuang， the nations biggest art colony in the east of the capital city where about 2，000 artists live and work. The art commune is a strange place， according to Yang. It is where an artist can learn a lot and grow. However， some artists can lose heart or even develop an inferiority complex if they dont have a strong sense of self-confidence， because there are too many brilliant young talents lurking and endeavoring. He has been living there since 2011. He cant tear himself away from his spiritual homeland. Songzhuang is a window for the world to see how art in China evolves and blooms.

In the past eight years， Yang has developed a theory： art exists only in its own time and it must concern with the artist. “Chinese painting is a tradition that should be carried on to the future， but what we have learned from the tradition must be associated with us of today instead with the ancient artists of one thousand years ago. What they thought may not be necessarily what we think; their aesthetics and sentiments are not necessarily our aesthetics and sentiments，” notes the artist.

An artist with a restless and untamed energy in search of breakthroughs， Yang has pushed his horizons back from his major of Chinese portraiture. He has long since stepped away from the traditional Chinese painting. His is a style closely associated with impressionism. Strictly speaking， however， his art cannot be considered totally western， for it abounds with Chinese elements. A viewer can easily see the Chinese touch in his lines， colors and the media.

His works have begun to draw attention. In 2017， his work appeared at an exhibition in Cannes， France. He received warm response there. In 2018， he exhibited his works at Artexpo New York. A professor from an Ivy-league university asked if Yang would sell an exhibit to him. In 2019， his artworks have been bought by a gallery owner in Taiwan.

Increasingly engaged in international exchanges， Yang is aware that innovation is a key in artistically bridging the east and the west. An artist of today should never repeat what artists of yesteryears thought and expressed. Why would anyone want to look at the old ideas in your work if the same ideas were expressed and highlighted a long time ago？ He believes many artists of today are dismissed largely because they paint what artists of the past already painted.

Yang is eager to explore and blaze a trail for himself. I expect to see more from Yang because of his restless search of a possibility into future. He believes moving ahead is better than staying put.