Fan Liu and the Silky Dream Garden
Text: Dermis P. León
In 2012, thanks to a mutual friend, I came across Fan Lui’s work. Although I have been exposed to Chinese contemporary art since the late 90s in New York, never before I have seen such delicate and refined images depicting nature as in the well-known style of the traditional School of painting in the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD). And yet, Ms. Liu with the most boldest and subtle gesture, subverts the subjects and meaning of those appreciated representations of spiritual influence of Taoism and Confucianism in the Song Dynasty with the inclusion of her disturbing female characters.
Among the contemporary well-known Chinese artists in the West, few women are included in the list. In general, those that are well-known in the USA and Europe, are more openly confrontational in their approach to the feminist and gender issues. They explore the female subject better with new media, installation and performances where usually the woman´s body is a central subject-object of the gaze. What first comes to mind are the dramatic shots fired by Xiao Lu at her installation in the first national modern art exhibition held at China Art Museum in 1989, or the seminal and early referential video “Lady´s room” (2002) of Cui Xiamen, which cost her the first lawsuit in the art world in China. Of course, there are other artists such as Bua Hua or Han Yahuan, whose works are painting based as well as the recognizable references of motifs and framing in traditional painting such as the shan shui style in the photomontages of Zhou Hongbin. Nevertheless, all these well-known female artists have reached a great visibility in the flourishing Chinese market with works, clearly related to the Western aesthetic.
However, few of them transversely remind one of previous traditional painting techniques, similar Ms. Liu’s with a refreshing and audacious approach simultaneously. Perhaps her education and background outside the main cultural centers such as Shanghai or Pekin, allowed her to freely engage within explore other cultural references. Parallel to the explosions of performatives and post conceptual critical reactions in the dominant currents in the art scene of those pivotal places in China, Ms. Liu embraces a silent introspection on the women´s role that exists yet in a society having drastically embarked upon a transformation of values.
The children raised after the impact of the Cultural Revolution in Mao´s Era that has erased the greatest Chinese tradition in art and philosophy linked to past dynasties, are finding again inspiration in those forbidden times. Likewise, after the Tang Dynasty, artists and the highly educated gentry’s class, along with the officials working for the Songs Dynasty´s Emperors, were very much attracted to the sophisticated and refined expressions of art, mostly towards painting, lacquerwares, jade carving, sculpture and ceramics. However, painting became the paramount of all of them. Influenced by the Neo-Confucianism´s philosophy and certainly Taoism, man returned to Nature, looking for patterns and principles that influenced and created social changes. Landscape became a predominant subject for artists and educated practitioners, pursuing and creating a new style: the shan shui. Nevertheless, both the North and South Songs Dynasty were essential differences in the approach of nature. In the North the shan shui flourished, and depicted a grandiose and subliminal atmospheric landscape. The artists at the South focused of small details like flowers, birds, leaves, branches of trees like bamboos, leaving mostly a blank or flat monochrome background. From this Southern tradition, Ms. Liu has funded a richly inspired source of motifs and patterns with which her work has given a twisted meaning. Inside her beautiful watercolors made on silk or rice paper, a second nature had come into sight.
Like in the shan shui paintings where humans emerged as an insignificant subject lost in the immensity and blurred landscape, women appeared as part of the motives in Ms. Liu´s series “Dream Garden”. Apparently, they are not the main subject. Women share the same space with other relevant motifs like birds on a beautiful and delicate branch of bamboo or a blossomed tree. While the depicted bird or animals are well detailed in these elegant and exquisite images of which recall the style of Emperor Huizong, women are faceless or sometimes the head is supplanted by a mask of an animal or something replaced completely by them. When her body becomes visible, it is typically naked, vulnerable like any another fragile element in nature, and occasionally with “bondage” like in the Japanese traditional shibari. However, here the women´s body is not intentionally erotic, on the contrary, it comes into view how she is submissive to the constructed nature in which she is also part of its representation. Even as the artist´s delicate touch and apparent simplicity reveals a skilled technique, her female subject is painfully detached from the same surrounding that once embraced her. Nature is a refined beauty portrayed, according to specific cultural rules, in which women are trapped.
Like in the South School of painting in Songs Dynasty, Ms Liu usually leaves a “blank background” in her watercolors on silk, giving her figures a great predominance. In reference to another series on paper, it recalled the lavishly favored golden surface that came early from the Tangs Dynasty and later was profusely used by painters in the Songs Schools. One specific painting attributed to Emperor Hui-Tsung, “Auspicious Dragon,” unmistakably inspired one of the pieces from the works. Differing from the original reference, Ms. Liu used the round form to enclose her “landscapes” and framed it with a perfect square, keeping a small format. On a golden flat background, different shapes of rocks built a landscape in which modern architectural elements like stairs or fragments of buildings pop up from the geological formation. In other paintings, urban lamps morbidly disrupted the ancient vision; sometimes, a single thread crosses the space, linking the rocks to a missing celestial infinity.
Ceramics are another special subject revisited by the artist, but from a different view and format. As everyone knows, glazed and translucent porcelain was highly appreciated and utilized in the Songs Dynasty. The use of complex enamels made them very sophisticated and refined. Ms. Liu makes a completely turnover upon the subject, depicting precious porcelain in watercolor on silk. As such, ceramics became a representation on a translucent flat surface of a distinct landscape, a cultural reference conceived as a symbolic container of a deviant meaning. Here the artist uses the shape of the porcelain to frame an allusive landscape from the North School that takes traditional references of classical shan shui, like the atmospheres in the use of colors, mixing motifs of South School and her recognizable female subjects and animals. Silky surfaces painted delicately became “vessels” of other meanings, more suggestive and poignant than a refined culture that had enjoyed the making of art as highly sophisticated pastimes.
Likewise, at the end of the Tang dynasty when the artists looked back on Nature and retreated to the mountains in order to find a refuge from the collapsing of the social order, Ms. Liu has sought an inspiration in the Songs Dynasty´s traditional painting and porcelain. However, nature here is not a sanctuary in which a contemporary female looks for a refuge in order to avoid the struggle of everyday life in the congested and polluted cities of China today. Nature is a constructed cultural and social reference in which the female body is exposed and represented as a naked and fragile object entrapped in a delicate world of which is not a “Silky Dream Garden.”
Berlin, May 2017
让“不可见”变为“可见”——刘凡和她的女人们
我们每个人都有着各自的审美观,而且独一无二。你听得懂音乐的哀愁或者快乐,就一定能欣赏到绘画的喜悦或者压抑。所以,亲们先别说你们不懂艺术,请跟我来看一看刘凡的作品吧。
梦幻花园系列 Dream Garden Series 50*60cm 绢本on silk 2014
竹子,梅枝,鸟儿与枝头坐立的女人
女人如花般绚烂?
竹子,梅枝,鸟儿与枝头坐立的女人
女人如花般绚烂?
梦幻花园系列 Dream Garden Series 50*60cm 绢本 on silk 2014
竹子,竹节,鸟儿与被俘的女人
性还是各种束缚?
在画家的绢画之中,有很多作品都与中国画之中的四君子相关,梅和竹尤其多用。梅,迎着冰雪绽放娇妍,梅寒丽秀;竹,不惧严寒酷暑,坚韧挺拔,作者将这些美好的品格与气质融在绘画之中,寓意女人如梅如竹,坚韧不拔。晕染与勾勒的绘画手法相得益彰,赤裸裸地将女性所受到的一切暴力以温柔含蓄而又生动形象的手法展现出来,如果说悲剧是把一切美好在人们面前撕毁、损毁的话,那么刘凡的艺术便是把撕毁、损毁的一切美好在你面前一点一点拼凑起来,让你不忍直视,却无法逃避。她的作品,深深触及每个人的心底。
竹子,竹节,鸟儿与被俘的女人
性还是各种束缚?
在画家的绢画之中,有很多作品都与中国画之中的四君子相关,梅和竹尤其多用。梅,迎着冰雪绽放娇妍,梅寒丽秀;竹,不惧严寒酷暑,坚韧挺拔,作者将这些美好的品格与气质融在绘画之中,寓意女人如梅如竹,坚韧不拔。晕染与勾勒的绘画手法相得益彰,赤裸裸地将女性所受到的一切暴力以温柔含蓄而又生动形象的手法展现出来,如果说悲剧是把一切美好在人们面前撕毁、损毁的话,那么刘凡的艺术便是把撕毁、损毁的一切美好在你面前一点一点拼凑起来,让你不忍直视,却无法逃避。她的作品,深深触及每个人的心底。
梦幻花园系列 Dream Garden Series 50*60cm 绢本on silk 2014
樱桃枝、鸟儿、气球和女人
想要向鸟儿一样,飞上广阔无垠的天空吗?
樱桃枝、鸟儿、气球和女人
想要向鸟儿一样,飞上广阔无垠的天空吗?
梦幻花园系列 Dream Garden Series 50*60cm 绢本 on silk 2014
荔枝枝、鸟儿,和倒立的女人
练功,柔韧与坚毅?
这两幅画中用的是果树与鸟儿,而每幅画中都有鸟的存在。用我的观感来解读,鸟代表着自由。无论是人在赏鸟还是鸟在看人,都彰显女人对自由的向往与渴望。这种自由不止是身体的,而且是意识形态的。你可以控制一个女人的身体,但却无法避免她的心如猿似马。但女人们大多有这样那样的绳索牵绊束缚,即便心猿意马,也会因为道德戒尺、责任与担当的存在而放弃想法。在男权主义行使上千年的中国,很多道德戒尺只对女人有效,而对所有男人毫无威力。同样的境遇,女人会被舆论不耻,而男人却过多地被宽容,虽然现在已是20世纪20年代,女人尚未获得真正的自由,甚至还在遭受着暴力的侵害。
荔枝枝、鸟儿,和倒立的女人
练功,柔韧与坚毅?
这两幅画中用的是果树与鸟儿,而每幅画中都有鸟的存在。用我的观感来解读,鸟代表着自由。无论是人在赏鸟还是鸟在看人,都彰显女人对自由的向往与渴望。这种自由不止是身体的,而且是意识形态的。你可以控制一个女人的身体,但却无法避免她的心如猿似马。但女人们大多有这样那样的绳索牵绊束缚,即便心猿意马,也会因为道德戒尺、责任与担当的存在而放弃想法。在男权主义行使上千年的中国,很多道德戒尺只对女人有效,而对所有男人毫无威力。同样的境遇,女人会被舆论不耻,而男人却过多地被宽容,虽然现在已是20世纪20年代,女人尚未获得真正的自由,甚至还在遭受着暴力的侵害。
梦幻花园系列 Dream Garden Series 50*60cm 绢本 on silk 2014
蘑菇、丑石与踮脚站立的女人
蘑菇具有含蓄之意,女人站立在奇石之上是要表达女人的含蓄温婉吗?绳子是否代表着无形中的道德戒尺?踮脚站立是在挣扎吗?
蘑菇、丑石与踮脚站立的女人
蘑菇具有含蓄之意,女人站立在奇石之上是要表达女人的含蓄温婉吗?绳子是否代表着无形中的道德戒尺?踮脚站立是在挣扎吗?
梦幻花园系列 Dream Garden Series 50*60cm 绢本 on silk 2014
丑石、怀孕的女人
孕妇是人类社会的一个身份,是非常时期的女人,有着非常的需求。这个时期是一个女人真正走向成熟的表现,也是女人犹如毛毛虫般完成惊艳蜕变的神奇阶段。当然,在这个特殊的生理与心理变化阶段,女人承受着相当大的压力,有些是外在的,有些则是内在的,无法避免也不能逃脱。女人因为有这样的一个特殊时期,很有可能会被企业拒绝,即便是侥幸生存于职场,也可能因为怀孕、分娩而丧失晋升的机会甚至会被解雇。有些孕期的女人不得不承受这个阶段丈夫在外偷腥,心理受到很大的打击,多年的爱情也许会在这一时期而幻灭。而当一个女人完成蜕变,进入另一个角色——母亲的角色时,就跨入了另一个神圣的阶段,爱情与性变得没那么重要,母亲这一伟大的称呼将支撑她完成所有难以想象的人生高难度动作。
画作中,只一个简单的奇石榻,一个动作蹒跚身体略微倾斜的大肚子,就已经阐释出了女人在这一阶段的艰难,画家极具天赋,因为她抓住了所有怀孕女人的共同神韵,她就是最美丽的女人。
丑石、怀孕的女人
孕妇是人类社会的一个身份,是非常时期的女人,有着非常的需求。这个时期是一个女人真正走向成熟的表现,也是女人犹如毛毛虫般完成惊艳蜕变的神奇阶段。当然,在这个特殊的生理与心理变化阶段,女人承受着相当大的压力,有些是外在的,有些则是内在的,无法避免也不能逃脱。女人因为有这样的一个特殊时期,很有可能会被企业拒绝,即便是侥幸生存于职场,也可能因为怀孕、分娩而丧失晋升的机会甚至会被解雇。有些孕期的女人不得不承受这个阶段丈夫在外偷腥,心理受到很大的打击,多年的爱情也许会在这一时期而幻灭。而当一个女人完成蜕变,进入另一个角色——母亲的角色时,就跨入了另一个神圣的阶段,爱情与性变得没那么重要,母亲这一伟大的称呼将支撑她完成所有难以想象的人生高难度动作。
画作中,只一个简单的奇石榻,一个动作蹒跚身体略微倾斜的大肚子,就已经阐释出了女人在这一阶段的艰难,画家极具天赋,因为她抓住了所有怀孕女人的共同神韵,她就是最美丽的女人。
梦幻花园系列 Dream Garden Series 30*40cm 纸本on paper 2014
面具还是头颅?
画家的画作之中,一个女人面对着众多的面具或者头颅,选择一个适合当下自己的,正在戴……
在社会生活之中,女人有着众多的角色,也可能在不同场合,面对不同的人还会戴着不同的面具。
女人首先是一个独立的个体,不依赖于任何人存在,有着自己的思想和语言,自由地支配着自己的肉体和灵魂。
女人是女儿,是妻子,是母亲,是职员。在每个阶段都有着独特的心理和生理承受能力。随时间变换而不断更换自己的角色,或许还会戴上不同的面具。她们必须适应不同场合,随时换上不同面具和相应的心理状态,否则等待她们的便是撕心裂肺的疼痛。请不要粗暴地撕去女人即便虚伪的面具,因为有时她们换上的或许是头颅……
面具还是头颅?
画家的画作之中,一个女人面对着众多的面具或者头颅,选择一个适合当下自己的,正在戴……
在社会生活之中,女人有着众多的角色,也可能在不同场合,面对不同的人还会戴着不同的面具。
女人首先是一个独立的个体,不依赖于任何人存在,有着自己的思想和语言,自由地支配着自己的肉体和灵魂。
女人是女儿,是妻子,是母亲,是职员。在每个阶段都有着独特的心理和生理承受能力。随时间变换而不断更换自己的角色,或许还会戴上不同的面具。她们必须适应不同场合,随时换上不同面具和相应的心理状态,否则等待她们的便是撕心裂肺的疼痛。请不要粗暴地撕去女人即便虚伪的面具,因为有时她们换上的或许是头颅……
梦幻花园系列 Dream Garden Series 50*60cm 绢本on silk 2014
背负?
雍容华贵的女人,穿金戴银的女人,身着丝绸的女人,越是彰显的你背负的就越多,而你所背负的无数需求之枝,将汲取你的营养,损毁你的健康。而你却在无怨无悔地追求,好似它不会将岁月之痕刻入你的容颜一般。
背负?
雍容华贵的女人,穿金戴银的女人,身着丝绸的女人,越是彰显的你背负的就越多,而你所背负的无数需求之枝,将汲取你的营养,损毁你的健康。而你却在无怨无悔地追求,好似它不会将岁月之痕刻入你的容颜一般。
榴枝仕女图 A lady in the Pomegranate 50*60cm 绢本 on silk 2014年
石榴枝,成熟的石榴与穿泳装的女人
传统与现实
石榴花开得旺盛,女人如果实般成熟。作者用穿着泳衣的女人,跪卧在石榴树下,将古风与现代韵结合在一起,是想表达:是我们在改变传统,还是传统在约束我们,女人的意识与思想掌握在自己的手中吗?
石榴枝,成熟的石榴与穿泳装的女人
传统与现实
石榴花开得旺盛,女人如果实般成熟。作者用穿着泳衣的女人,跪卧在石榴树下,将古风与现代韵结合在一起,是想表达:是我们在改变传统,还是传统在约束我们,女人的意识与思想掌握在自己的手中吗?
如木偶般行动?
女人的身上总有着千丝万缕的线,牵动着她们的心,牵引着她们的行为。如木偶般不自由、不自在、不利索。女人被动的接受大过于主动的主宰,无论她们是否情愿,所以你看到女人们在不断变化,生活的不好,她们抱怨,生活好了可能缺乏安全感,即便有了安全感还是会去抱怨,年纪越大越是啰嗦,这是女人们的特质,别妄想你能逃脱。曾经非常不喜欢母亲啰里八嗦,如今自己已步入这样的阶段,逐渐理解当时的她,也慢慢学会包容现在的她,因为接受和包容她就是接纳和放过自己,不是吗?
每次看画都会思绪飞烁,扯得很远,原谅我这个啰嗦的女人。言归正传,亲有没有注意到,刘凡的女人没有特定的脸?你看到这样的画会有怎样的联想?不只是没穿衣服那么简单吧!绢纸之上的人体艺术所要表达的恐怕没有那么简单了。没有特定的脸,我想这是她想要把你、我、她所有女人都包含了去,我们的快乐、烦恼、忧愁与喜悦也都囊括在刘凡的女人画之中。女人们,看了画请继续保持你坚韧强大的心,珍爱自己所拥有的一切;而男人们,你们的母亲、妻子与女儿都会有这样那样的快乐与烦恼,看懂了这些请多尊重和珍惜你身边的女人吧。
本文的观点纯粹为图文作者的观点,不代表画家的观点,刘凡对所有创作作品具有唯一解释权。
作者:CIFAN溪梵艺术工作室
转引自 http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxNDI1NTE1NQ==&mid=204317226&idx=1&sn=bd09f5565701c05d9167fa33b40897c9&scene=1&from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0#rd
女人的身上总有着千丝万缕的线,牵动着她们的心,牵引着她们的行为。如木偶般不自由、不自在、不利索。女人被动的接受大过于主动的主宰,无论她们是否情愿,所以你看到女人们在不断变化,生活的不好,她们抱怨,生活好了可能缺乏安全感,即便有了安全感还是会去抱怨,年纪越大越是啰嗦,这是女人们的特质,别妄想你能逃脱。曾经非常不喜欢母亲啰里八嗦,如今自己已步入这样的阶段,逐渐理解当时的她,也慢慢学会包容现在的她,因为接受和包容她就是接纳和放过自己,不是吗?
每次看画都会思绪飞烁,扯得很远,原谅我这个啰嗦的女人。言归正传,亲有没有注意到,刘凡的女人没有特定的脸?你看到这样的画会有怎样的联想?不只是没穿衣服那么简单吧!绢纸之上的人体艺术所要表达的恐怕没有那么简单了。没有特定的脸,我想这是她想要把你、我、她所有女人都包含了去,我们的快乐、烦恼、忧愁与喜悦也都囊括在刘凡的女人画之中。女人们,看了画请继续保持你坚韧强大的心,珍爱自己所拥有的一切;而男人们,你们的母亲、妻子与女儿都会有这样那样的快乐与烦恼,看懂了这些请多尊重和珍惜你身边的女人吧。
本文的观点纯粹为图文作者的观点,不代表画家的观点,刘凡对所有创作作品具有唯一解释权。
作者:CIFAN溪梵艺术工作室
转引自 http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAxNDI1NTE1NQ==&mid=204317226&idx=1&sn=bd09f5565701c05d9167fa33b40897c9&scene=1&from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0#rd
Solo exhibition-Dream Garden 个展《梦幻花园》 德国,2014
驻地艺术项目 Work scholarship
http://www.kunststiftung-sachsen-anhalt.de/web/stipendiatendatenbank/fan-liu.html?art=%BB+alle+Genre&typ=%BB+alle+Stipendienarten&jahr=%BB+alle+Jahre&name=&sort=&ansicht=
2014 in Halle, Germany
see http://kunstrichtungtrotha.com/
and http://www.kunststiftung-sachsen-anhalt.de/web/veranstaltungen/kalender/hoffest-ateliergemeinschaft-kunstrichtungtrotha.html
and http://www.kunststiftung-sachsen-anhalt.de/web/veranstaltungen/kalender/hoffest-ateliergemeinschaft-kunstrichtungtrotha.html
共情•幻影——女性的内心世界
2月8日晚“共情·幻影”刘凡作品展在武昌三层艺术空间开幕,展览展出20余幅绢上水彩作品。艺术家以的绢和柔美的裸体女人为载体,向观众表达着自己对女权主义的关注。
此次刘凡近两年来的新作,她的作品将中国古典绘画图像与当代女性身份意识相结合,去探讨基于解剖学上关于“性别”的内在论述,以及社会文化构成物预先设定的固有的身份构建之外的那个自我。她选择了传统图案中象征性的物象,来指涉这样一个没有标准、没有底线的时代的个体存在的迷失和挣扎。她的作品是美丽的,但却是脆弱而伤感的,这正是她苦苦追寻自我的过程中,对自我在历史构成物中迷向的倾诉。
读了博士之后的刘凡感受到女性的身份经常会受到社会的挑战与质疑,于是她便开始思索女性身份的问题,继而创作了这批以裸体女人为画面主体的系列作品。我们不难发现这次的作品有一个共性便是刘凡画中的女性都没有面部的描绘,刘凡解释道:“我并不想描绘一个具象的女性形象,最关键的是她们都是女性的代表符号。”另外刘凡还将一些传统的中国绘画元素例如假山石、花鸟也融入了她的作品之中,“我们如今是生活在一个传统的当今社会,面对传统道德对于女性的认知与规范,我们究竟该如何面对与适应。”
国际艺坛的著名艺术家伊丽莎白•罗斯对刘凡的作品评价中写道:“刘凡用自己的双眼,内心和开阔的思想在创作。她那些精美的作品不仅充满了爱、热情与狂欢,也对女性的生存状况进行尖锐的批评。通过三年多的时间,她弄清楚了自己的专业,她那些画在丝绸上的美丽与哀愁的作品,她的水彩,是如此微妙,如此有个性,直击全世界女性心中最空虚的地方。”
来源:雅昌艺术网专稿 作者:刘梦盈
此次刘凡近两年来的新作,她的作品将中国古典绘画图像与当代女性身份意识相结合,去探讨基于解剖学上关于“性别”的内在论述,以及社会文化构成物预先设定的固有的身份构建之外的那个自我。她选择了传统图案中象征性的物象,来指涉这样一个没有标准、没有底线的时代的个体存在的迷失和挣扎。她的作品是美丽的,但却是脆弱而伤感的,这正是她苦苦追寻自我的过程中,对自我在历史构成物中迷向的倾诉。
读了博士之后的刘凡感受到女性的身份经常会受到社会的挑战与质疑,于是她便开始思索女性身份的问题,继而创作了这批以裸体女人为画面主体的系列作品。我们不难发现这次的作品有一个共性便是刘凡画中的女性都没有面部的描绘,刘凡解释道:“我并不想描绘一个具象的女性形象,最关键的是她们都是女性的代表符号。”另外刘凡还将一些传统的中国绘画元素例如假山石、花鸟也融入了她的作品之中,“我们如今是生活在一个传统的当今社会,面对传统道德对于女性的认知与规范,我们究竟该如何面对与适应。”
国际艺坛的著名艺术家伊丽莎白•罗斯对刘凡的作品评价中写道:“刘凡用自己的双眼,内心和开阔的思想在创作。她那些精美的作品不仅充满了爱、热情与狂欢,也对女性的生存状况进行尖锐的批评。通过三年多的时间,她弄清楚了自己的专业,她那些画在丝绸上的美丽与哀愁的作品,她的水彩,是如此微妙,如此有个性,直击全世界女性心中最空虚的地方。”
来源:雅昌艺术网专稿 作者:刘梦盈
聚焦女性主义
“高知女性总是遭到男性的嘲讽、怀疑,甚至是妖魔化的挖苦”,这些现状让读了博士之后的刘凡感到不平。日前,当代艺术家、艺术学博士刘凡“共情”系列作品展在武汉开幕,展出作品主题聚焦女性主义的题材。
“共情”系列均用水溶性颜料在蚕丝绢上作画,画中人物面目不详但身体柔美,与假山石、花树盆景等环境显出一种若即若离的关系,假山花树源自传统中式苑囿,隐喻社会思想中局限和禁锢的部分,而若即若离的女性则是画者抽象化了的女性群体。“共情”展出现场,一位资深藏家表示,刘凡的这一系列作品,画面唯美而别具意味,表达方式有“国际感”,她非常看好,并相中其中以达·芬奇《最后的晚餐》为基础变形的绢本作品《晚餐》。据介绍,当天现场共展出刘凡“共情”系列作品20余幅,其中数幅作品当场成交或被预订。
来源: 楚天金报 作者:王芳
“共情”系列均用水溶性颜料在蚕丝绢上作画,画中人物面目不详但身体柔美,与假山石、花树盆景等环境显出一种若即若离的关系,假山花树源自传统中式苑囿,隐喻社会思想中局限和禁锢的部分,而若即若离的女性则是画者抽象化了的女性群体。“共情”展出现场,一位资深藏家表示,刘凡的这一系列作品,画面唯美而别具意味,表达方式有“国际感”,她非常看好,并相中其中以达·芬奇《最后的晚餐》为基础变形的绢本作品《晚餐》。据介绍,当天现场共展出刘凡“共情”系列作品20余幅,其中数幅作品当场成交或被预订。
来源: 楚天金报 作者:王芳
《长江生活周刊的报道》
I have finally had a chance to collect my thoughts on Liu Fan's images. The most noteworthy references to traditional Chinese painting (which also indicate that Liu most likely received art academy training in guohua ["National Painting"]) are her use of medium (water-soluble color, sized silk ground), subject matter (scholar's rocks, plum blossoms, bamboo), and composition (figures in garden setting against blank white background). Within a contemporary Chinese context, all of these read as references to Chinese tradition, specifically to traditions of figure painting that stretch back at least as early as the sixteenth century. At the same time, her use of these techniques is thoroughly contemporary and informed by Western traditions - the shaded modeling of the forms reads as "Western" influence and the nude as subject has no precedent in Chinese art before the twentieth century.
A particularly noteworthy feature is the absence of clearly differentiated traces of individual brush strokes, which were historically the principle register for organizing painting lineages and judging the quality of individual works. They were also a clear mode of marking the male homosocial literati tradition of painting. The absence of these markers of male identity, together with the washed out palette (which reads as soft and thus feminine within a conventional Chinese context) distinctively feminize her medium above and beyond its choice of subject. The degree to which this makes the work feminist is open to interpretation - one could certainly argue that her willingness to adopt feminine technique reinforces historically male dominated registers of artistic value, even as the choice of subject references Euro-American critiques of the nude.
Jeffrey Moser. Janurary 2014
Jeffrey Moser is Assistant Professor of East Asian Art History at McGill University. Jeffrey Moser began his study of East Asian art as a translator and interpreter at the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. He received his MA in art history from National Taiwan University and PhD in History of Art and Architecture and East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University.
我终于有机会可以整理一下我对刘凡所创作的图像的一些想法了。最值得一提的是,她的那些中国传统绘画(这些绘画也表明,刘凡极有可能接受过中国画[“国画”]艺术学院背景的专业培训)是她用的绘画媒介(水溶性颜料、丝绸画面)、题材(中国文人雅士的假山石、梅花、竹子)和布局(空白背景下花园里的人物形象)。在当代中国的语境中,所有这些元素都可以解读为对中国传统的继承,特别是追溯到至少早在16世纪的人物画传统。与此同时,她对这些技术的运用又是彻底的当代艺术手法和受西方传统的影响的——阴影造型模式,可以解读为“西方”的影响和裸体为主题,这在二十世纪之前的中国艺术是没有先例的。
特别值得注意的特点是(她的作品)没有明显区别的个人笔触的痕迹,而这些在历史上却是形成绘画谱系和判断个人作品质量的标志,它们也标志着男权社会文人画传统的清晰模式。由于这些男性身份标记的缺失,以及对晕染(由于是柔弱的,因而在传统中国语境下被解读为女性的)独特应用,使她的绘画媒介富有女性化色彩,这些手法超越了她对主题的选择。这种使她的作品女权主义的程度,为其作品的解读开了方便之门——人们可以肯定说,当她选择裸体这种欧美艺术的批评形式作为主题的时候,她愿意采取女性的手法来强化历史上男性主导下各种记录的艺术价值。
杰夫瑞·莫尔 2014年1月(翻译:谷光曙)
杰夫瑞·莫尔是加拿大麦克吉尔大学东亚艺术史系副教授,研究中国艺术的知名专家。莫尔曾在台湾故宫博物院任翻译,研究中国艺术史,获得台湾国立大学硕士和哈佛大学博士学位。
TROUBLING
BEAUTY
Fan
Liu makes works of exquisite beauty. Her watercolor drawings on silk (and also
porcelain) are particularly beautiful, but they are also troubling.
The presence of a lone female, or a group of females is central to these works. These women act out a scenario, sometimes innocent, sometimes not. There are several narratives, one includes a group of skeletons that remind me of a Mexican day of the dead scenario, and I would love to know their significance in Chinese art. Liu’s work makes the viewer want to find out more about it’s background, it teases us to enter this world. There are several images of Beauties, a group of four women, who are depicted in one image heavily pregnant and crouching in a boat. This painting is called Four Beauties on the Noah’s Ark, thus cross-referencing a cultural mixedness, and opening a dialogue between Chinese and European traditions. This is again invoked in ? Forbidden Fruit ? of 2013, where two pregnant beauties stand either side of an apple tree.
But alongside the female presence there is also an absence. The drawings are fragile and ghostly, the women are faceless. The male is largely absent though the results of his actions are not. Women are bound, suspended over rocks, or wearing masks. Sometimes they seem engaged in acts of autoeroticism. A dog headed man in a suit is tightening a red scarf around a naked woman’s neck from behind in a painting called Leave me alone from 2012.These images hint at physical and psychological mistreatment, and by placing these figures in these tableaus, she challenges the viewer, particularly the male viewer (or voyeur) to question his response.
Liu has in interviews told of the objectification of women, and how, in China, highly educated women (of which she is one) are not always accepted in the hierarchy of work and society. That despite new opportunities for women, they are still obliged to accept ‘traditional’ roles.But to call Liu a Feminist artist might be attempting to put her in a box, a categorization that she resists. Her work derives from lived experience, as a woman, as an artist, an academic, a critic, a wife and a mother. She inhabits several identities, and her creativity is also not confined to one medium. She uses film, animation, photography as well as traditional drawing.
But it seems that Liu is drawing energy from the traditional art and culture of China too, which she studied for several years, in particular painting on silk. She told me ‘Silk seems beautiful, fragile and sad. That's the feeling which I need’. Her work responds to the recent rapid developments in China, the domination of nature and culture, the eradication of the past by a male driven urge for profit and technological advance; a condition repeated in most of the world. I myself witnessed these changes when exhibiting in Chongqing in 2008. The scale of the developments, the rapid growth, is putting history and heritage in jeopardy, as she told me ‘We have lost so many things during the process of modernity’. So Liu is an artist that straddles the space between the traditions of thousands of years in China, a wealth of history, whilst also being a Modern, or Postmodern artist, challenging and questioning the age she lives in, as all artist’s should.
Iwan Bala. December 2013
Iwan Bala is an established artist, writer and scholar based in Wales. He has held solo exhibitions annually since 1990, participated in many group exhibitions in Wales and abroad and is represented in public and private collections. He has published books and essays on contemporary art in Wales and is a frequent lecturer on the subject. Iwan Bala is cited in most published compilations on contemporary art in Wales.
令人不安的美
刘凡创作的作品精美绝伦。她绘制在绢上的水彩画(以及在瓷器上的绘画作品)确实很美,但也令人不安。
画面上出现的单个女性或一组女性,是这些作品的中心。她们展现的场景,有时候天真无邪,有时候却不是。有几幅是叙事的,其中一幅里面有几具骷髅的,让我想起死亡场景的墨西哥日,我很想知道它们在中国艺术中的涵义。刘凡的作品让观者想寻找其画面之外所蕴涵的更深层次的意义,它吸引着我们走进这个世界。《美人》有几个图像,四个女人一组,她们挺着大肚子,挤在一艘小船里。这幅画被称作《诺亚方舟里的四美图》,这是一个交互注解的混合文化现象,是中国传统与欧洲传统之间的公开对话。这种现象再一次出现在她的2013年作品《禁果》中,在这幅画中,有两个怀孕的美女分别站在一棵苹果树的两边。
但除了女性形象以外,还有留白。这些画作易碎而恐怖,女人们没有面孔。尽管男人们的行为后果是存在的,但他们在刘凡的作品中基本上是不存在的。女人们是裸体,被悬挂在岩石之上或戴着面具。有时候,她们似乎从事自慰行为。她的一幅画《别烦我》(2012年),一个身穿西服打着领带的狗头男人从一个裸体女人背后用红色丝带勒着她的脖子。这些图像暗示着(女性)在身体上和心理上的歧视待遇。而且,通过这些人物形象在这些场景中的设计,挑战着观者,尤其是男性观者(或偷窥者),质疑着他们的反应。
刘凡在接受采访时谈到了女性的客体化问题,以及在中国,受过高等教育的妇女(她就是其中之一)如何在工作和社会的层次结构中并不总是被接纳的现实处境。尽管她们也有新的机会,但她们仍然不得不接受“传统”的角色定位。但如果称她为女性主义艺术家,试图将她归为那一类人,刘凡是不会接受的。她的作品源自她的生活经历,作为女性、艺术家、学者、批评家、妻子和母亲。她不但拥有这几个身份,而且她的创意也没有局限于一种媒介。她的作品既包括短片、动画、摄影,也包括传统绘画。
但是刘凡的创作从传统艺术和中国文化中汲取能量,她潜心研究传统艺术十多年,尤其是绢上绘画。她告诉我,“绢显得美轮美奂、脆弱和悲伤,这正是我所需要的感觉”。她的作品反映了当今中国的快速发展以及技术进步,由男性欲望和利益驱动下,自然和文化的控制、传统的消失。我2008年在重庆办画展时,亲身目睹了这些变化。发展的规模和速度使历史和传统处于危险之中。她告诉我,“在现代性过程中,我们失去了很多东西。”刘凡是一个在中国几千年传统、丰富历史之间穿越的艺术家,她同时也是现代或后现代艺术家,她挑战和质疑她所生活的这个时代,因为这是所有艺术家的职责所在。
伊万•巴拉 2013年12月(翻译:谷光曙)
伊万•巴拉 是英国威尔士著名的学者、艺术家和批评家。从1990年开始,他每年举办一次个展,并经常参加威尔士和境外的群展,其作品被公共机构和私人广泛收藏。他在威尔士出版了多部关于当代艺术的专著,也发表了多篇当代艺术的文章,并经常就当代艺术的议题发表演讲。伊万•巴拉被威尔士大部分当代艺术著作引用。
The presence of a lone female, or a group of females is central to these works. These women act out a scenario, sometimes innocent, sometimes not. There are several narratives, one includes a group of skeletons that remind me of a Mexican day of the dead scenario, and I would love to know their significance in Chinese art. Liu’s work makes the viewer want to find out more about it’s background, it teases us to enter this world. There are several images of Beauties, a group of four women, who are depicted in one image heavily pregnant and crouching in a boat. This painting is called Four Beauties on the Noah’s Ark, thus cross-referencing a cultural mixedness, and opening a dialogue between Chinese and European traditions. This is again invoked in ? Forbidden Fruit ? of 2013, where two pregnant beauties stand either side of an apple tree.
But alongside the female presence there is also an absence. The drawings are fragile and ghostly, the women are faceless. The male is largely absent though the results of his actions are not. Women are bound, suspended over rocks, or wearing masks. Sometimes they seem engaged in acts of autoeroticism. A dog headed man in a suit is tightening a red scarf around a naked woman’s neck from behind in a painting called Leave me alone from 2012.These images hint at physical and psychological mistreatment, and by placing these figures in these tableaus, she challenges the viewer, particularly the male viewer (or voyeur) to question his response.
Liu has in interviews told of the objectification of women, and how, in China, highly educated women (of which she is one) are not always accepted in the hierarchy of work and society. That despite new opportunities for women, they are still obliged to accept ‘traditional’ roles.But to call Liu a Feminist artist might be attempting to put her in a box, a categorization that she resists. Her work derives from lived experience, as a woman, as an artist, an academic, a critic, a wife and a mother. She inhabits several identities, and her creativity is also not confined to one medium. She uses film, animation, photography as well as traditional drawing.
But it seems that Liu is drawing energy from the traditional art and culture of China too, which she studied for several years, in particular painting on silk. She told me ‘Silk seems beautiful, fragile and sad. That's the feeling which I need’. Her work responds to the recent rapid developments in China, the domination of nature and culture, the eradication of the past by a male driven urge for profit and technological advance; a condition repeated in most of the world. I myself witnessed these changes when exhibiting in Chongqing in 2008. The scale of the developments, the rapid growth, is putting history and heritage in jeopardy, as she told me ‘We have lost so many things during the process of modernity’. So Liu is an artist that straddles the space between the traditions of thousands of years in China, a wealth of history, whilst also being a Modern, or Postmodern artist, challenging and questioning the age she lives in, as all artist’s should.
Iwan Bala. December 2013
Iwan Bala is an established artist, writer and scholar based in Wales. He has held solo exhibitions annually since 1990, participated in many group exhibitions in Wales and abroad and is represented in public and private collections. He has published books and essays on contemporary art in Wales and is a frequent lecturer on the subject. Iwan Bala is cited in most published compilations on contemporary art in Wales.
令人不安的美
刘凡创作的作品精美绝伦。她绘制在绢上的水彩画(以及在瓷器上的绘画作品)确实很美,但也令人不安。
画面上出现的单个女性或一组女性,是这些作品的中心。她们展现的场景,有时候天真无邪,有时候却不是。有几幅是叙事的,其中一幅里面有几具骷髅的,让我想起死亡场景的墨西哥日,我很想知道它们在中国艺术中的涵义。刘凡的作品让观者想寻找其画面之外所蕴涵的更深层次的意义,它吸引着我们走进这个世界。《美人》有几个图像,四个女人一组,她们挺着大肚子,挤在一艘小船里。这幅画被称作《诺亚方舟里的四美图》,这是一个交互注解的混合文化现象,是中国传统与欧洲传统之间的公开对话。这种现象再一次出现在她的2013年作品《禁果》中,在这幅画中,有两个怀孕的美女分别站在一棵苹果树的两边。
但除了女性形象以外,还有留白。这些画作易碎而恐怖,女人们没有面孔。尽管男人们的行为后果是存在的,但他们在刘凡的作品中基本上是不存在的。女人们是裸体,被悬挂在岩石之上或戴着面具。有时候,她们似乎从事自慰行为。她的一幅画《别烦我》(2012年),一个身穿西服打着领带的狗头男人从一个裸体女人背后用红色丝带勒着她的脖子。这些图像暗示着(女性)在身体上和心理上的歧视待遇。而且,通过这些人物形象在这些场景中的设计,挑战着观者,尤其是男性观者(或偷窥者),质疑着他们的反应。
刘凡在接受采访时谈到了女性的客体化问题,以及在中国,受过高等教育的妇女(她就是其中之一)如何在工作和社会的层次结构中并不总是被接纳的现实处境。尽管她们也有新的机会,但她们仍然不得不接受“传统”的角色定位。但如果称她为女性主义艺术家,试图将她归为那一类人,刘凡是不会接受的。她的作品源自她的生活经历,作为女性、艺术家、学者、批评家、妻子和母亲。她不但拥有这几个身份,而且她的创意也没有局限于一种媒介。她的作品既包括短片、动画、摄影,也包括传统绘画。
但是刘凡的创作从传统艺术和中国文化中汲取能量,她潜心研究传统艺术十多年,尤其是绢上绘画。她告诉我,“绢显得美轮美奂、脆弱和悲伤,这正是我所需要的感觉”。她的作品反映了当今中国的快速发展以及技术进步,由男性欲望和利益驱动下,自然和文化的控制、传统的消失。我2008年在重庆办画展时,亲身目睹了这些变化。发展的规模和速度使历史和传统处于危险之中。她告诉我,“在现代性过程中,我们失去了很多东西。”刘凡是一个在中国几千年传统、丰富历史之间穿越的艺术家,她同时也是现代或后现代艺术家,她挑战和质疑她所生活的这个时代,因为这是所有艺术家的职责所在。
伊万•巴拉 2013年12月(翻译:谷光曙)
伊万•巴拉 是英国威尔士著名的学者、艺术家和批评家。从1990年开始,他每年举办一次个展,并经常参加威尔士和境外的群展,其作品被公共机构和私人广泛收藏。他在威尔士出版了多部关于当代艺术的专著,也发表了多篇当代艺术的文章,并经常就当代艺术的议题发表演讲。伊万•巴拉被威尔士大部分当代艺术著作引用。
Making visible the "invisible"——The paintings of Liu Fan
We live globalized modern times. As citizens we have turned into netizens and communications and consume rule most of our days and nights. We even have our machines on the Moon. Life is faster. Society demanding. Big Brother omnipresent. Tradition is losing terrain. A taste of decadence infiltrates the century as natural catastrophes befall with an increasing destructive power. Everything is changing. Humans are changing, mutating. But still, many old ill mental structures have to be demolished if humanity wants to reach a balance, not to say survive these hectic times. One if not the most harmful of those mental structures is androcracy[i] aka patriarchy. We are living a globalized increasing violence against women from feminicide to beauty dictatorship. A long time instituted irrational and insensitive violence that we, as women, must not validate.
Liu Fan is an artist, and a woman. She has been exploring this complex identity with her artwork and through her own life. She comes from an ancient culture praising duty and family, history and ancestors, honor and discipline, art and beauty. An amazing culture based -as so many amazing civilizations after the Neolithic- in male dominance. Still, she knows very well where she, as a woman, stands: self -meaning female- consciousness.
With her eyes, heart and mind wide open, she paints. She paints delicate scenes charged with love and compassion but also with revelry and a poignant critic on women condition. Within a time span of more than three years, she has fathomed her discourse and her beautiful -and painful- drawings on silk and watercolor, so subtle, so sour, point directly to the space/void graciously left to females all around the globe.
Many of the elements she uses in her compositions come from Chinese painting tradition as identity signs, but her timeless characters have no face, there is no individuality there because they represent us all. Those ropes constrain us, the nudity objectify us, mirrors reflect what others want, need or are told they have to see. Red details as flowers, fruits, gloves, ropes or stockings tell the bloody underline of the images. Bare trees, volcanic eroded rocks, death masks sustain or frame the bursting life under those bodies that sometimes you could feel like ghosts, so ethereal, but at the same time some projecting a shadow so dense it could be a reflection. A mirage in the mist. In her female characters there is this delicate line between what's real and deep and what is social mandate. A line like a wound made by a sharp blade.
The symbolic subtleness Liu Fan has chosen to express in her paintings lies on the verge of invisibility, because a condition for this violence is to remain invisible to the eyes of consciousness. Therefore, Liu artwork makes the violence, the subjugation, the pain, the blindness visible. And that's what's all about: to present and represent, to show and point out, to cry loudly, so we all can stop the pain. A pain that affects both women and men.
Yes, it's the second decade of the XXI Century and we should not have reasons to speak about these issues. But the fact is that androcracy is well and alive and even if some women have reached certain freedom, independence and success, even if some women can be artists, curators, doctors, researchers, the daily life proves once and again we are far away from leaving behind discrimination and aggressiveness against the other part of humanity we are. Not even in the art world, because the mainstream functions still under a rigid male point of view, as the constant research of the Guerrilla Girls exposes. No, not yet.
That is why we all need more exhibitions of artwork like this one all around the globe. Not only the visibility of women issues are important but also and strongly, we need to make visible the female artists who break androcratic paradigms just by being true to themselves and producing excellent artwork, just as Liu Fan does.
Elizabeth Ross
December 2013
Elizabeth Ross (Mexico City) is a famous artist, art projects manager, curator, socio-cultural agent and journalist with an international presence. She's a member of the SNCA, Art Creators National System in Mexico. Lives between Mexico and Spain.
[i] This term derives from the Greek root words andros, "man", and krateo (as in democratic), "to rule".
让可见变为“不可见”——刘凡的绘画作品
我们生活在一个全球化的现代社会。每个人几乎都已经成为无时无刻不在利用网络交流的公民。人们甚至把机器设备送上了月球。生活节奏变得比以往更快了。这也是现代社会所需要的。独裁者无处不在。传统正在慢慢丢失。就像极具破坏性的自然灾害一样,堕落也在侵蚀着这个社会。世界在变化。人们也在变化。但是如果人们想要达到一种平衡或是想要在这个忙碌的时代生存下来,那么很多老旧的心理结构就必须被改变。其中最有害的一条就是父权制。在如今这个全球化社会,不管是女性被世界统治还是女性统治世界,她们都遭受日益增长的暴力。作为女性,我们不能让这长久以来不合理的暴力任意横行。
刘凡是一位女艺术家。她一直在用她的艺术作品和她自己的生活来诠释这个身份。她来自于一个赞美责任与家庭,历史与祖先,荣誉与纪律,艺术与美的具有古老文化的国家。这蕴涵丰富的文化是在以男性为主导的新石器时代之后就随着令人惊奇的各种文明产生的。但是,作为一位女性,刘凡很清楚的知道:自我就意味着要具有女性意识。
刘凡用自己的双眼,内心和开阔的思想在创作。她那些精美的作品不仅充满了爱、热情与狂欢,也对女性的生存状况进行尖锐的批评。通过三年多的时间,她弄清楚了自己的专业,她那些画在丝绸上的美丽与哀愁的作品,她的水彩,是如此微妙,如此有个性,直击全世界女性心中最空虚的地方。
她作品中作为身份象征的许多元素都来自于中国画,但是她画中永恒的主角都没有脸,没有个人特征是因为这些画中人代表的就是我们所有人。绳索限制了我们,裸体使我们客观化,镜子反射出别人想要的,需要的,以及他们被要求必须去看的。那些红色的细节是花,是水果,是手套,是绳索,是袜子,预示了人物生命的尽头。光秃秃的树,被火山破坏的岩石,死亡面具,那些你觉得像魔鬼的东西,展现出的在这些身体里的蓬勃的生命,同时,那些展现出的密集的影子也可以看做是一个反映。就像海市蜃楼一样。什么是真的、深刻的和这个社会该掌管什么,是她明显的一个女性特征。而它就像被锋利的刀片切割成的木头一样。
刘凡在她的画里选择用象征性的细微东西来表达依赖于不可视的范围,因为这种暴力的情况是为了蒙蔽意识的双眼。因此,刘凡的作品使人们看到暴力,镇压,痛苦和盲目。而这或许就是我们要做的:介绍与象征,展示并指出,大声地呼喊,然后我们就可以停止这不仅影响男人也影响女人的痛苦。
是的,现在是21世纪20年代,我们不能毫无缘由去讨论这些问题。但是事实是男权制还是存在并且即使一些女性获得了一些自由、独立和成功,即使女性可以成为艺术家,策展人,医生和研究者,她们还是一次又一次由于歧视被男性远远地甩在后面。不仅仅是在艺术界,因为起主流作用的还是男性,就像Guerrilla Girls揭露的那永恒的研究一样。
这就是为什么我们需要在全世界再举办更多的展览一样。不仅使女性被看见这个问题很重要,而且我们特别想让让那些打破男性统治范式,勇于做自己,创作出出色作品,如刘凡这样的女艺术家被看到。
伊丽莎白·罗斯(翻译:刘海滨)
2013年12月
伊丽莎白·罗斯是国际艺坛的著名艺术家、艺术项目经理、策展人以及社会文化代理人和记者。她是SNCA(墨西哥国家系统的艺术创造者)成员。现居住在墨西哥和西班牙。
Liu Fan is an artist, and a woman. She has been exploring this complex identity with her artwork and through her own life. She comes from an ancient culture praising duty and family, history and ancestors, honor and discipline, art and beauty. An amazing culture based -as so many amazing civilizations after the Neolithic- in male dominance. Still, she knows very well where she, as a woman, stands: self -meaning female- consciousness.
With her eyes, heart and mind wide open, she paints. She paints delicate scenes charged with love and compassion but also with revelry and a poignant critic on women condition. Within a time span of more than three years, she has fathomed her discourse and her beautiful -and painful- drawings on silk and watercolor, so subtle, so sour, point directly to the space/void graciously left to females all around the globe.
Many of the elements she uses in her compositions come from Chinese painting tradition as identity signs, but her timeless characters have no face, there is no individuality there because they represent us all. Those ropes constrain us, the nudity objectify us, mirrors reflect what others want, need or are told they have to see. Red details as flowers, fruits, gloves, ropes or stockings tell the bloody underline of the images. Bare trees, volcanic eroded rocks, death masks sustain or frame the bursting life under those bodies that sometimes you could feel like ghosts, so ethereal, but at the same time some projecting a shadow so dense it could be a reflection. A mirage in the mist. In her female characters there is this delicate line between what's real and deep and what is social mandate. A line like a wound made by a sharp blade.
The symbolic subtleness Liu Fan has chosen to express in her paintings lies on the verge of invisibility, because a condition for this violence is to remain invisible to the eyes of consciousness. Therefore, Liu artwork makes the violence, the subjugation, the pain, the blindness visible. And that's what's all about: to present and represent, to show and point out, to cry loudly, so we all can stop the pain. A pain that affects both women and men.
Yes, it's the second decade of the XXI Century and we should not have reasons to speak about these issues. But the fact is that androcracy is well and alive and even if some women have reached certain freedom, independence and success, even if some women can be artists, curators, doctors, researchers, the daily life proves once and again we are far away from leaving behind discrimination and aggressiveness against the other part of humanity we are. Not even in the art world, because the mainstream functions still under a rigid male point of view, as the constant research of the Guerrilla Girls exposes. No, not yet.
That is why we all need more exhibitions of artwork like this one all around the globe. Not only the visibility of women issues are important but also and strongly, we need to make visible the female artists who break androcratic paradigms just by being true to themselves and producing excellent artwork, just as Liu Fan does.
Elizabeth Ross
December 2013
Elizabeth Ross (Mexico City) is a famous artist, art projects manager, curator, socio-cultural agent and journalist with an international presence. She's a member of the SNCA, Art Creators National System in Mexico. Lives between Mexico and Spain.
[i] This term derives from the Greek root words andros, "man", and krateo (as in democratic), "to rule".
让可见变为“不可见”——刘凡的绘画作品
我们生活在一个全球化的现代社会。每个人几乎都已经成为无时无刻不在利用网络交流的公民。人们甚至把机器设备送上了月球。生活节奏变得比以往更快了。这也是现代社会所需要的。独裁者无处不在。传统正在慢慢丢失。就像极具破坏性的自然灾害一样,堕落也在侵蚀着这个社会。世界在变化。人们也在变化。但是如果人们想要达到一种平衡或是想要在这个忙碌的时代生存下来,那么很多老旧的心理结构就必须被改变。其中最有害的一条就是父权制。在如今这个全球化社会,不管是女性被世界统治还是女性统治世界,她们都遭受日益增长的暴力。作为女性,我们不能让这长久以来不合理的暴力任意横行。
刘凡是一位女艺术家。她一直在用她的艺术作品和她自己的生活来诠释这个身份。她来自于一个赞美责任与家庭,历史与祖先,荣誉与纪律,艺术与美的具有古老文化的国家。这蕴涵丰富的文化是在以男性为主导的新石器时代之后就随着令人惊奇的各种文明产生的。但是,作为一位女性,刘凡很清楚的知道:自我就意味着要具有女性意识。
刘凡用自己的双眼,内心和开阔的思想在创作。她那些精美的作品不仅充满了爱、热情与狂欢,也对女性的生存状况进行尖锐的批评。通过三年多的时间,她弄清楚了自己的专业,她那些画在丝绸上的美丽与哀愁的作品,她的水彩,是如此微妙,如此有个性,直击全世界女性心中最空虚的地方。
她作品中作为身份象征的许多元素都来自于中国画,但是她画中永恒的主角都没有脸,没有个人特征是因为这些画中人代表的就是我们所有人。绳索限制了我们,裸体使我们客观化,镜子反射出别人想要的,需要的,以及他们被要求必须去看的。那些红色的细节是花,是水果,是手套,是绳索,是袜子,预示了人物生命的尽头。光秃秃的树,被火山破坏的岩石,死亡面具,那些你觉得像魔鬼的东西,展现出的在这些身体里的蓬勃的生命,同时,那些展现出的密集的影子也可以看做是一个反映。就像海市蜃楼一样。什么是真的、深刻的和这个社会该掌管什么,是她明显的一个女性特征。而它就像被锋利的刀片切割成的木头一样。
刘凡在她的画里选择用象征性的细微东西来表达依赖于不可视的范围,因为这种暴力的情况是为了蒙蔽意识的双眼。因此,刘凡的作品使人们看到暴力,镇压,痛苦和盲目。而这或许就是我们要做的:介绍与象征,展示并指出,大声地呼喊,然后我们就可以停止这不仅影响男人也影响女人的痛苦。
是的,现在是21世纪20年代,我们不能毫无缘由去讨论这些问题。但是事实是男权制还是存在并且即使一些女性获得了一些自由、独立和成功,即使女性可以成为艺术家,策展人,医生和研究者,她们还是一次又一次由于歧视被男性远远地甩在后面。不仅仅是在艺术界,因为起主流作用的还是男性,就像Guerrilla Girls揭露的那永恒的研究一样。
这就是为什么我们需要在全世界再举办更多的展览一样。不仅使女性被看见这个问题很重要,而且我们特别想让让那些打破男性统治范式,勇于做自己,创作出出色作品,如刘凡这样的女艺术家被看到。
伊丽莎白·罗斯(翻译:刘海滨)
2013年12月
伊丽莎白·罗斯是国际艺坛的著名艺术家、艺术项目经理、策展人以及社会文化代理人和记者。她是SNCA(墨西哥国家系统的艺术创造者)成员。现居住在墨西哥和西班牙。
德国驻地艺术家项目 (2013年12月-2014年9月) Arbeitsstipendien 2014 in Halle, Germany
supported by Kunststiftung Sachsen-Anhalt
《书画印》杂志选登刘凡的作品
《长江商报》关于刘凡的专访
自我的再现——章凌对话刘凡
1、章凌:你是什么时候开始关注女性题材的?
刘凡:我关注女性主义其实很晚,最初关注的题材很多,从中外古典主义绘画,到现代、后现代主义艺术;从生态到后殖民,从宗教到历史,都涉猎过。到了读博士以后,发现人们对自己的评价和态度发生了改变,与人交流的时候,人们会特别强调性别和与此相关的话题。这种流行的段子很多,从最早的“男人、女人、女博士”,到“三高”,再到“白骨精”,女性在获得更多的知识以后,总是遭到男性的嘲讽、怀疑,甚至是妖魔化的挖苦,这些现状让我不得不思考,我究竟是谁?我的身份在何种情况下发生了改变?这些改变背后的原因是什么?
2、章凌:你希望你的作品能够表达一种怎样的态度?
刘凡:如果我们将人类作为主体来看待的话,它并不具有身份的实体,无论它表现为什么样的身份,这个身份都只有来自认同他者对它的感知。自我总是像另外一个自我。我想探究的是除去基于解剖学上关于“性别”的内在论述,以及社会文化构成物预先设定的固有的身份构建之外的那个自我,它去除了历史构成物中那些被连续生产、复制并被强化的概念,而呈现出的一种个体的自由状态。而我的作品记录的正是苦苦追寻自我的过程中,对自我在历史构成物的符号迷宫中迷失方向的叙述。
3、章凌:在你的创作中,作品因为个人成长经历、结婚、生子等人生上的变化而发生改变主要在哪里?你自己怎么看待这些改变?
刘凡:读书让人懂得历史、婚姻让人懂得理解、生子让人懂得人生。不同的人生阶段,都体现了性别身份的构建,而性别身份在一个过程中的作为主体的女性角色中,可以自由的反对解剖学,将自我从身份固定的术语中解放出来。孩子在这个过程中扮演了重要的角色,她使女性不再作为她者或者客体存在,而是作为主体,这种转变使得人生的意义更加丰富。比如,我近期的作品出现了一些被符号化的孕妇的形象,她代表了生与死,暗含了主体以及被客观化了的他者。
4、章凌:女人的生活与生存,一直是你在思考的。对此,你的作品想要说些什么。
刘凡:性别化的题材展现在观众面前时,立刻会被定位和构成主观性,来保护父权机制。社会机制在这些形式中构成了以男性为主体的结构,主观上否定了女性。我们一直处于这样一种视觉化的意义体系中,女性处于被动而不是积极的角色,她始终作为对象而不是主体。我希望再现的是一个真实的女性,她首先是一个生物学的身份,处在身体的模型中,但更重要的是她是一个具有独立思想和意识的个体。当然,在今天这样一个没有标准、没有底线的时代,注定了个体存在的迷失,而一个艺术家的前进正是为了迷失方向,因为艺术能够拯救迷惘的灵魂。
5、章凌:除了画画,你还希望通过哪些方式来表达你的思考?
刘凡:表达思考的方式其实很多,一句话、一个眼神、一组动作、一断声音…….都可以传递出智慧。在我的作品中,尝试过各种表达的方式,绘画、摄影、动画、录像、装置等等。对于我来说,我并不想刻意地将表现的方式列为艺术存在的先决条件,它是一个水到渠成的结果,而不是非此即彼的条件。
刘凡:我关注女性主义其实很晚,最初关注的题材很多,从中外古典主义绘画,到现代、后现代主义艺术;从生态到后殖民,从宗教到历史,都涉猎过。到了读博士以后,发现人们对自己的评价和态度发生了改变,与人交流的时候,人们会特别强调性别和与此相关的话题。这种流行的段子很多,从最早的“男人、女人、女博士”,到“三高”,再到“白骨精”,女性在获得更多的知识以后,总是遭到男性的嘲讽、怀疑,甚至是妖魔化的挖苦,这些现状让我不得不思考,我究竟是谁?我的身份在何种情况下发生了改变?这些改变背后的原因是什么?
2、章凌:你希望你的作品能够表达一种怎样的态度?
刘凡:如果我们将人类作为主体来看待的话,它并不具有身份的实体,无论它表现为什么样的身份,这个身份都只有来自认同他者对它的感知。自我总是像另外一个自我。我想探究的是除去基于解剖学上关于“性别”的内在论述,以及社会文化构成物预先设定的固有的身份构建之外的那个自我,它去除了历史构成物中那些被连续生产、复制并被强化的概念,而呈现出的一种个体的自由状态。而我的作品记录的正是苦苦追寻自我的过程中,对自我在历史构成物的符号迷宫中迷失方向的叙述。
3、章凌:在你的创作中,作品因为个人成长经历、结婚、生子等人生上的变化而发生改变主要在哪里?你自己怎么看待这些改变?
刘凡:读书让人懂得历史、婚姻让人懂得理解、生子让人懂得人生。不同的人生阶段,都体现了性别身份的构建,而性别身份在一个过程中的作为主体的女性角色中,可以自由的反对解剖学,将自我从身份固定的术语中解放出来。孩子在这个过程中扮演了重要的角色,她使女性不再作为她者或者客体存在,而是作为主体,这种转变使得人生的意义更加丰富。比如,我近期的作品出现了一些被符号化的孕妇的形象,她代表了生与死,暗含了主体以及被客观化了的他者。
4、章凌:女人的生活与生存,一直是你在思考的。对此,你的作品想要说些什么。
刘凡:性别化的题材展现在观众面前时,立刻会被定位和构成主观性,来保护父权机制。社会机制在这些形式中构成了以男性为主体的结构,主观上否定了女性。我们一直处于这样一种视觉化的意义体系中,女性处于被动而不是积极的角色,她始终作为对象而不是主体。我希望再现的是一个真实的女性,她首先是一个生物学的身份,处在身体的模型中,但更重要的是她是一个具有独立思想和意识的个体。当然,在今天这样一个没有标准、没有底线的时代,注定了个体存在的迷失,而一个艺术家的前进正是为了迷失方向,因为艺术能够拯救迷惘的灵魂。
5、章凌:除了画画,你还希望通过哪些方式来表达你的思考?
刘凡:表达思考的方式其实很多,一句话、一个眼神、一组动作、一断声音…….都可以传递出智慧。在我的作品中,尝试过各种表达的方式,绘画、摄影、动画、录像、装置等等。对于我来说,我并不想刻意地将表现的方式列为艺术存在的先决条件,它是一个水到渠成的结果,而不是非此即彼的条件。
Self Representation—A Conversation between ZHANG Ling and LIU Fan
translated by LIU Haibin
Zhang: When do you pay attention to the female theme?
Liu: Actually very late. At first, I paid attention to many themes, from classicalism painting to modernism or postmodernism art; from ecological to postcolonial, from religion to history. I found that people’s evaluation and attitude towards me were changed when I became a doctor, and they specially emphasize sex and something related when we have a talk. Such popular sayings can be heard easily, form “male, female and female doctor” to “high degree, high income and high requirement” to “office lady, cadre and elite” and female are always taunted, doubted or laughed when they get more
knowledge, which make me have to think: who am I? In what circumstance my identity is changed? What is the reason behind these changes?
Zhang: What attitude do you want to express in your works?
Liu: If we take human as the subject, it is not the entity with an identity, and no matter what identity it shows, it is just the perception from the identifier. Self is always like another self. What the self I want to explore is the one that dislodged the intrinsic discourse of sex in anatomy and the preestablished identity by the society and culture. It gets rid of the concept that is continuously produced、duplicated and strengthened, and presents a state of freedom. What my works record is, in
the process of seeking self, the account of self’s lose in the symbol maze.
Zhang: In your creation, how is your work changed because of your growth experience, marriage and giving birth to a child? What do you think of these changes?
Liu: Reading makes you know history, marriage makes you know understanding and giving birth to a child makes you know life. Different stages of life reflect the construction of gender identity, and gender identity can oppose anatomy freely in the process of being subject and save self from the terminology of fixed identity. Child plays an important role in the process, she makes female no longer as an object, but a subject, and the change has your life more colorful. For example, some signified pregnant women appear in my recent works, and they represent birth and death, implies the subject and someone has been objectified.
Zhang: Female’s life and living are always what you are thinking. For this, what do your works want to express?
Liu: When sex themes present in front of the viewers, they will be immediately positioned and subjective to protect patriarchy. Social mechanism composes a male-oriented structure in these forms, and negates female subjectively. We are
always in this visualizing system, female is passive not positive, and she is object not subject all the time. What I want to present is a real female, firstly she is a biology identity, being in the physical model, and what’s more, she is an individual with independent thinking and self-consciousness. Of course, there is no standard or bottom line in this time, and it is bound to lose for individual, but an artist’s advancement is to get lost because art can save the lost soul.
Zhang: Besides painting, which way do you want to use to express your thinking?
Liu: There are many ways, one sentence, an expression in eyes, a set of action and a piece of voice, which all can deliver wisdom. In my works, I use several ways to express, such as, painting, photographing, animation, video, and device. For me, I do not want to take the way of expressing as the precondition of art, because it is a natural result, not an either this or that condition.
刘凡:呈现,以毁灭的方式
文:宋磊
初冬的一个下午,某餐厅的桌面上,一台笔记本电脑的屏幕上播放着令人匪夷所思的画面,一对骷髅在跳着奇怪的舞蹈,赤裸的女人被肢解、残虐,鲜血在浴缸里恣意流淌……青年艺术家刘凡正在给我展示她的一段动画影像作品,取名为《B18》,隐喻“十八层地狱”,作品给人的感觉多少有一些死亡与悲情气息,也有一点“奋青”般的发泄与无奈。“我喜欢以毁灭的方式来呈现!”刘凡说。她就是这样一个艺术家,从不故作甜美与矫情,从不囿于他人言论与影响,她做着属于她的艺术,发出一个独立女性的声音。
应该说,刘凡绝不是一个平凡的人,从她的个人简历中,我们可以看到,她年纪轻轻就拿到艺术学博士学位,作品曾多次参加海外展览和交流,具有艺术评论者、艺术研究者的身份,并策划了一系列具有影响力的展览,出著过不少艺术理论著作、论文;她鲜于参与国内艺术展览却频频亮相海外艺术活动;艺术院校教师、策展人、学术主持、艺术刊物主编,她的社会身份多元……所有这些都让人觉得她是一个多元化的学者,一个神秘的艺术家。
当刘凡出现在我面前时,那些神秘复杂的东西在快速地褪却,眼前这个刘凡朴实而简单,她内敛而慢条斯理,却不乏语言的率真和直爽。对于言说、评述自己,她有一点矜持,正如她所说,作为一个艺术理论研究者和评论者,她可能尽可能保持理性与清晰的逻辑,但作为一个艺术家,她乐于保持自己的单纯与本真。
与刘凡约见的那个下午,她还展示了她的视频作品《灯》和《水煮佛》。《灯》摄于南京栖霞寺,烟雾袅绕中,人们在虔诚地膜拜,红烛在燃烧后流下红色的蜡泪,如同鲜红的鲜血汩汩而出,流淌也破坏着人们心中神圣的物像,看似简单的细节捕捉,但让人产生丰富的外延联想。《水煮佛》以同样的创作思路,展示了一个蜡佛像在铁锅中被煎煮直至融化,并最终凝固成一锅红蜡的过程。“宗教与信仰都应归依本源,而我们往往过于关注那些外化的物像。”刘凡以视频作品颠覆着人们对于信仰与宗教的一般化理解,影射现实中信仰与独立思考的缺失,表达自己对人生哲学的思考和态度。
从影像出发,我们理解刘凡的绘画作品会更加透彻清晰,依然有些叛逆与别出心意,其实,作为一个创作分枝,“宗教信仰”其实源自刘凡的“女性意识”,对于宗地教,刘凡说:“宗教本身就是一个男女不平等的世界,某些方面也是对人性的一种束缚。”创作以来,“女性意识”无疑是刘凡最主要的线索。虽然刘凡不想把自己的作品归结为女性主义作品甚至女权主义作品,但作品逸散出的女性独立、反抗意识却是清晰而强烈的。
“时时刻刻总有人提醒我是一个女性!”刘凡说。生活中,她以女人特有的敏感捕捉着生活中的点点滴滴,现实中,男权社会针对女性的语言暴力、对于女性能力和地位的质疑、对于女性的玩物化和生存空间的挤压等,画面中所呈现的就是刘凡眼中的真实,“我们的生活就是这样!”
从刘凡的绘画中,我们可以看到“女性”的身体是画面的绝对主体,这些女人大多赤裸身体或部分祼落,却毫无色情与挑逗意味,也无法让人陷入对于人体美的欣赏与品评。画面中的女性没有面孔与表情,或被捆绑、束缚,或被迫做出奇异的姿态。作品《 束缚 》中,两个赤祼的女人手持一张脸谱面具故作优雅,取悦他人,展现出女人在男权世界中的自我扭曲与趋从;作品《吊》中,三个女人体的头发被枯枝缠绕,身体垂吊在树下,她们的脚下是一摊鲜红的血液,隐约让人感受到现实对女性生命的蔑视与轻视;《被俘的仕女》中,一位女性被束缚在园林般的诗情画意中,但她的命运也许如同园林的的漂亮的花草、假山一般,最终只是他人的玩物;《冰岛》中,一个女人恐惧地让自己依附于一块飘浮的冰面,脚下是一片血的海洋,还有那些随时可能让割破她脆弱肉体的锋利冰块,画面呈现女性生存环境的冰冷、残酷与自我空间与人格自由的缺失……女人在在画面中的如此挣扎与无助,这也许就是刘凡眼中女性在现实社会中的生存境遇。
在材质的选择和运用上,刘凡表现得依然自由、随性,材料和画种,甚至技法对她而言都不重要。运用纸本或绢与水彩的搭配方式,结合中国画绘画方式和语言,又有现代绘画的平涂视觉特征,加上大面积的纯白背景,让画面呈现清雅朴素的视觉面貌。同时,画面中会出现一些有意味的符号,如寓意死亡的头骨,寓意陈腐观念和体制与束缚的工笔折枝花卉等,让观者在清雅唯美的气息中嗅出更加冷冽悲楚的气息。激烈、残酷的矛盾冲突却以一种近乎唯美、诗意的方式去表达,这无疑是刘凡在表达方式上的一种特色,她用平淡、收敛的情绪冷冷地呈现画面,于混沌包容间表达观念,但却总能精准无误地击中“要害”,而且这种“冷暴力”往往更具有持久的力量与洞穿人心的张力。
中国韵味的作画语言,国际化的表达方式,让刘凡的作品具有鲜明的个性特征,这也可能是她作品在海外颇受认可的原因之一。在不同的社会身份之间穿梭,在不同的国家和文化之间进行艺术交流,刘凡坦言有点疲惫,但作为一种不同的思维方式,这些都是她绘画创作的心灵调剂,让艺术灵感更加新鲜,让自己的生活更加充实。“虽然很累,我无法停止下来。有很多让你放下的理由,但我选择坚持。”作为一个女性,刘凡以自己独特的视角面对这个世界,虽然这个世界有一点被扭曲,虽然现实有一点残酷,但她要尽可能地保持自己的完整与真实,尽可能坚强地在艺术的世界里顽强地生存着并发出自己清晰的声音。
对话刘凡
记=记者 刘=刘凡
记:你是怎样对艺术产生兴趣的?
刘:其实对艺术真正产生兴趣也就是近几年的事儿,之前,我对艺术谈不上兴趣,哈哈!艺术开始于一种被迫的选择,也不是我生活中的真正需要。但到读博士的时候,我真正理解艺术是做什么的,艺术不是炫技或画一张漂亮的画,它就是一种表达方式。
记:你的作品中流露着女性意识,那么,可以将你的作品称作女性主义作品或女权主义作品吗?
刘:虽然女性主义和女权主义是一个热门话题,很多人原意就此去讨论,但就我而言,我并不想用那么多条条框框去限定自己,标榜自己。另外,其实我没有那么想去抵抗或抗争,现实环境、我的性格都决定了我不可能以艺术为手段去达到什么目的,我只表达我的看法和态度。
记:对于这种女性意识,你却用了一种很平静的方式去表达。
刘:对,其实也不是刻意这样,我感觉这种方式非常适合我,我表达得很顺畅。
记:女性身体的裸露代表了什么?
刘:这就是某些男人眼中的女性,或他们希望看到的女性。
记:你的作品和你的性格有关系吗?
刘:应该有,我的性格偏静。绘画对我来说就像一种心灵治疗,作画过程让我回归平静。
记:艺术家、艺术理论与评论家、策展人,如果在这三种身份中你只能选择一种,你会选择什么?
刘:艺术家。与不同的人打交道,揣测别人的心理让我觉得好累,也不是我擅长的。
记:那么,你现在在不同的社会身份中转换自如,靠的是什么?
刘:因为我有一颗躁动的心,哈哈!
初冬的一个下午,某餐厅的桌面上,一台笔记本电脑的屏幕上播放着令人匪夷所思的画面,一对骷髅在跳着奇怪的舞蹈,赤裸的女人被肢解、残虐,鲜血在浴缸里恣意流淌……青年艺术家刘凡正在给我展示她的一段动画影像作品,取名为《B18》,隐喻“十八层地狱”,作品给人的感觉多少有一些死亡与悲情气息,也有一点“奋青”般的发泄与无奈。“我喜欢以毁灭的方式来呈现!”刘凡说。她就是这样一个艺术家,从不故作甜美与矫情,从不囿于他人言论与影响,她做着属于她的艺术,发出一个独立女性的声音。
应该说,刘凡绝不是一个平凡的人,从她的个人简历中,我们可以看到,她年纪轻轻就拿到艺术学博士学位,作品曾多次参加海外展览和交流,具有艺术评论者、艺术研究者的身份,并策划了一系列具有影响力的展览,出著过不少艺术理论著作、论文;她鲜于参与国内艺术展览却频频亮相海外艺术活动;艺术院校教师、策展人、学术主持、艺术刊物主编,她的社会身份多元……所有这些都让人觉得她是一个多元化的学者,一个神秘的艺术家。
当刘凡出现在我面前时,那些神秘复杂的东西在快速地褪却,眼前这个刘凡朴实而简单,她内敛而慢条斯理,却不乏语言的率真和直爽。对于言说、评述自己,她有一点矜持,正如她所说,作为一个艺术理论研究者和评论者,她可能尽可能保持理性与清晰的逻辑,但作为一个艺术家,她乐于保持自己的单纯与本真。
与刘凡约见的那个下午,她还展示了她的视频作品《灯》和《水煮佛》。《灯》摄于南京栖霞寺,烟雾袅绕中,人们在虔诚地膜拜,红烛在燃烧后流下红色的蜡泪,如同鲜红的鲜血汩汩而出,流淌也破坏着人们心中神圣的物像,看似简单的细节捕捉,但让人产生丰富的外延联想。《水煮佛》以同样的创作思路,展示了一个蜡佛像在铁锅中被煎煮直至融化,并最终凝固成一锅红蜡的过程。“宗教与信仰都应归依本源,而我们往往过于关注那些外化的物像。”刘凡以视频作品颠覆着人们对于信仰与宗教的一般化理解,影射现实中信仰与独立思考的缺失,表达自己对人生哲学的思考和态度。
从影像出发,我们理解刘凡的绘画作品会更加透彻清晰,依然有些叛逆与别出心意,其实,作为一个创作分枝,“宗教信仰”其实源自刘凡的“女性意识”,对于宗地教,刘凡说:“宗教本身就是一个男女不平等的世界,某些方面也是对人性的一种束缚。”创作以来,“女性意识”无疑是刘凡最主要的线索。虽然刘凡不想把自己的作品归结为女性主义作品甚至女权主义作品,但作品逸散出的女性独立、反抗意识却是清晰而强烈的。
“时时刻刻总有人提醒我是一个女性!”刘凡说。生活中,她以女人特有的敏感捕捉着生活中的点点滴滴,现实中,男权社会针对女性的语言暴力、对于女性能力和地位的质疑、对于女性的玩物化和生存空间的挤压等,画面中所呈现的就是刘凡眼中的真实,“我们的生活就是这样!”
从刘凡的绘画中,我们可以看到“女性”的身体是画面的绝对主体,这些女人大多赤裸身体或部分祼落,却毫无色情与挑逗意味,也无法让人陷入对于人体美的欣赏与品评。画面中的女性没有面孔与表情,或被捆绑、束缚,或被迫做出奇异的姿态。作品《 束缚 》中,两个赤祼的女人手持一张脸谱面具故作优雅,取悦他人,展现出女人在男权世界中的自我扭曲与趋从;作品《吊》中,三个女人体的头发被枯枝缠绕,身体垂吊在树下,她们的脚下是一摊鲜红的血液,隐约让人感受到现实对女性生命的蔑视与轻视;《被俘的仕女》中,一位女性被束缚在园林般的诗情画意中,但她的命运也许如同园林的的漂亮的花草、假山一般,最终只是他人的玩物;《冰岛》中,一个女人恐惧地让自己依附于一块飘浮的冰面,脚下是一片血的海洋,还有那些随时可能让割破她脆弱肉体的锋利冰块,画面呈现女性生存环境的冰冷、残酷与自我空间与人格自由的缺失……女人在在画面中的如此挣扎与无助,这也许就是刘凡眼中女性在现实社会中的生存境遇。
在材质的选择和运用上,刘凡表现得依然自由、随性,材料和画种,甚至技法对她而言都不重要。运用纸本或绢与水彩的搭配方式,结合中国画绘画方式和语言,又有现代绘画的平涂视觉特征,加上大面积的纯白背景,让画面呈现清雅朴素的视觉面貌。同时,画面中会出现一些有意味的符号,如寓意死亡的头骨,寓意陈腐观念和体制与束缚的工笔折枝花卉等,让观者在清雅唯美的气息中嗅出更加冷冽悲楚的气息。激烈、残酷的矛盾冲突却以一种近乎唯美、诗意的方式去表达,这无疑是刘凡在表达方式上的一种特色,她用平淡、收敛的情绪冷冷地呈现画面,于混沌包容间表达观念,但却总能精准无误地击中“要害”,而且这种“冷暴力”往往更具有持久的力量与洞穿人心的张力。
中国韵味的作画语言,国际化的表达方式,让刘凡的作品具有鲜明的个性特征,这也可能是她作品在海外颇受认可的原因之一。在不同的社会身份之间穿梭,在不同的国家和文化之间进行艺术交流,刘凡坦言有点疲惫,但作为一种不同的思维方式,这些都是她绘画创作的心灵调剂,让艺术灵感更加新鲜,让自己的生活更加充实。“虽然很累,我无法停止下来。有很多让你放下的理由,但我选择坚持。”作为一个女性,刘凡以自己独特的视角面对这个世界,虽然这个世界有一点被扭曲,虽然现实有一点残酷,但她要尽可能地保持自己的完整与真实,尽可能坚强地在艺术的世界里顽强地生存着并发出自己清晰的声音。
对话刘凡
记=记者 刘=刘凡
记:你是怎样对艺术产生兴趣的?
刘:其实对艺术真正产生兴趣也就是近几年的事儿,之前,我对艺术谈不上兴趣,哈哈!艺术开始于一种被迫的选择,也不是我生活中的真正需要。但到读博士的时候,我真正理解艺术是做什么的,艺术不是炫技或画一张漂亮的画,它就是一种表达方式。
记:你的作品中流露着女性意识,那么,可以将你的作品称作女性主义作品或女权主义作品吗?
刘:虽然女性主义和女权主义是一个热门话题,很多人原意就此去讨论,但就我而言,我并不想用那么多条条框框去限定自己,标榜自己。另外,其实我没有那么想去抵抗或抗争,现实环境、我的性格都决定了我不可能以艺术为手段去达到什么目的,我只表达我的看法和态度。
记:对于这种女性意识,你却用了一种很平静的方式去表达。
刘:对,其实也不是刻意这样,我感觉这种方式非常适合我,我表达得很顺畅。
记:女性身体的裸露代表了什么?
刘:这就是某些男人眼中的女性,或他们希望看到的女性。
记:你的作品和你的性格有关系吗?
刘:应该有,我的性格偏静。绘画对我来说就像一种心灵治疗,作画过程让我回归平静。
记:艺术家、艺术理论与评论家、策展人,如果在这三种身份中你只能选择一种,你会选择什么?
刘:艺术家。与不同的人打交道,揣测别人的心理让我觉得好累,也不是我擅长的。
记:那么,你现在在不同的社会身份中转换自如,靠的是什么?
刘:因为我有一颗躁动的心,哈哈!
LIU Fan: Presenting, in the Manner of Ruining
Written by SONG Lei Translated by LIU Haibin
One afternoon in the early winter, a laptop was on the table in a dining hall, LiuFan, a young artist, was showing her video works to me, unimaginable frames were played in the screen of the laptop: a couple of skeleton were dancing strangely, a naked woman was dismembered and maltreated bloodily, and her blood was flowing in the bathtub…LiuFan named it B18, metaphorizing “the bottom of the hell”. Her work gave person something of death and pathos, also a little of vent and helplessness. “I like presenting, in the manner of ruining!” LiuFan said. She is an artist who never does something on purpose and never cares about others’ words and influence, and she is only engaged in her art and expresses a woman’s independence.
We ought to say that LiuFan is definitely not an ordinary person. Form her resume, we can know: she achieved the doctor’s degree of art when she was quite young; her works was exhibited overseas many times; she is an art critic and researcher, she has successfully planned a series of influential exhibitions, besides, she has published many theoretical books and papers; she rarely attends the exhibitions in China, but frequently appears in the exhibitions overseas; the associate professor in a university,the curator,the academic director and the chief editor of art journal, it can be said that LiuFan’s social identity is multivariant …People consider that she is a multivariant and mysterious artist.
When LiuFan appeared, the feeling of mystery disappeared quickly. In front of me, the person was plain and simple, unassertive and unhurried, but she was no lack of forthright and sincere. She was a little nervous when she criticized herself. Just as she said, as a researcher and critic of art theory, she was as rational as possible, but as an artist, she wanted to maintain her simplicity and authenticity.
That afternoon, LiuFan also showed her video works Light and Boiled Buddha. Light was taken in Qixia Temple in Nan Jing, smoke curling upwards, people worshiped devoutly, the red candle was kept dripping down just like the bright red blood, the dripping also destroyed the holy image in their hearts. The simple and specific details made people associate more. Boiled Buddha was taken in the same idea. The video showed the process of the candle Buddha from being boiled to solidify. “Religion and belief should come from origin, but people often pay more attention to the externalized image.” LiuFan said. Her video works subverts people’s understanding of religion and belief, alludes the lack of belief and independent thinking, and expresses her thought and attitude about the philosophy of life.
We can clearly comprehend LiuFan’s painting from the video: her works is rebellious and innovative. In fact, as a branch of painting, the ‘religious belief’ comes from LiuFan’s ‘female consciousness’, she said: “women are not equal with men in a religious world, and in some respects, religion is a fetter for human nature.” No doubt, ‘female consciousness’ is the main clue of LiuFan’s painting. Although she does not want to define her painting as feminism works, women's independence and revolt of her works are distinct and strong.
“Someone is always reminding me that I am a female!” LiuFan said. She captures details with women’s own sensitivity, in reality, in the male-dominated society, the tyranny of words for women, the doubt of women’s ability and status, the restriction of living space and so on, what the painting presents is the reality in LiuFan’s eyes. She said: “Our life is like this!”
From LiuFan’s painting, we can see that ‘female’ body is the absolute subject. Those women are mostly bare or barish, but there is nothing pornographic or provocative, besides, it cannot make people appreciate or comment on the physical beauty. The female in her painting has no face or expression, and they are binded and fettered, or forced to posture strangely. In the painting Fetter, a mask in two women’s hands, and they make themselves graceful on purpose to please others, which shows women’s self distortion and compliance in the male-dominated society; in Hang, three women’s hair was befouled by sticks, their bodies are hanging in a tree, and there is a pool of blood under their feet, which makes people feel that the reality scorns and despises women’s life; in The captured maidservant, a woman is fettered in a garden, but it seems that her life is like the beautiful flowers and rockery, and finally is the plaything of others; in The ice land, a woman is on a floating ice in terror , under her feet, are the blood sea and the sharp ice that may cut her body any time, the painting presents the cruelty of women’s living circumstance and the absence of individual space and personality freedom…Female’s struggle and helplessness in the painting may be their existing circumstance in reality in LiuFan’s eyes.
On the selecting and applying of material, LiuFan is still free, and it is even not important for her to select the kind of painting and the skills. Using the collocation of paper and watercolor or silk paper and watercolor, combining the style of Chinese painting and language, with the visual features of modern painting and the large of pure white background, LiuFan’s painting is elegant and plain. Some special symbols always appear in her painting, for example, the skull which implies death, and the broken flowers that imply banal concept and system and the fetters, which make viewers feel bitter from the elegant pictures. Using the aesthetic and poetic way to show the intense and cruel conflict is no doubt the characteristic presentation of LiuFan. She coldly presents her painting with plain mood and shows her idea from the chaos, but every time, LiuFan hits the nail on the head accurately, what’s more, the ‘cold violence’ frequently has the long-lasting strength and the deep tension.
Applying international presentation into her painting, LiuFan’s works has the distinct characteristic, and it may be one reason why her painting is popular overseas. Owning different social identities and communicating about art in different countries and culture, LiuFan said she felt a little tired, but as a diverse mode of thinking, these can adjust herself when she was painting, which makes her inspiration fresher and makes her life more colorful. “Although I am tired, I cannot stop. I can give it up for many reasons, but I choose to insist.” As a female, LiuFan faces the world with her unique perspective. Though the world is a little distorted and the reality is a bit cruel, she has to keep her integrity and authenticity, live in the art world strongly and voice her opinion as far as possible.
Journalist: How did you interest in art?
LiuFan: To be honest, I really became interested in art in recent years, before, it cannot be said that I had interest in it. At the beginning, I was forced to paint, and it was really not what I needed. But when I became a doctor, I did understand what art was, it was not to show off, or to draw a beautiful picture, it was just a way to express yourself.
Journalist: We can feel the female consciousness from your painting, so, can we define it as feminism works?
LiuFan: Though feminism is a popular topic, and many people would like to discuss it, but as for me, I do not want to limit or define myself with so many fetters. Besides, in fact, I do not want to resist, because the reality condition and my character both decide that I will not use art to reach special purpose, and I just express my view and attitude.
Journalist: About ‘female consciousness’, you use a calm way to show.
LiuFan: Yes, in fact, I am not on purpose. I just think it suits me, and I can express myself smoothly.
Journalist: What does the bare body stand for?
LiuFan: That is the female in some men’s eyes, or the female that they want to see.
Journalist: Is your works relevant to your character?
LiuFan: Yes. I like quiet. Painting is like a soul treatment, and I am back in quiet in the process of drawing.
Journalist: Artist, critic and curator, which you will choose in the three identities?
LiuFan: I will choose the artist. Dealing with different people and guessing how people think make me tired, and that is not what I am skilled in.
Journalist: Now you do quite well with the three social identities, what do you rely on?
LiuFan: Because of my restless heart.
One afternoon in the early winter, a laptop was on the table in a dining hall, LiuFan, a young artist, was showing her video works to me, unimaginable frames were played in the screen of the laptop: a couple of skeleton were dancing strangely, a naked woman was dismembered and maltreated bloodily, and her blood was flowing in the bathtub…LiuFan named it B18, metaphorizing “the bottom of the hell”. Her work gave person something of death and pathos, also a little of vent and helplessness. “I like presenting, in the manner of ruining!” LiuFan said. She is an artist who never does something on purpose and never cares about others’ words and influence, and she is only engaged in her art and expresses a woman’s independence.
We ought to say that LiuFan is definitely not an ordinary person. Form her resume, we can know: she achieved the doctor’s degree of art when she was quite young; her works was exhibited overseas many times; she is an art critic and researcher, she has successfully planned a series of influential exhibitions, besides, she has published many theoretical books and papers; she rarely attends the exhibitions in China, but frequently appears in the exhibitions overseas; the associate professor in a university,the curator,the academic director and the chief editor of art journal, it can be said that LiuFan’s social identity is multivariant …People consider that she is a multivariant and mysterious artist.
When LiuFan appeared, the feeling of mystery disappeared quickly. In front of me, the person was plain and simple, unassertive and unhurried, but she was no lack of forthright and sincere. She was a little nervous when she criticized herself. Just as she said, as a researcher and critic of art theory, she was as rational as possible, but as an artist, she wanted to maintain her simplicity and authenticity.
That afternoon, LiuFan also showed her video works Light and Boiled Buddha. Light was taken in Qixia Temple in Nan Jing, smoke curling upwards, people worshiped devoutly, the red candle was kept dripping down just like the bright red blood, the dripping also destroyed the holy image in their hearts. The simple and specific details made people associate more. Boiled Buddha was taken in the same idea. The video showed the process of the candle Buddha from being boiled to solidify. “Religion and belief should come from origin, but people often pay more attention to the externalized image.” LiuFan said. Her video works subverts people’s understanding of religion and belief, alludes the lack of belief and independent thinking, and expresses her thought and attitude about the philosophy of life.
We can clearly comprehend LiuFan’s painting from the video: her works is rebellious and innovative. In fact, as a branch of painting, the ‘religious belief’ comes from LiuFan’s ‘female consciousness’, she said: “women are not equal with men in a religious world, and in some respects, religion is a fetter for human nature.” No doubt, ‘female consciousness’ is the main clue of LiuFan’s painting. Although she does not want to define her painting as feminism works, women's independence and revolt of her works are distinct and strong.
“Someone is always reminding me that I am a female!” LiuFan said. She captures details with women’s own sensitivity, in reality, in the male-dominated society, the tyranny of words for women, the doubt of women’s ability and status, the restriction of living space and so on, what the painting presents is the reality in LiuFan’s eyes. She said: “Our life is like this!”
From LiuFan’s painting, we can see that ‘female’ body is the absolute subject. Those women are mostly bare or barish, but there is nothing pornographic or provocative, besides, it cannot make people appreciate or comment on the physical beauty. The female in her painting has no face or expression, and they are binded and fettered, or forced to posture strangely. In the painting Fetter, a mask in two women’s hands, and they make themselves graceful on purpose to please others, which shows women’s self distortion and compliance in the male-dominated society; in Hang, three women’s hair was befouled by sticks, their bodies are hanging in a tree, and there is a pool of blood under their feet, which makes people feel that the reality scorns and despises women’s life; in The captured maidservant, a woman is fettered in a garden, but it seems that her life is like the beautiful flowers and rockery, and finally is the plaything of others; in The ice land, a woman is on a floating ice in terror , under her feet, are the blood sea and the sharp ice that may cut her body any time, the painting presents the cruelty of women’s living circumstance and the absence of individual space and personality freedom…Female’s struggle and helplessness in the painting may be their existing circumstance in reality in LiuFan’s eyes.
On the selecting and applying of material, LiuFan is still free, and it is even not important for her to select the kind of painting and the skills. Using the collocation of paper and watercolor or silk paper and watercolor, combining the style of Chinese painting and language, with the visual features of modern painting and the large of pure white background, LiuFan’s painting is elegant and plain. Some special symbols always appear in her painting, for example, the skull which implies death, and the broken flowers that imply banal concept and system and the fetters, which make viewers feel bitter from the elegant pictures. Using the aesthetic and poetic way to show the intense and cruel conflict is no doubt the characteristic presentation of LiuFan. She coldly presents her painting with plain mood and shows her idea from the chaos, but every time, LiuFan hits the nail on the head accurately, what’s more, the ‘cold violence’ frequently has the long-lasting strength and the deep tension.
Applying international presentation into her painting, LiuFan’s works has the distinct characteristic, and it may be one reason why her painting is popular overseas. Owning different social identities and communicating about art in different countries and culture, LiuFan said she felt a little tired, but as a diverse mode of thinking, these can adjust herself when she was painting, which makes her inspiration fresher and makes her life more colorful. “Although I am tired, I cannot stop. I can give it up for many reasons, but I choose to insist.” As a female, LiuFan faces the world with her unique perspective. Though the world is a little distorted and the reality is a bit cruel, she has to keep her integrity and authenticity, live in the art world strongly and voice her opinion as far as possible.
Journalist: How did you interest in art?
LiuFan: To be honest, I really became interested in art in recent years, before, it cannot be said that I had interest in it. At the beginning, I was forced to paint, and it was really not what I needed. But when I became a doctor, I did understand what art was, it was not to show off, or to draw a beautiful picture, it was just a way to express yourself.
Journalist: We can feel the female consciousness from your painting, so, can we define it as feminism works?
LiuFan: Though feminism is a popular topic, and many people would like to discuss it, but as for me, I do not want to limit or define myself with so many fetters. Besides, in fact, I do not want to resist, because the reality condition and my character both decide that I will not use art to reach special purpose, and I just express my view and attitude.
Journalist: About ‘female consciousness’, you use a calm way to show.
LiuFan: Yes, in fact, I am not on purpose. I just think it suits me, and I can express myself smoothly.
Journalist: What does the bare body stand for?
LiuFan: That is the female in some men’s eyes, or the female that they want to see.
Journalist: Is your works relevant to your character?
LiuFan: Yes. I like quiet. Painting is like a soul treatment, and I am back in quiet in the process of drawing.
Journalist: Artist, critic and curator, which you will choose in the three identities?
LiuFan: I will choose the artist. Dealing with different people and guessing how people think make me tired, and that is not what I am skilled in.
Journalist: Now you do quite well with the three social identities, what do you rely on?
LiuFan: Because of my restless heart.
Mujeres chinas (y Liu Fan) - Chinese women (and Liu Fan)
Liu Fan es 100% china. Yo la llamo por su nombre: Fan, y aunque no nos conocemos en persona hemos estado en contacto desde hace poco más de 3 años. Ella es artista y curadora. Nuestra relación viene a través de un amigo mutuo, el galés Iwan Bala, ya que ella y dos artistas chinas más estuvieron de residentes en la Universidad donde él es profesor de Arte. Participé en una exposición curada por ella llamada XSPACE en el 2010 con un video y realizamos juntas eyeseverywhere, east and west women artists el pasado mes de junio en Wuhan, China.
Liu Fan estudió en el Instituto de Arte de Hubei, su Maestría es de la Universidad Tsinghua y es doctora por la Universidad del Sureste. Ha realizado estudios curatoriales en el British Council/Central Academy of Fine Arts y de Gestión Cultural en Goethe Institute/Free University Berlin. Los proyectos curatoriales los ha presentado en Berlin, Beinjing, Shangai, Wuhan, Shenzhen y Nanjing, y como artista ha expuesto fotografía o video colectivamente en Londres, Zürich, New York, Paris, Dresden, y otras ciudades tanto europeas como chinas.
Pero todos estos datos solo dan una breve pincelada sobre su identidad. Alguien decía que habría que conocer directamente de l@s chin@s su realidad, con respecto al post anterior, y creo que dado el desconocimiento de la lengua, lo más cercano y más potente a lo que podemos acceder es a la obra de sus artistas: voces verdaderas. Y desde Ai Weiwei a Bruce Lee, a Cai Guo Quiang, o en el cine y la literatura, la obra de los artistas chinos es una ventana inmensa a esa misteriosa manera de ser en el mundo. Pero he nombrado solo artistas chinos. Las mujeres que hacen arte no son tan conocidas: tenemos a Xian Jing, claro está, pero en general las voces femeninas en el arte son, para variar, invisibles. Y es aquí donde el arte de Liu Fan nos habla. Ella me acaba de compartir una serie de acuarelas, que continúan un mismo discurso a través de tres años: en ellas aparecen varias mujeres sin rostro, etéreas, proyectando una sombra casi tan densa que parece reflejo. Un espejismo en la niebla.
Liu Fan estudió en el Instituto de Arte de Hubei, su Maestría es de la Universidad Tsinghua y es doctora por la Universidad del Sureste. Ha realizado estudios curatoriales en el British Council/Central Academy of Fine Arts y de Gestión Cultural en Goethe Institute/Free University Berlin. Los proyectos curatoriales los ha presentado en Berlin, Beinjing, Shangai, Wuhan, Shenzhen y Nanjing, y como artista ha expuesto fotografía o video colectivamente en Londres, Zürich, New York, Paris, Dresden, y otras ciudades tanto europeas como chinas.
Pero todos estos datos solo dan una breve pincelada sobre su identidad. Alguien decía que habría que conocer directamente de l@s chin@s su realidad, con respecto al post anterior, y creo que dado el desconocimiento de la lengua, lo más cercano y más potente a lo que podemos acceder es a la obra de sus artistas: voces verdaderas. Y desde Ai Weiwei a Bruce Lee, a Cai Guo Quiang, o en el cine y la literatura, la obra de los artistas chinos es una ventana inmensa a esa misteriosa manera de ser en el mundo. Pero he nombrado solo artistas chinos. Las mujeres que hacen arte no son tan conocidas: tenemos a Xian Jing, claro está, pero en general las voces femeninas en el arte son, para variar, invisibles. Y es aquí donde el arte de Liu Fan nos habla. Ella me acaba de compartir una serie de acuarelas, que continúan un mismo discurso a través de tres años: en ellas aparecen varias mujeres sin rostro, etéreas, proyectando una sombra casi tan densa que parece reflejo. Un espejismo en la niebla.
诺亚方舟上的四美图Four Beauties on the Noah’s Ark, 2012
被俘的仕女 The captured beauty, 2012
ella dice: ” aunque ni tienen cara, sabemos que son mujeres. Distinguimos al hombre de la mujer por el cuerpo. Mis figuras son emblemáticas. Somos todas”. Todas invisibles. O casi.
En The Captured Beauty y otras más, las mujeres aparecen atadas. ” En todos lados hay cuerdas para las mujeres: es la discriminación. Ser mujer, tener esa identidad de mujer y además asiática es una vergüenza no solo para la sociedad patriarcal china sino para todos los países, incluidos los desarrollados”. Entonces hay que atarlas, detenerlas, utilizarlas y dejarlas quietas.
ella dice: ” aunque ni tienen cara, sabemos que son mujeres. Distinguimos al hombre de la mujer por el cuerpo. Mis figuras son emblemáticas. Somos todas”. Todas invisibles. O casi.
En The Captured Beauty y otras más, las mujeres aparecen atadas. ” En todos lados hay cuerdas para las mujeres: es la discriminación. Ser mujer, tener esa identidad de mujer y además asiática es una vergüenza no solo para la sociedad patriarcal china sino para todos los países, incluidos los desarrollados”. Entonces hay que atarlas, detenerlas, utilizarlas y dejarlas quietas.
de la serie Esclavitud. 2012
Varias de sus mujeres están embarazadas y en sus escenarios es común que aparezcan esqueletos o calaveras. Al respecto Fan dice: “En Budismo, un nuevo nacimiento está vinculado con la muerte. Cuando tuve a mi hija fue con cesárea, después de un trabajo de parto de tres días y cuatro noches. Yo sentí la muerte. Me sentía como una máquina.”
La muerte siempre está ahí, junto a las dadoras de vida. Son invisibles, son solo cuerpo. ” Así que a veces tenemos que utilizar una máscara para comportarnos como hombres”. Para poder hacer lo que los hombres hacen, para no ser señaladas y atadas en consecuencia. Aunque sea por momentos, escapar a la condición de ser mujer.
Varias de sus mujeres están embarazadas y en sus escenarios es común que aparezcan esqueletos o calaveras. Al respecto Fan dice: “En Budismo, un nuevo nacimiento está vinculado con la muerte. Cuando tuve a mi hija fue con cesárea, después de un trabajo de parto de tres días y cuatro noches. Yo sentí la muerte. Me sentía como una máquina.”
La muerte siempre está ahí, junto a las dadoras de vida. Son invisibles, son solo cuerpo. ” Así que a veces tenemos que utilizar una máscara para comportarnos como hombres”. Para poder hacer lo que los hombres hacen, para no ser señaladas y atadas en consecuencia. Aunque sea por momentos, escapar a la condición de ser mujer.
de la serie Esclavitud, 2012
Las máscaras teatrales, con la fuerza expresiva que tienen, son siempre masculinas. La misma idea desplegada en la acuarela, la lleva a una serie fotográfica (presentada en eyeseverywhere), donde algunas de sus alumnas posan ante un pizarrón que tiene escrito un slogan de moda: doloroso testis (de testosterona). ” Se utiliza esa palabra tan masculina para expresar qué tan a la moda estás. Loco mundo …”
Las máscaras teatrales, con la fuerza expresiva que tienen, son siempre masculinas. La misma idea desplegada en la acuarela, la lleva a una serie fotográfica (presentada en eyeseverywhere), donde algunas de sus alumnas posan ante un pizarrón que tiene escrito un slogan de moda: doloroso testis (de testosterona). ” Se utiliza esa palabra tan masculina para expresar qué tan a la moda estás. Loco mundo …”
化妆 Make up, 2012
El ser mujer en China en pleno siglo XXI sigue siendo un handicap, lo mismo que serlo en cualquier parte del mundo. Eso las feministas lo tenemos claro. Sin embargo cada vez hay más batallas dadas. La exposición que hicimos en conjunto tuvo en definitiva una visión feminista. La selección que hicimos no dejó dudas y eso en una galería china no es algo de todos los días. Reunimos 20 visiones feministas de oriente y occidente. El feminismo está vivo y floreciente en China. El trabajo de Fan es una muestra.
Para terminar quiero darle una vez más la palabra a Fan, que además es escritora y que como curadora debe de poner en palabras el análisis de las obras que trata: “no puedo utilizar palabras para hablar sobre el significado de mi trabajo, porque siempre he pensado que esa es una forma masculina de expresión”.
Elizabeth Ross
Madrid, España, Octubre 2012
El ser mujer en China en pleno siglo XXI sigue siendo un handicap, lo mismo que serlo en cualquier parte del mundo. Eso las feministas lo tenemos claro. Sin embargo cada vez hay más batallas dadas. La exposición que hicimos en conjunto tuvo en definitiva una visión feminista. La selección que hicimos no dejó dudas y eso en una galería china no es algo de todos los días. Reunimos 20 visiones feministas de oriente y occidente. El feminismo está vivo y floreciente en China. El trabajo de Fan es una muestra.
Para terminar quiero darle una vez más la palabra a Fan, que además es escritora y que como curadora debe de poner en palabras el análisis de las obras que trata: “no puedo utilizar palabras para hablar sobre el significado de mi trabajo, porque siempre he pensado que esa es una forma masculina de expresión”.
Elizabeth Ross
Madrid, España, Octubre 2012