国内美术界的人们对刘永刚也许并不都熟识，但提起他的一幅油画作品，我相信许多人都有深刻印象，那就是《北萨拉的牧羊女》。《北萨拉的牧羊女》创作于1987年，接连在几个重要展览中露面，给大家留下很深刻印象。在八十年代后期的中国画坛，从乡土生活中汲取绘画题材和灵感蔚为风气，也确实出现了不少精彩作品。那些作品大都以质朴、宁静、内敛的格调取胜。刘永刚的《北萨拉的牧羊女》却不是这一类作品，它是以表现性的形式处理引人注目，表现性的装饰手法描写草原朴厚而绚丽的青春。在红、黑、白、绿构成的草地、羊群、少女和牧栏之中，我们感受到古老文化和古老土地永不衰竭的生命活力。正是这一点，刘永刚的这幅画在当时众多立意新颖的油画作品中独具风采。
上世纪90年初期，刘永刚去德国进修，纽伦堡美术学院的教育和德国当代艺术家的交流，激发了他从文化思考入手的艺术创新。从1993年的《鱼》系列，1994年的《十字》系列，到1999-2006年的《爱拥》系列抽象绘画和《站立的文字》组雕，显示了他对本土文化的深入思考和他对当代造型艺术手法的融会贯通。《鱼》系列是他对具象绘画基本形、色结构研究的成果。他运用光暗、色彩和构图因素，赋予单纯的鱼头、鱼尾、鱼的局部以纪念碑式的庄严。这一研究对他以后的艺术显然有很大的启发——以单纯构建宏大。紧接着就是《十字》系列，十字显然比鱼更加单纯，但它又比鱼含有更多文化和精神因素——“十字”就是人体，“十字”就是先知受难的十字架，“十字”就是由灾难与辉煌铰接而成的人类历史……由此进入文字形式意义的探索，是顺理成章的进展。那一批以“爱拥”为题的抽象绘画，我觉得是后来《站立的文字》的酝酿或者创作冲动的余绪。
《站立的文字》是他以汉字为创作资源的雕刻作品，这是由上百座石质雕刻构成的大型作品。正如作品的标题所示，作品的立意来自古老的文字。是汉字和八思巴字（1244年，西藏佛教萨斯迦派喇嘛八思巴被忽必烈封为国师，1269年奉旨创制元代朝廷使用的文字，被称为八思巴字，这种文字多留存于元代印玺、碑文中）给了艺术家启示，古老的文字成为他的创作资源，他从古老文字的字形感受到特殊的视觉感染力。
从传统文化的角度说，书法当然是汉字艺术的本源。书法对汉字的利用是综合性的利用，既有单个的字的意象，也有字和字的组合关系，行气、笔势、气韵，还有各种字体，这是非常丰富而且非常了不起的艺术。20世纪以来，中国和外国的许多艺术家不约而同地从书法取得绘画灵感。
70年代后期，台湾曾有好几位画家以类似的想法作画。最有代表性的当推陈正雄和李锡奇，他们把传统书法置放到抽象绘画中，其思路是把具有流利运动感草书与现代色域构成结合起来，给硬边的色块对比空间，引入书法线条的律动，添加某种活力。许多海外藏家喜欢这类作品，在私人寓所、公共厅堂往往有这样的作品作为装饰。艺术家们觉得这是在东方发展抽象艺术的新途径。不久前中国美术馆举办田伟抽象画展，田伟也是美国华裔人画家，他的思路跟有些台湾画家一样，把中西文字作为一种装饰性的元素，但他又探索中西文字的形式同一性。他用厚涂的颜色和书法运笔去处理字符的方式与当年台湾画家不同，当年台湾画家在彩色平面上处理笔触由明到暗，由暗到明的微妙变化，田伟以夸张的厚涂肌理处理文字符号。把黑色的极其单纯的字符与非常鲜艳的颜色组合起来，把拼音文字当作象形文字“书写”。这一点显然是前此文字艺术的进一步发展。
20世纪末期，徐冰、谷文达等中国艺术家在他们的后现代艺术作品中反复使用汉字，现在国内有不少画家将书法意兴融入绘画，或者反过来将绘画形式纳入书法。祁海平、李向明都以书入画，祁海平以书法的氤氲、气势入画，李向明是用草书的韵律和节奏“搞活”抽象绘画，邱振中、曾来德等人则是以画意作书法。应该承认，当代中国艺术家在运用和发展中国文字从事艺术创造方面，在作品的气度和文化气氛上，比海内外前辈更深入一层，他们对文化的情趣和文化气质理解得更到位。书法理论家邱振中认为，现代书法与传统书法不同特点之一是由“字的艺术”转为“线的艺术”，由文字到书法，再到书写，是书法审美的阶段性发展。
刘永刚的特殊性恰好在于回归文字本体，他所关注的是汉字的基本结构，单个汉字笔划的搭配和结合，文字结构给人视觉上和精神上的启示和联想。这应该是属于汉字本源的，最本质性的一种形式特征，是由博返约，沿波讨源的艺术行为。《爱拥》的基本形式构成来自单个（或者两个）文字的笔划结构，我觉得主要是来自大小篆的结构——单纯而遒劲的线穿插交接，收揽吐纳而又均衡稳定。刘永刚独取其中相拥相揽的意兴，阐发人与人之间由吸引、信任、依恋而臻于生命的永恒。由于书写工具和书写材料的性质，中国文字的线条天然有流动、遒劲、圆润之美，这种美在纸、绢为载体的书法作品里，得到充分的发挥。但对于硬质材料的雕刻作品，如果突出这种性格，作品将偏柔而失之瘫软。如何处理文字线条的“性格”，显然与一般书法笔意有完全不同的要求。刘永刚采取的办法是凸现线结构的方正刚健，他把每一笔划（线）做成有棱有角的立方体，特别是在线的起头处，他强调了平整而倔强的矩形立面。这一处理赋予《爱拥》刚健的骨气和活力。在整体虚实安排上，除了抓住空隙，让字形内外空间得以沟通之外，他还巧妙地抓住古文字上紧下松，上部穿插交接，下部舒展开放的规律，赋予文字站立人体的意象。当人们在朝阳或者夕照中仰观风云映衬的“爱拥”，心头将荡起多少抚今追昔的波澜！
我所关注的是完成的作品如何安置，以什么方式陈设？像刘永刚的《爱拥》这样的雕塑，放到不同的环境里绝对会有不同的感情气氛，给人不同的感受。可以设想，把它们放在热闹的城市广场，放到废墟，或者放在荒漠上，像内蒙的被破坏的草场上，或者放到绿草如荫，有花草有流水的地方……作品不变，但是安置环境变了，给人的联想和感受绝对不一样。
不论是在国外或者在国内，安置他的作品的时候需要很好地推敲、试探和比较。《爱拥》的每一个都有气魄，相当精致，下了很大功夫，究竟是单独放好，还是成片排列起来好，这将是一个需要推敲的问题。有一些雕塑单独放起来比好多集中起来更好，大量作品的排列有可能使观众忽略个体、局部的仪态和形式感染力。当然，集中起来有集中起来的气势，我相信作品的创造者会为它们的存在形式和环境找到理想的方案。
伟大的艺术创造都具有连结历史与未来、自然与人文的精神，埃及金字塔、复活节岛的石雕和中国的长城都具有这样的特质。刘永刚以文字为资源的这一组石雕以纪念碑式的昂然气度树立在苍茫大地，将极大地补充近现代中国雕塑所缺乏的文化份量与形式力度。使人联想起那些伟大的艺术创造。
2007年 春分
水天中先生中国艺术研究院研究员，前美术研究所所长，著名美术批评家
Liu Yonggang’s Paintings and Sculptures
Shui Tianzhong
Mr. Shui Tianzhong, Researcher of Chinese Academy of Art, former director of Graduate School of Fine Arts, renowned critic of fine arts
All artists in China may not be familiar with Liu Yonggang, but the mention of one of his oil paintings will ring a bell—Shepherdess of Northern Sala. Painted in 1987, it was shown at several important exhibitions, and left us with a deep impression. In the late 1980s it was a fashion to find subjects and inspiration in the rural life, and many good works appeared as the result of that. Most of them struck us with their reserved simplicity and serenity, but Shepherdess of Northern Sala was not of that kind. What was fascinating about it was the expressionist depiction of the simple yet splendid youth of the prairie. The meadow in red, black and white, the sheep flock, and girl and the paddock conveyed the inexhaustible vitality of an old culture on an old land. That was why the painting distinguished itself from so many innovative works.
In the early 1990s Liu went to Germany as a student. His education at Nuremburg Art Academy and exchanges with contemporary German artists inspired his artistic innovation, which started with reflections on culture. His works—the Fish series in 1993 and the Cross series in 1994, the Embrace of Love series in 1999-2006, and the group sculpture named Spatial Calligraphy—indicate his in-depth thinking of his native culture and his masterly use of contemporary techniques of the plastic art. The Fish series was the result of his study of the basic shape-color structure of concrete painting. The use of light and darkness, colors and compositional elements lends a monument-like solemnity to the simple head, tail and other parts of the fish. Obviously, that had a great influence on his later works, in which he tried to construct grandness with simplicity. The Fish series was closely followed by the Cross series. The cross, apparently still simpler than the fish, carries deeper cultural and spiritual meanings. It stands for the human body, the cross on which Jesus was crucified, and the history of mankind that contains disasters and glories. To move on to the exploration of the formal meaning of the written language was a natural step to take. In my opinion, the series of abstract paintings named Embrace of Love were created in preparation for Spatial Calligraphy or as the result of remaining creative drive.
Spatial Calligraphy, a large work consisting of about a hundred stone sculptures, was created by using Chinese characters as a creative resource. As indicated by the title, the idea came from ancient written languages. He was inspired by Chinese characters and Basiba (in 1244, Basiba, hierarch of Sasijia Cult of Tibetan Buddhism, was made Imperial Advisor by Kublai Khan. In 1296, by imperial orders, he created a written language for the imperial court of the Yuan Dynasty. Known as Basiba, the language is found on Yuan seal and steles), sensing a special visual effect from their forms.
In terms of the traditional culture, calligraphy is of course the origin of the artistic rendering of Chinese characters. The use of characters in calligraphy is comprehensive, stressing not only the images of individual characters, but also the relationship between them, the use of the brush to convey power and charm, and varied calligraphic styles. Since the beginning of the 20th century, many artists, both Chinese and foreign, have got inspiration for painting from calligraphy.
In late 1970s, several painters in Taiwan worked with similar ideas, the most representative being Chen Zhengxiong and Li Xiqi. They incorporated traditional calligraphy into abstract painting. The idea was to combine the running hand style, with its flowing sense of movement, with the modern color composition. The harsh contrast between colors could be made livelier by the introduction of the dynamic lines of calligraphy. Their works were favored by many overseas collectors, who used them to decorate their houses or public places. The artists thought it a new approach to developing abstract art in the East. A short time ago NAMOC held the exhibition of abstract paintings by Tian Wei, an American Chinese painter. Like some Taiwan painters, he used Chinese and western languages as a decorative element. But in addition to that, he explored the common ground in form between Chinese and western written languages. He rendered written signs with thick colors and calligraphic use of the brush. That was not what those Taiwan painters did, who treated the nuances between lightness and darkness of strokes on colored planes. But Tian Wei processed the signs with the texture of exaggeratedly thick layers of colors. He combined simple, black signs with brilliant colors, writing alphabetic words as if they were hieroglyphic characters. That was obviously a step further.
In the late 20th century, such Chinese artists as Xu Bing and Gu Wenda won worldwide reputation with the frequent use of Chinese characters in their works of postmodernism. Many painters in China are introducing calligraphic styles into painting, or vise versa. For instance, Qi Haiping incorporated the harmony and vigor of calligraphy, while Li Xiangming ‘enlivened’ abstract painting with the rhythm of the running hand style. Qiu Zhenzhong and Zeng Laide did the opposite, bringing calligraphy closer to painting. It should be acknowledged that contemporary Chinese artists outshine their progenitors in the use and development of Chinese characters for artistic creation, in the appearance and cultural atmosphere of their works, and in their understanding of cultural taste and temperament. According to calligraphic theorist Qiu Zhenzhong, one of the differences between modern calligraphy and traditional calligraphy is the change from ‘the art of characters’ to ‘the art of lines’. Calligraphic aesthetics developed in three stages, from characters to calligraphy, and then to writing.
What is special about Liu Yonggang is that he returned to the written language itself, focusing on the basic structures of characters, the juxtaposition of individual strokes, and the visual and spiritual associations of those structures. Those are formal features that are closest to the origin and essence of Chinese characters. Liu’s efforts to return to simplicity and to trace the origin are worth paying attention to and studying.
The basic formal structure of Embrace of Love is based on the composition of the strokes of one or two characters. I find it mainly based on the structures of dazhuan and xiaozhuan—the crossing and connecting of simple, vigorous lines that embrace each other and maintain perfect balance. Liu used the idea of embracing to expound people’s attraction, trust, love and procreation. Because of the writing tools and writing materials, the lines of Chinese characters are by nature endowed with a flowing, vigorous and mellow beauty. That kind of beauty could be fully conveyed in calligraphic works written on paper or silk. But if it was stressed in a sculpture using hard material, it would cause the latter to appear weak and floppy. Obviously, the ‘nature’ of the lines of characters should be different from that in calligraphy.
Liu’s solution was to give prominence to the strength of lines. He made each stroke (line) a geometric form with sharp corners and edges, with the start of each line having a strikingly flat, stubborn-looking rectangular surface. That gave Embrace of Love vigor and vitality. As for the general composition, apart from using spaces to connect the inside and outside of the signs, his skillful use of the compositional feature of ancient characters, with crossing, dense strokes in the upper part and a more spacious lower part, makes them look like standing human figures. Viewers may experience a surging sense of history when they look up to it against a backdrop of the sky at dawn or dusk.
I am interested in how the work will be displayed. A sculpture like Liu’s Embrace of Love will produce different atmospheres and effects in different surroundings. We may think about where to put it—a busy square in a city, a ruins, a desert, a spoiled pasture in Inner Mongolia, a place with lush grass, flowers and flowing water, and so on. The same work will definitely produce different feelings and associations when put in different places.
Whether at home or abroad, where and how to place Embrace of Love need careful thinking, trying and comparison. Each one of the sculptures is imposing and exquisite, indicating great efforts. To put them separately or to arrange them in rows is a question to think over. To choose the latter may eclipse the form and power of individual works, though it may produce a general imposing effect. I believe that the author will find an ideal answer.
All great artistic creations are capable of linking history to future, and nature to culture. This is true of the pyramids, the sculptures on Easter Island, and the Great Wall. Liu Yonggang’s written-language-based group sculpture, standing erect with monument-like pride, will go a long way to add cultural weight and formal power to Chinese sculpture, and remind us of those great creations.
Spring equinox, 2007