03、十里洋场
对于上世纪繁华都市的特殊景观，以及由这些景观所产生的视觉符号群，常令我产生莫名地向往和沉醉。1982年只身初到上海便被其深深感染，当即在众人的围观下在外滩在南京路在苏州河等处画出了一批钢笔速写，整整20年后，当我独自在画室里要用油画表现它们时，倒有点发怵和忐忑的感觉，怵的是心里没底，忐忑的也是心里没底，不知能否寻找到恰当地方式切入画面，从而把心理经验转化为视觉形象，把记忆还原为图示。带着矛盾和复杂的心情历时近一个月，我画出了表现老上海外滩的油画《十里洋场》。2003年此画参加了在中国美术馆举办的“第三届中国油画展精选作品展”，这是我的油画第一次参加国内重要的油画展，也是我创作生涯中一个重要的分水岭。
06、风云十六铺 2003到2006年这个阶段，我特别喜欢听电影《王子复仇记》中那些大段的台词，其中尤爱哈姆莱特的那段“活着还是不活”的独白，莎士比亚的语言和孙道临的演绎与感染力都令我为之倾倒。记得那时的我能够脱口背诵出那些台词的段落。《风云十六铺》《黄浦江畔》《有轨电车》等都是这个时期的作品，我不知道是否是受到了什么潜在的感染，还是近朱者赤，亦或是其他什么原因，有人在看过这些画时，会觉得有种伤痕艺术的倾向。上海朋友徐国胜先生在给我的短消息里就曾说道“现代人很需要你画面的沧桑感，（一种近似于伤痕艺术的悲情快感！）陈年往事对中产阶级的成功之后是失落的写照，由繁华成功失落缺憾交织的快感来自你的画作里！便是作品的价值”。
07、码头
艺术不是历史境遇和现实生活的随从，而是它们的认知者解析者和批判者，我希望从某种解析和批判的意义上，来画这张《码头》，并由此体验一种能够与心灵相对应的情感，进而造就视觉感受中自由意志的产物，探寻精神的自由和释放。但在具体表达时又不可避免地碰到感性与理性的剧烈冲突，恰如其分的制衡或者化解这种冲突则需要不断地修炼。
10、海滩
带有某种程度的抒情和恣意是画《海滩》这张画时的状态，无为而为、不争之争在过程中不露声色，在结果里才被察觉。在顺应自然中的偶然发现弥足珍贵，有时它并非你的初衷或本意，但当它偶有显露时则需考验你的神经敏感度，墨守成规易对意外闪现的光彩视而不见或擦肩而过。
11、这张《海景房》是在比较轻松的状态中本着尝试和探寻新经验的情形下画出的，画面的处理力求肯定、明确，无论厚与薄、线与型的表现均下笔即成，不作反复和叠加，以至于很多人都以为这是一张写生作品。
14、长途大巴过去叫长途汽车或长途客车，儿时的记忆，抚今追昔。
15、《长宁别墅》是为2010上海世博会画的。主办方要求尽量尊重客观，似与不似便是最应掌握的原则。
18、巡逻艇这张画是2008年参加“拓展与融合-----中国现代油画研究展”的作品，展出时被悬挂在中国美术馆园厅的中间位置。其实这张画画的很不顺利，尽管用时不多，但却跨越了07至08近一年的时间，尤其画至半程，画面总感觉是呆板和木讷地，总也要不到那种想要的东西，很长一段时间里都为此感到无奈何惆怅，在搁置了较长时间后，我尝试以逆向程序再画，才找到了某种所谓的突破，在这个过程中，我觉得最大的收获是对油画颜料的性能，以及用油的方式上有了新的认知。
19、致远舰
记得马蒂斯曾说“面对物象的表现，不拘泥于实际，而是反映它能在内心深处激起的某种情感”。《致远舰》为中日甲午战争之著名战舰，采用舰体的局部经营于画面和以玫红色表现，企望拉开具象绘画对客观过于依赖的距离，强调其主观表达与视觉变异是当时的意图。这张画在十一届全国美展油画展时被放在展厅进门处比较显要的位置，但总觉得没能画出自己真正想要的那种画面。
29、海魂系列之一
36、在画都市系列中涉及到的码头和船舶等相对繁杂图式后，我转而思考以化整为零的方式，从中提取某种个体图像单独表现，《船系列》就是基于这种考虑出现的又一个系列作品。
39、 画《食既》的那个阶段，我特别痴迷于海菲茨的小提琴曲,无论是在画室还是开车的时候，全部是听他的CD，我经常把音响的声音放的很大，大到近乎于震耳发溃的程度，以此来尽情地享受他那无以言表的高超技艺，时常被他那种无与伦比的琴技和剃刀般锋利的音色搞得汗毛都竖将起来，而后，满脑子里都是这些音符和旋律。然而这些感受是很难在绘画中得到的，好的或者是特别好的绘画作品，能令你肃然起敬或者陷入思考。。。。。，能使你的眼睛为之一闪、一亮，却不会使你的汗毛竖立起来，这就是视觉和听觉艺术诉诸器官功效之区别。想起吴冠中先生曾说：“小路艺术养眼，大路艺术养心”。
40、20世纪上半叶出现在上海的邮车，消失的风景，信笔拈来。
41、阵风系列这是一个侧重体验松弛和材料综合运用的小系列，选择摩托车作为画面主体，是因为还算年少时曾被这种机械单车迷的近乎神魂颠倒。
47、一本明信片 2009年的某天，一个以前教过的学生如约到画室看我，并带来一套上世纪30年代拍摄的苏州园林明信片，说是闲逛时在书摊上偶然所得，言我肯定喜欢就特意买了送我，明信片呈横式长条状的，高度类似香烟盒，宽度却有一尺，明显区别于现在常见的明信片，整套十余张颜色发黄的老图片，狮子林、双塔、枫桥、虎丘、沧浪亭等姑苏园林及古城街景尽在其中，我当即眼睛一亮，忙不迭一张张翻看着，嘴里直说好！好！我之所以喜欢这套明信片，是因为它钩沉了上世纪初苏州园林景观所特有的静谧、单纯、和自然悠远的意境，与现在古城的喧闹、嘈杂、车流如梭形成了鲜明的对照。我时常细细地端详这些图片，想象着近百年前姑苏古城恬淡、安逸的样子，石板铺成的街道、弄堂、以及淡淡地炊烟、偶有轻舟划过的小河、错落有致的粉墙黛瓦中赫然矗立的双塔等等，每每端详这些过去的、虽能传续至今但却物是景非的图片，都能给我带来无尽地回味和遐想。因为这些照片，我曾试图从中找到对古城的某种情愫，期望以朴素的和最能够接近我内心深处的情怀准确地画出它们，但是，又似乎很难找到自己那种冥冥之中真正想要的路境切入画面，所以，拖了很长一段时间也没有着手去画，可在内心却依然惦记着这些既近在眼前又已远去的图像。 2010年我要调离苏州，去南京艺术学院工作。此时，我已在这座古城整整生活了14个年头，当坐在高铁的车厢里，望着窗外疾速远去的虎丘斜塔，我忽然意识到必须画一个苏州系列作品，以纪念我的这段历程，《姑苏系列》就是基于此念，以这套明信片为蓝本画出的，这个系列的作品画幅虽较小，但却与我的“都市”与“海魂”系列拉开了一定的距离，也是我对这座古城认识、理解的表达和情感记载。爱过知情重 ，醉过知酒浓。谢谢这座古城和这位已成为高校教师的学生。
56、继“巡逻艇”“致远舰”后，把烟雾作为画面形态因素，并力图表达出一种极端感，是我画阿芙乐尔舰的意图。视觉形态和艺术媒材的变革，是现代艺术的重要标志，任何艺术都是对客观世界的再组合与重新解构，旧媒材的使用也应是手段与方式的改造和重构或是进化，如此才利于丰富绘画语言的手段和表现力，促进绘画视觉观念的更新。
03、 东山国宾馆
2002年我开始针对风景的现场写生，当时的画幅都不大，东山国宾馆就是这一年的深秋所画的写生。
07、沂蒙写生 2003年的初冬，当江南依然绿如蓝时，我带着一队学生来到沂蒙山区写生。北方冬天来的早，11月的天气已有些寒风凛凛，山中树木也已成枯黄状了，这使得我们这队人马，尤其是第一次来到北方的学生多少有些不适应。既来之则安之，待安顿好后，第二天便开始了对沂蒙山区的写生和体验。
12、初到査济乍一来到皖南山区小村查济，有种脱离尘嚣的感觉，小憩过后天色较晚时，便画了这张写生。
16、楼梯有雨的一天，没法外出写生，在住处的小楼里东张张西望望，最后对着楼梯揣摩来琢磨去的，就有了这张画。
17 皖南
皖南的新建房屋依然延续了徽派建筑的风格或样式，但如果纯粹客观的表达这种形态，容易落入俗套而索然无味。我爬上屋顶平台，统揽视野内皖南村落，作画过程中有意淡化建筑个体造型特点 强化建筑群的整体结构特征，使之与山脉、田野形成节奏及强弱变化是画这张写生时的想法。
22、船头
把船头置于前景并占据画面近半幅的位置，有点类似电影中的主观镜头，略带有后印象主义倾向的用笔，于不经意间流露，尔后贯穿于整个画面。
码头的油桶之一
我第一次画这种较大尺寸的写生，是在太湖东山的小码头，画面主体围绕着油桶展开，过程还算顺利。当时主要是想体验一下大尺幅写生的感觉，图个痛快，几年后再端详这张画，觉得它比起小幅写生来，能带给自己更多“另外”的想法，也不枉“大”了这张画。
码头的油桶之三 锈迹斑驳的油桶中间涂着浓烈的橘黄色，在阳光照耀下分外响亮、高亢、耀眼，怦然心动的表达令人亢奋，急切中在画面要多了不该要的东西。
喘息外出写生，经常会遇到比较紧张或意外的情景，比如正在画时、雨来了，尚未画完、天黑了，要画车时、车开了等等。当然，这些不算什么，但它或多或少会影响人的情绪。提着画具走在码头的石板路上，眼睛左顾右盼东张西望揣摩着搜寻着某种画面，一艘机动船砰砰叫着像一条大鱼靠上了身边的驳岸，并在海浪的推动下一起一伏地波动着，船老大言只是短暂停留，我稍犹豫便旋即支起画布，用较短的时间赶在船开走之前，画出了这张名为“喘息”的写生。
标准房中午小憩后，温岭石塘镇的天空开始降雨，低而厚的云层把光线压的很暗，令人郁闷。无奈，打开日光灯，缩在门后的墙角处，听着窗外噼里啪啦的雨点声和呼呼作响的风声以及哗啦哗啦的树叶声，悠闲地画了这张“标准房”。
修理铺码头的修理铺是为船只做简单修理而设的，看上去像马路边的汽车、自行车修理铺一样、并无二致。区别是，一种在路边，一种在码头。
昂克雷 2010年仲夏，应邀与南艺同事一起驱车去无锡阳山写生，昂克雷便是一同事的私车。
39 陆巷停车场
每次来太湖东山的陆巷，都住在这个停车场附近，2010年的“五一节”东山正在修公路，停车场也变成了料场，硕大的石灰堆在阳光的照耀下显得格外刺眼。艺术中的再现现实不是在画面中照搬现实，而是再现了艺术家对现实的一种“再认识”，善于触及一些有悖于日常视觉习惯的景物，对思维的活跃和开启是有裨益的。
40、雕花楼庭院园林式的建筑和池塘对于我来说并不陌生，但当时看中的是在这个语境中，撑开的遮阳伞上的条纹由于透视所产生的形式因素，以及这种变化了的规则与周围景致的对应关系。
藩切写生之一
当画完这张在越南藩切的写生后，回首审视那些曾经的写生画面，由生疏到熟练的所谓自我满足和得意于所谓的“办法”，往往很快就变成了过眼的烟云。积累的目的是不断地创造，诉诸或者拜倒在艺术家危险的技艺之下，会失去必要的自我破坏性，使绘画流于模式而无法重新获得表达思想情感的力量，或许就是缺乏反省式沉思的结果。
03. The Metropolis Old Shanghai
The specific thriving cityscape of last century and the visual symbols it brought often attract and intoxicate me. On my arrival in Shanghai in 1982, I was appealed to them. At that moment, with a pen, I sketched several in the Bund and by the Suzhou River. 20 years after that, I was a little timid and disturbed when I painted them in a studio, because I was not so sure whether I could find a proper way to represent the images, to turn spiritual experience into visual images and to transform memories into images. In an ambivalent and complicated mood, I painted “The Metropolis Old Shanghai” about the Bund in old Shanghai within a month, which was exhibited in “the 3rd Selected Paintings Exhibition in China”. It was my first important exhibition, as well as a watershed in my art course.
06. The Shiliupu Wharf
From 2003 to 2006, I was dedicated to the lines in the film Hamlet, especially the monologue of “To be or not to be” by Hamlet. Both the words of Shakespeare and the performance of Sun Daolin were so stunning that I could even blurt out these lines. “The Shiliupu Wharf”, “Beside the Huangpu River” and “The Tram” were painted in that period. I was not sure whether it was influenced by something underlying, or for any other reason. People often relate these paintings with the scar art. A friend named Xu Guosheng from Shanghai once texted me, saying “Modernists need the ups and downs in your art, one similar to the scar art. The past brings a sense of loss to the middle class after their success. Your paintings bring a mixed feeling of prosperity, success, loss and regret. That’s the value of the paintings.”
07. The Wharf
Art is not an attendant of history and reality, but an analyst and repudiator. I would like to paint “The Wharf” in an analytical and critical way. Therefore, I could release an emotion from my soul, at my will. The conflict between perception and reason is inevitable, but I need to balance them appropriately.
10. The Beach
When I painted “The Beach”, I was in a lyrical and arbitrary state. My rule “to work with inaction and to strive without conflict” can only be detected in the result, rather than in the process. Sometimes the value just lies in the occasional discovery, instead of your original intention. Your acuity for the expected splendor is tested, and routinism would probably stop that.
11. “The Sea View House” was painted in a relaxed mood to try and explore, and I dealt with the painting affirmatively and explicitly. Thick or thin, lines or shapes, I finished it directly, without any repetition or overlying. Many people even mistook it for a sketch.
14. The long-distance bus was called a coach or a long-distance passenger car. It was from my childhood memory, just to compare it with the present.
15. “A Villa in Changning District” was painted for the Shanghai Expo. The sponsor needed it to be objective, so I had to balance between its difference and similarity with the original one.
18. The Patrol Vessel
It was exhibited in “Expansion and Fusion – the Contemporary Chinese Oil Paintings Exhibition” in 2008 and was hanged in the middle of the exhibition hall of the National Art Museum of China. Actually, although not too much time was spent, it didn’t come out smoothly, almost lasting a year from 2007 to 2008. When half of it was finished, I felt it was too stiff and dull, without the feeling that I wanted. I was disconsolate for a long period, and had laid it aside for quite a while when I broke it through with a converse procedure. In the process, I mastered the nature of oil paints and the method to use oil. That was probably my biggest gain.
19. Zhiyuan Vessel
Matisse once stated, “Expressions of physical images could be free from reality, but they could reflect the emotions rising from the bottom of the heart.” Zhiyuan Vessel was a notable vessel in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894. I painted part of it particularly with crimson to draw back from the object that representationalism relies too much on, and to emphasize the original intention of subjective expression and visual variation. The painting was exhibited in a conspicuous position of the exhibition hall. But I don’t think I’ve already expressed myself fully.
29. The “Sea Soul” series
36. After finishing the relatively complicated schemas of wharves and vessels in my cityscapes, I tried to break up the whole into parts, to extract one part for special representation. My “vessel” series is just for that consideration.
39. When I was painting “The Second Contact”, I was infatuated with the violin music of Heifetz, no matter when I was staying in my studio or driving. I often turned it up, even to a deafening loudness to enjoy his speechless skills. His incomparable skill and razor-like tamber always made my flesh creep, and my mind was stuffed with the notes and rhythm. However, these feelings could not be expressed in a painting. A fine or exceptional painting will arouse your admiration or meditation, or brighten your eyes up, but it can’t make your flesh creep. That’s probably the difference between visual and audio apparatuses. Just as Mr. Wu Guanzhong said, “Puny art can refine your eyes, but great art can refine your mind.”
40. It was a convenient painting about a mail-cart from the first half of last century in Shanghai, a vanished sight.
41. The “Gust” series
It was a series to relax and experience mixed media. I chose motorbikes as the subject because I was infatuated with it when I was younger.
47. A series of postcards
One day in 2009, a student of mine visited my studio as appointed and brought me a series of postcards of the gardens in Suzhou in the 30s of last century, explaining that it was bought from a bookstall and I would definitely love it. The postcards were transverse strips, as high as a cigarette box, but the width of them was around 30 centimeters. That was totally different from the current postcards. More than ten yellow pictures of gardens and vistas of the old town were presented, including Lion Grove Garden, Double Pagodas, Fengqiao Bridge, Tiger Hill and Canglang Pavilion. My eyes brightened up and I couldn’t help saying “great!” while incessantly looking through these pictures. The reason why I love the postcards is that they deposit the tranquility, purity and distance of the garden sights, in sharp contrast to the rumpus, din and heavy traffic of the old town at present. I often examine these pictures carefully, wondering about the tranquil and cozy old town of Suzhou nearly a hundred years ago. The streets paved with flagstones, the lanes, smoke from the chimneys, canoes passing by the river and the double pagodas rising from the neat pink walls and black tiles, all those images brought me endless aftertaste and reveries although they’d changed a lot. I tried to find sincerity about the old town from these pictures so as to paint them well and truly in an inornate way that was close to my affection, but it seemed to be difficult to break through. Therefore, I left it aside for quite a while, but I kept thinking about these close images that seemed to be far away. In 2010, I left Suzhou to teach in Nanjing University of the Arts. Till then, I’d lived in the old town for 14 years. When I was sitting in the high speed railway carriage, seeing the leaning tower of tiger hill, I suddenly realized that I must paint a series of works in memory of my experience in Suzhou. The postcards were the blueprint of my paintings. Although these were in smaller sizes, they were distinguished from my “Landscape” series and “Sea Soul” series and presented my recognition, understanding and emotions for the city. You will realize its power after something is gone. Thanks to the city and the student who has already become a teacher in a college.
56. After I finished “The Patrol Vessel” and “Zhiyuan Vessel”, I chose to portray smog in an extreme way, so I painted “The Aphrodite”. The innovation of visual forms and artistic media is an important symbol of contemporary art. Any art form is the reassembly and deconstruction of the objective world. Old media are reused after they are improved and altered to enrich the artistic language and expressions, or to update the visual perception.
03. The Dongshan State Guesthouse It was drawn in 2002 when I started to sketch landscapes. At that time, my paintings were not in large sizes. And “The Dongshan State Guesthouse” was produced in late autumn of that year.
07. Sketches in Yimeng
In the early winter of 2003, I guided a group of students to the mountainous area in Yimeng to sketch when it was still quite green in South China. Winter comes earlier in the north of China. It was a little bit chilly in November, and leaves had already turned yellow. These changes made us, especially those who came to the north for the first time, quite uncomfortable. We decided to cross the bridge since we’d come to it. After we settled down, we started to experience the mountainous area of Yimeng and sketched its sceneries.
12. Arriving Zhaji
On my arrival to the village of Zhaji in the south of Anhui province, I felt I had escaped from the madding crowd. After a break when it turned dark, I finished the sketch.
16. The Staircase
It was a rainy day and I couldn’t sketch out. I glanced around my place and the stairs aroused my interest. Then I finished it.
17. South of Anhui Province
The architecture in the south of Anhui province is of its own style. It would be conventional and dull to paint it objectively. So I climbed up the flat roof to have an overall view of the whole village. I weakened the individual characteristics of the architecture, but strengthened the integral features, to create a rhythm and strength between mountains and fields in the sketch.
22. The Prow
The prow was placed in the foreground and took up almost half of the painting. It was similar to a subjective spot in a film, as well as a post-impressionism one.
The Jerricans in the Wharf No 1
This was the first time for me to sketch in such a large size. It was going smoothly about the jerricans in a small dock in Dongshan of Taihu Lake. At that time, I was just trying to experience a large sketch to seek momentary gratification. Years later when I examined it again, I found, compared with smaller sketches, it brought me some “other” ideas. It was not a waste of its size.
The Jerricans in the Wharf No 3
The rusty jerricans were painted with bright orange, and shone in the sun. The expression stimulated me and I added too much in the painting.
Breather
When I sketched out, it was quite usual to be in an accident or in an uneasy situation. For instance, it rained or turned dark before you finished painting, or the car was driven away when you were drawing it. These were just trifles but they might have a negative influence on your mood. When I walked on the flagging of the dock with my paraphernalia in hand, I glanced around for something to paint, only to see a powerboat approaching the shore like a lingcod, fluctuating in the wave. The boatman said it was just a whistle stop. After an instant of hesitation, I unfolded my canvas to finish the sketch named “Breather” in a short period before the boat sailed off.
A Standard Room
It started to rain after a noon break in Shitang County in Wenling. The thick low cloud made me gloomy with dim light. I had no choice but to turn on the fluorescent lamp, and leisurely painted “A Standard Room” with the cracking sound of raindrops, wind and leaves.
A Repair Shop
A repair shop in the wharf is set for simple repairs of ships, one similar to repair shops for cars and bikes by the roadside. The only difference is one by the roadside and the other in the wharf.
Enclave
In the midsummer of 2010, I was invited by colleagues from Nanjing University of the Arts to sketch in Yangshan of Wuxi. Enclave was a car of one colleague.
39. The Parking Lot in Luxiang
Every time I came to Luxiang in Dongshan of Taihu Lake, I lived near the parking lot. On the May Day in 2010, a road in Dongshan was under construction and the parking lot was turned into a stock ground. Piles of lime in the sun were rather glaring. The recurrence of reality in art is not a copy of it, but a re-cognition by the artist. To touch scenes that go against ordinary visual experience could bestead your thoughts.
40. A Courtyard with Wood-Caving Pavilions
A garden style architecture and pond is no stranger to me. And I was into the context of the stripes in the sunshade in a perspective form, and its altered formula together with the surroundings.
A Sketch in Fanqie
I reviewed some sketches after I finished one in Fanqie of Vietnam. All the skills of drawing for me to be indulged in were soon gone like passing clouds. The purpose of accumulation is to create constantly, and the resort to artistic skills would destroy oneself, leaving paintings without any power to express your emotions. That was probably the consequence of lack of self reflection.