对我来说，刘永刚的归来是2006年中国当代艺术中一个令人震奋的现象。他传递了一种新的信息，这就是一批长期在海外研究学习的艺术家获得了一种不同于国内艺术家的文化视野，并且在艺术语言的表达上初步找到了属于自己的方式。这种方式不同于80年代以来普遍的追随西方双年展的艺术模式，也不同于当下一些在画廊商业操作下急于成功的风格样式，具体地说，这是一种真正有价值的融会东西，打通中外的中国当代艺术，虽然这仍然不是十分成熟，但具有深厚的文化底蕴，是可以持续发展的艺术道路。评论家邓平祥称刘永刚具有打通东西两种文化的能力，实际上表述了这样一种判断，即在全球化时代，要想发展出真正具有艺术史价值的当代艺术，必须对东西方文化进行深入的研究，而非表面性地选取若干政治、商业、流行文化的符号，拼凑所谓的“中国样式”，以博取国际策展人和画廊商人的青睐。
刘永刚的抽象性绘画无疑是十分优秀的当代绘画，既具有德库宁式的激情，也有德国表现主义绘画的自由，同时还在色彩与构成方面表现了深厚的形式修养，是他去国十余年潜心研究的合理收获。当然，较之那些厚重颜料的表现性绘画，我更喜欢那些以综合材料创作的类似于文字结构和雕塑草图的构成性绘画。在这些作品中，色彩的因素退居于后，起而代之的是画家对空间与结构的研究，其中既有宏大的纪念性意志，也反映了一种强烈的在空间中伸展衍生的激情，这种激情与大地和生长有关，是植物性的，生命性的，如德国艺术史家法兰克博士所评论的那样，充满了生命的冲动。这是十分契合刘永刚个人内在性格与精神追求的，反映了刘永刚艺术中某种古典主义的气质，也就是古典建筑与绘画中所蕴含的人文主义传统，那种对人的生命尊严的理解，对人的交往和情感的渴望，这在本质上是属于文艺复兴以来米开朗基罗为代表的宏观历史的人文传统。正是站在人类历史的宏观视野中，刘永刚发掘出了中国传统文化所代表的古典人文主义的尊严，以汉蒙等不同文字的另类表达方式，展现了一个多民族大国曾经有过的辉煌文明和未来理想。
由此，我看到刘永刚在中国美术馆展出的以“爱拥”为题的102件石材雕塑组成的宏大装置时，涌入我脑海中的第一印象，竟然是秦汉时的大型兵马俑场面，他的这些站立的文字就获得了一种森然默立的无声的尊严。“纪念碑性”（monumentality）可以定义为“纪念的状态和内涵”，它不仅要求有巨大的、持久的、艺术中的超常尺寸的含义，也指在历史中那些显著的、重要的、持续的价值。而刘永刚所要表现的，正是他对于人类永恒的爱与关怀的尊崇，在这一意义上，刘永刚以曾经具有广泛流通性，为民众熟悉的文字形式，打通了民族与国界的局限，以冰冷的岩石，表达了火热的激情，在独特的空间形式构造中，将材料与精神结为一体。在中国传统艺术中，纪念碑与文字书法，曾经是一种密不可分的结合形态，但文字仍然从属于内容的表述，书法与雕刻也仅限于作为一种艺术媒介的表达，刘永刚的独特之处在于，他打破传统的字碑组合，使之成为字碑一体，字即是碑，碑即是字，而当我们进入刘永刚的文字艺术装置空间中，又全然忘却了哪里是字，哪里是碑，字与碑在人的基础上已经融为一体，成为人类生命与精神的象征。
在这里我们涉及到文字、语言、书法与当代艺术的讨论。在80年代以来的中国当代艺术中，中国文字已经成为重要的公共艺术资源，当然与之相关的中国书法也是重要的资源。但是，着眼于文字与着眼于书法是很不相同的。举例来说，最早用有关中国文字进行创作的艺术家有谷文达、吴山专、徐冰，他们更多地是运用观念艺术的方式来解析文字与运用到作品中的。这反映了从不同文化背景对于语言和文字的态度，即是注重形态还是意义，这是当代艺术中不同的处理传统文化的思维模式。刘永刚对中国文字和中国书法的研究借鉴，在这个大的文脉系统中也可以得到观照与分析。可以说，刘永刚对文字的研究，在文化角度上，更多的是着眼于历史性、人文性的；在视觉艺术的意义上，更多是着眼于空间性与构成性的，正如评论家贾方舟所言，他的作品不具有文字的可读性，而具有造型艺术的可视性，这表明了刘永刚的艺术与中国人文传统和古典艺术的内在联系。
我在这里提出“文字的抽象与具像”这一概念。在当代艺术中，不乏运用不同民族文字的案例，但存在着对文字运用的抽象与具像角度。比较而言，前者关注的是文字的意义与概念，像美国概念艺术家克鲁格运用放大的英文词句直接表述对于社会的观念。而刘永刚则是运用文字的形式与结构，着眼的是文字的形象所具有的象征性意味。刘永刚运用的是篆书的结构美与线条美，仍然是文字运用方面的具像派，或者说是象征主义。例如他的作品《爱拥》，就具有男女相拥的视觉形象，比之具像的人，他的雕塑要抽象，但比之文字，要显得具像一些。但是从抽象雕塑的角度来看，我认为刘永刚的作品在抽象与解构方面还可以走的更远一些。我希望刘永刚的作品能够进一步向抽象发展，对文字的整体形象进行解构，将篆书文字的整体美解构为线条的独立的抽象美，例如西班牙雕塑家奇里达的雕塑《风之梳》，巨大的弯曲的条型钢结构，在海岸的悬崖上迎着海风而傲然挺立。我也建议刘永刚可以研究华裔法国雕塑家熊秉明的雕塑，他的雕塑比奇里达更为具像一些，将鹤的形象高度简化为飞舞的抽象线条，但仍然不失鹤的形态韵味。
刘永刚的归来和举办展览，使我注意到90年代以来中国在海外的艺术家群体，特别是一批从德国留学归来的艺术家值得我们关注。他们中有相当一部份人是采用了抽象艺术的方式进行创作的。如较早回国的许江、马路、谭平，近来在中德两地十分活跃的有苏笑柏、朱金石、张国龙、刘野、马树青以及运用影像媒介为主的缪晓春，而刘永刚也正是属于这一个留学德国的艺术家群体。我们可以从德国文化对中国艺术的影响这一角度来审视刘永刚的艺术，身处不同的文化环境中（当代物质生活交流越来越多，也越来越相近，但文化传统并不因此而发生根本的变化），刘永刚的作品反映了这种不同文化的综合。我认为，对于21世纪的中国当代艺术，新的一代海归艺术家值得期待，是很有希望的生力军，这是因为他们长期在海外文化的氛围中生活，具有创造性的文化交流与融合的能力，与那些偶尔出去看一下的艺术家不同，他们的理解要更深刻、更全面一些。而在物质生活方面，他们也由于比较早地解决了基本的生活和创作条件，了解艺术市场对于艺术家的扶持与杀伤的双重性影响，从而能够更为纯粹地专注于艺术创作。
同时，刘永刚的创作，也印证了我在上个世纪90年代初期评论许江时所提到的关于法国文化与德国文化的区别，这对于我们进一步深入理解不同的西方文化背景，破解笼统的东西方二元对立的思维方式，从而针对性地从个人的文化背景出发，创作更贴近个人特性的当代艺术有所助益。
刘永刚的艺术的独特之处，就在于其作品中的表现性，不是一般性的情绪化的表现，不只是我们通常认为的“跟着感觉走”，也不是技巧性的优雅表现，或是对现实问题的功利性的主题解释，后者来源于18世纪的法国及法国革命传统，即政治化、功利化的行动主义传统。18世纪的法国启蒙主义哲学家，像文艺复兴早期的公民人文者一样，崇尚积极活跃的生活，不赞成沉思默想的生活，对形而上学没有兴趣，关心此时此地的人生中的实际问题——道德的、心理的、社会的问题，他们对人类的前途充满了信心，对历史的进步具有毫不怀疑的信念。但是刘永刚作为一个富于思考的艺术家，却具有一种东方式的宏观视野，这种东方式的思维与日耳曼式的黑格尔传统有相同之处，即是一种注重统一整体价值胜过建功立业价值的沉思系统，整体性与思辨性是其特点所在。刘永刚所关注的不是某一时期、某一个具体的社会问题，而是对人类历史的整体性思考。在刘永刚的作品中，我感受到对现存人类文明与历史的批判性审视，以及艺术家内心深处的焦虑。在我们这个时代，传统的信念受到当代生活经验的深深打扰，到处可以看到命运的无常与拒绝对之屈服的人之间的冲突，在内心深处，刘永刚仍然守望着自己的人文价值信念。
刘永刚的作品具有某种雄强博大的气质，整体上看类似秦汉的兵马俑。但刘永刚的作品发展趋向是雕塑作品的组合排列还是当代装置？在我看来，仅仅是雕塑作品的并置并不能构成装置，如果是这样，我们能否说秦始皇兵马俑是中国最早最大的一件装置艺术？装置要求作品的不同构成要素之间具有一种共谋关系，而不是简单的并列关系。我认为，刘永刚还可以发展出更为壮阔的公共空间中的景观作品。我们可以设想一下，刘永刚的作品在广袤的草原上出现，大漠孤烟，长河落日，如雄兵百万站立在一望无际的草原上，会是什么样的视觉景象？我希望刘永刚注意和强化室外雕塑的轮廓与剪影，这是决定作品视觉力度的重要因素。除了作品所具有的由形象表达出来的“爱”与“相拥”的象征意味，刘永刚是否还会注意作品中的简洁、单纯、和谐、精到以及节奏的活力等在中国传统艺术特别是书法艺术中最具有抽象意味的形式审美要素？简言之，对刘永刚的未来发展，我充满期待，很显然，他目前的创作，找到了一条源自传统，通向未来的重要道路，但仍然是大业初创之时，有关他的艺术，在形式结构的研究和材料运用表达方面，还有许多工作要做。可以确定的是，刘永刚已经不再局限于绘画、书法、雕塑这些传统的艺术媒介，而是在综合材料与综合艺术的方面拓展了一条宽阔的平台，对这样的优秀艺术家来说，一切才刚刚开始。
2007年2月26日
Standing Life:Interpretation of Liu Yonggang’s Art
Yin Shuangxi,PhD, executive editor in chief of Art Research, famous artcritic
The return ofLiu Yonggang was one of the most exciting events of contemporaryChinese art in 2006. He brought the new message that a number ofartists who have studied abroad have acquired a cultural horizondifferent from that of those who stayed in the country, and thatthey have found their own ways of expression. Those ways differfrom both the imitation of western biannual exhibitions that hasbeen widespread since the 1980s and the success-oriented stylesconditioned by the commercial operation of galleries. Specificallyspeaking, they have created a truly valuable contemporary Chineseart that blends Chinese and western cultures. Though it is not yetmature, it is based on a rich culture, and its way is sustainable.When critic Deng Pingxiang said that Liu is capable of finding thecommon ground between Chinese and western cultures, he was actuallyvoicing his judgment that in the age of globalization, to develop acontemporary art with real value for artistic history, one mustmade an in-depth study of eastern and western cultures, instead ofcatering to sponsors of international exhibitions or art merchantsby cobbling together some ‘Chinese pattern’ composed of an array ofsuperficial signs of politics, commerce and pop culture.
Liu’s abstractpaintings are undoubtedly excellent, with the passion of deKooning, the freedom of German expressionism, and acute formalawareness in colors and composition. Those were what he acquiredfrom over ten years’ careful study abroad. However, I prefer thecompositional paintings similar to the structures of characters anddrafts of sculptures, with composite materials, to thoseexpressionistic ones with heavy use of colors. In the former kind,the importance of color is replaced by the painter’s study of spaceand structure. That contains grand monumental wills, and reflects apassion that extends in space, a passion that is related to soiland growth, like a plant, or life. As observed by German arthistorian Dr. Frank, it is full of the drive of life. That is infull agreement with Liu’s personality and spiritual pursuit; itreflects some classical quality of his art, or the humanistictradition embodied in classical buildings and paintings. Theunderstanding of the dignity of human life and the desire forcommunications and feelings are by nature part of the humanistictradition since the Renaissance, represented by Michelangelo. Itwas from the grand perspective of human history that Liu discoveredthe dignity of classical humanism represented by Chinese culture.His special way of expression, based on the Chinese and Mongolianwritten languages, demonstrates a great multi-ethnic nation’s pastglory and aspiration for the future.
Therefore, whenI saw his grand work composed of 102 stone sculptures at theNational Art Museum of China, the first thing I thought of, to mysurprise, was the terracotta soldiers. His standing characters havea silent dignity. ‘Monumentality’, which may be defined as ‘thestate or meaning of commemoration’, requires not only artisticallyunusual, enduring size, but also prominent, important and lastingvalues in history. What Liu intends to convey is his veneration forthe eternal love and care of mankind. In this sense, Liu usedcharacters, widespread and familiar to ordinary people, to breakthrough ethnic and national boundaries, expressing fiery passionwith cold rocks, and fusing material and spirit in special spatialcompositions. In traditional Chinese art, the monument and thecalligraphy were inextricably linked, but characters weresubordinate to meanings, and calligraphy and carving were no morethan mediums of artistic expression. What was special about Liu wasthat he broke the line between the monument and the calligraphy, sothat the two are united into one. When we see his sculptures, wesimply forget that line, because the two are blended into a symbolof human life and spirit.
Here is involvedthe discussion on characters, language, calligraphy andcontemporary art. Since the 1980s, Chinese characters, as well ascalligraphy, have become an important public artistic resource incontemporary Chinese art. However, focus on characters differsgreatly from focus on calligraphy. For instance, the artists whofirst used Chinese characters in their creations, such as Gu Wenda,Wu Shanzhuan and Xu Bing, tend to analysis characters and use themin the manner of conceptual art. That reflects the difference inattitude towards the written language. Focus on form and focus onmeaning are different approaches to using traditional culture incontemporary art. That may be a frame of reference to put Liu’sstudy and use of Chinese characters and calligraphy intoperspective. In terms of culture, Liu’s study of characters tendsto be historical and humanistic; in terms of visual art, it tendsto be spatial and compositional. As observed by critic JiaFangzhou, instead of being legible like written language, his worksare visual like plastic art. That indicates the intrinsicconnection of his art to the humanistic tradition and classical artof China.
The return ofLiu and his exhibition drew my attention to the group of overseasChinese artists, especially those who returned from their study inGermany. Many of them have adopted the way of abstract art. Liu isone of the artists who studied in Germany, such as Xu Jiang, Ma Luand Tan Ping who returned earlier, Su Xiaobai, Zhu Jinshi, ZhangGuolong, Liu Ye and Ma Shuqing who are recently active in bothChina and Germany, and Miu Xiaochun who specializes in video andimage medium. We may examine his art with respect to Germanculture’s influence on Chinese art. Liu’s works reflect theblending of different cultures under different culturalenvironments (though material life is becoming increasingly similarbecause of the growing exchanges, cultural traditions do not changefundamentally). In my opinion, as far as Chinese art in the 21stcentury is concerned, the new generation of artists who returnedfrom abroad is promising new blood. During their long stay inoverseas cultures, they have acquired the capability of creativecultural exchange and blending. They have deeper and more completeunderstanding of culture than those who go abroad occasionally. Asfor material life, since they have long been free of financialtroubles and are aware of both the positive and negative effect ofmarket on artists, they are capable of more intense concentrationon creation.
Meanwhile, Liu’sworks proved my opinion on the differences between French cultureand German culture that I mentioned when I was criticizing Xu Jiangin the early 1990s. That will be helpful to further understandingof different western cultural backgrounds, solving the general,binary opposite ways of thinking between the east and the west, andcreation of contemporary art which is closer to personality basedon individual cultural background.
The specialthing about Liu’s art is that his works are not expressions ofgeneral emotions (what is commonly known as ‘follow the feelings’),or graceful skills, or utilitarian interpretations of practicalquestions (the latter is originated from France in the 18th centuryand its revolutionary tradition, namely political and utilitarianbehaviorism tradition. French didacticism philosophers in the 18thcentury, just like the early renaissant civic humanists, advocatedactive and vibrant way of life and fought against ruminative way.They were not interested in metaphysics, and cared about practicalissues—moral, mental and social--in their lives. They wereconfident of human future and held undoubted faith in historyprogress.) As a thinking artist, Liu has an oriental broad horizon.His oriental way of thinking has one thing in common with theHegelian tradition—greater value attached to unity and wholenessthan to accomplishment. Its defining feature is wholeness andspeculation. What Liu is concerned with are not particular socialissues of a particular period, but the holistic thinking of humanhistory. In his works I feel critical examination of humancivilization and history, and the angst at the bottom of his heart.In our time, traditional beliefs are deeply troubled by theexperience of contemporary life, and everywhere there are conflictsbetween capricious fate and people who stand up to it. Deep inside,Liu stands by his belief in humanistic values.
Liu’s worksproduce a powerful, sweeping effect similar to that of terracottawarriors. We may imagine the scenario where his sculptures standlike a formation of warriors on a prairie or a desert.
It is certainthat instead of confining himself to such traditional mediums aspainting, calligraphy and sculpture, he has blazed a broad newtrail in comprehensive materials and comprehensive art. For such anexcellent artist, all has just begun.
February 26,2007