從劉永剛接受中國國際廣播電臺(tái)采訪的一段談話中可以看出，在上世紀(jì)90年代初期，劉永剛對(duì)德國表現(xiàn)主義美術(shù)非常關(guān)注，在一次觀看德國表現(xiàn)主義美術(shù)作品展覽時(shí)，感覺這些作品與他自己所想象的美術(shù)作品表現(xiàn)形式十分相近，由此決定了他的德國留學(xué)和創(chuàng)作生涯。
每一個(gè)人的思維總是體現(xiàn)出一貫的風(fēng)格和模式，藝術(shù)家更是如此。任何一個(gè)藝術(shù)家最后的思維方式的選擇，并不是突兀的創(chuàng)新，而是在一個(gè)連續(xù)的生長(zhǎng)過程中的逐漸將其獨(dú)一無二的特征予以強(qiáng)化。在每一個(gè)自以為新奇的“拐點(diǎn)”，其實(shí)都深藏著一條由來已久的線索。劉永剛對(duì)德國表現(xiàn)主義的理解以及所產(chǎn)生的認(rèn)同感，恰恰是他一以貫之的思維方式之延續(xù)。在其早期所創(chuàng)作并引起業(yè)界關(guān)注的油畫作品《北薩拉的牧羊女》中，就可以看到有諸多因素暗合德國表現(xiàn)主義繪畫精神。
德國表現(xiàn)主義在其初起階段，繼承了北歐各國傳統(tǒng)藝術(shù)中的表現(xiàn)主義傾向。在早期日耳曼人的所謂“蠻族”藝術(shù)、中世紀(jì)的哥特藝術(shù)和文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期以博斯、勃魯蓋爾為代表的藝術(shù)家創(chuàng)作的作品中，可以感受到強(qiáng)烈的表現(xiàn)主義傾向。表現(xiàn)主義中能夠吸引劉永剛的因素是什么呢？或者說，劉永剛究竟從德國表現(xiàn)主義藝術(shù)中受到了什么樣的啟迪、從而促使他義無反顧地奔向了這個(gè)國度？雖然沒有直接與劉永剛交換過意見，但是，從他的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作生涯中可以感受到，這是解讀劉永剛的藝術(shù)理念和作品的一把重要的鑰匙。
正如“橋社”（DruckeDie，成立于1905年）的創(chuàng)始人凱爾希納（Ernst LudwigKirchner，1880—1938）在一份宣言中所倡導(dǎo)的：“每一個(gè)人，每一個(gè)屬于我們的人，直接地、毫不虛偽地表現(xiàn)出驅(qū)使他們進(jìn)行創(chuàng)作的東西。”他們?cè)谫澷p凡·高、高更和蒙克的作品的同時(shí)，對(duì)原始藝術(shù)亦懷有虔誠的態(tài)度。愁悶、空虛和木偶般的神態(tài)幾乎成為這類表現(xiàn)主義作品的標(biāo)志性圖像。高更曾經(jīng)認(rèn)為：“人類現(xiàn)代智慧在詳盡的分析中失去自身的作用，它甚至連最簡(jiǎn)單或最顯而易見的東西也感覺不到。”（愛德華·路西—史密斯：《西方當(dāng)代美術(shù)》，1986）在這樣的藝術(shù)主張和推崇的藝術(shù)作品現(xiàn)象之下，其策略性的重點(diǎn)是對(duì)原始主義的理解和運(yùn)用。從西方當(dāng)代戲劇理論來說，原始主義（Primitivism）無疑包含著三個(gè)方面：表演性、儀式性和狂歡性。（吳飛：《先鋒與原始——論先鋒派戲劇的三個(gè)特征》）表現(xiàn)主義的藝術(shù)家將原始主義的視覺直覺性納入到創(chuàng)作手段之中，在表達(dá)非理性、激情、神秘和主觀性方面起到了重要作用。曾經(jīng)何時(shí)，這種神秘的激情和帶有暗示意味的表現(xiàn)風(fēng)格啟發(fā)了中國當(dāng)代的藝術(shù)家，由此產(chǎn)生了一些重要的作品。劉永剛在1987年創(chuàng)作并受到業(yè)界好評(píng)的油畫作品《北薩拉的牧羊女》即是這類風(fēng)格的代表作品。無論從人物造型，還是色彩的處理，均反映出劉永剛對(duì)隱秘的激情和主觀意趣表述的興趣。近乎于笨拙和僵硬的人物姿態(tài)，顯示出作者對(duì)儀式性的原始主義藝術(shù)因素的敏感。
10多年的留學(xué)和創(chuàng)作生涯，并沒有將劉永剛的藝術(shù)禁錮在他曾經(jīng)鐘情過的德國表現(xiàn)主義之中，而是將促使劉永剛的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作實(shí)踐向著超越表現(xiàn)主義精神的方向邁進(jìn)。劉永剛曾經(jīng)談到：“到了國外以后看了很多展覽、很多作品，都覺得在大學(xué)學(xué)的，包括到國外學(xué)的，看著看著，學(xué)著學(xué)著，最后沒有了自己，還是屬于一種向人學(xué)習(xí)，不斷地向人學(xué)習(xí)，向人模仿。越是這樣，走到一個(gè)極端的時(shí)候，發(fā)現(xiàn)要有自己。那這個(gè)自己哪兒來？一定要有根。根在哪兒？在祖國大地傳統(tǒng)文化上。傳統(tǒng)文化我喜歡文字。我從小就喜歡文字。那我就開始有回歸，所謂的回歸，就是把（中國）傳統(tǒng)的各個(gè)歷史時(shí)期的文字開始進(jìn)行研究，做比較，最后，其實(shí)也就是（把）這種（文字的）形狀、構(gòu)造，變成一種形象的，或者視覺的。”（引自中國國際廣播電臺(tái)訪談節(jié)目）這段談話揭示了劉永剛在藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作觀念有了新的發(fā)展，其內(nèi)涵就是要將中國傳統(tǒng)文化和藝術(shù)因素融入到當(dāng)代藝術(shù)形式的表述之中。
在這一時(shí)期，劉永剛創(chuàng)作了大量的富有抽象表現(xiàn)主義精神的作品。眾所周知，抽象表現(xiàn)主義在反具象化美學(xué)觀念、自我表征和自我情感的強(qiáng)度表達(dá)方面與表現(xiàn)主義一脈相承。劉永剛的這類作品以強(qiáng)有力和狂放不羈的筆觸以及強(qiáng)烈而奔放的色彩表達(dá)出一種凝重的力量，一些“十”字型構(gòu)圖的畫面凸現(xiàn)出一種神圣的宗教意味。這或許是原始主義中的“儀式性”和“狂歡性”交織的結(jié)果。頗耐人尋味的是，劉永剛在這類作品中有意強(qiáng)化了中國傳統(tǒng)書法的書寫意味。中國文化傳統(tǒng)所具有的寫意性與現(xiàn)代西方文化所秉持的抽象性有著易于溝通之處。在習(xí)慣以主、客體二元對(duì)立的方法論觀察和認(rèn)識(shí)世界的西方人看來，擺脫客觀對(duì)象的表面形象而以抽象形態(tài)亦有其魅力所在。中國人所貫持的“天人合一”理論則顯示出主、客體一元論的方法論。正如沃林格爾（WilhelmWorringer，1875-1965）所論：“東方人知道，在他的有限性中，他是不可能看到神的。”（《哥特形式論》，張堅(jiān)等譯）這一認(rèn)識(shí)論特征決定了中國人更關(guān)注具有抽象意味的形式，如對(duì)書法藝術(shù)的領(lǐng)悟與鉆研，以及對(duì)筆墨趣味的審美觀照。劉永剛敏銳地抓住了這種東、西方文化和藝術(shù)中的精神及其變化，巧妙地將西方當(dāng)代藝術(shù)的形式與精神融入他對(duì)中國傳統(tǒng)藝術(shù)精神的思考之中，創(chuàng)造出了富有東方精神的當(dāng)代藝術(shù)作品。
劉永剛在關(guān)注東方、尤其是中國傳統(tǒng)因素的同時(shí)，對(duì)他所感興趣的一種更加原始的人類情感以及力量進(jìn)行了獨(dú)到的考察，其結(jié)果就是以《愛擁》為主題的系列雕塑作品的出現(xiàn)。劉永剛在談到這組作品的立意時(shí)說：“用愛，擁抱全世界，擁抱全人類，擁抱全社會(huì)，擁抱每一天！有愛，才能相互擁有！讓愛，擁有天下！”劉永剛在甲骨文、蒙古文甚至巴斯巴文中找到了靈感。
看到劉永剛的《愛擁》，不禁聯(lián)想到布朗庫西的《吻》。布朗庫西以及其簡(jiǎn)約和寫意的手法，將一對(duì)擁吻的戀人之愛升華到一個(gè)充滿具體內(nèi)容的愛的理念。那種溫馨在觀者心中引起深厚的暖流，它所產(chǎn)生的感動(dòng)是任何一件寫實(shí)作品所不能比擬的。布朗庫西注重純粹而完整的直覺，以極度單純的造型表達(dá)對(duì)事物本質(zhì)的感受。顯然，劉永剛也力圖以一種簡(jiǎn)潔的表述方式，將主題“愛”以抽象化和擬人化結(jié)合起來，對(duì)“愛”的本質(zhì)作出自己的闡釋。但是，劉永剛所闡述的“愛”是超越了一切人為限制的“博愛”，是“仁者愛人”之“愛”。當(dāng)樊遲請(qǐng)教何為“仁”時(shí)，孔子答：“愛人。”（《論語·顏淵》）可以說，個(gè)體生命的“愛”與社會(huì)性的“仁”是互為內(nèi)容和互為本質(zhì)的。有論者指出：“單就生命個(gè)體而言，‘仁’實(shí)質(zhì)上是對(duì)生命本體的一種張揚(yáng)和呼喚，是生命個(gè)體在持續(xù)不斷發(fā)展中所孜孜以求的目標(biāo)與化境，同時(shí)也是個(gè)體生命完善的一種推動(dòng)力和牽引力。”（張涵、史鴻文：《中華美學(xué)史》）劉永剛試圖表現(xiàn)的就是這樣一種高度抽象化而有豐富內(nèi)涵的“愛”之理念。
劉永剛的這些雕塑作品以“愛”這一主題為主要線索，讓抽象的文字以擬人化的形態(tài)做出擁抱的姿態(tài)，然后生發(fā)出千姿百態(tài)的結(jié)構(gòu)。這些雕塑作品給人以厚重而柔軟的感覺，在作者表現(xiàn)出對(duì)材料的敏感和獨(dú)特理解的同時(shí)，將這些堅(jiān)硬的石材化作溫厚而柔和的生命。無論是高大的露天雕塑，還是中國美術(shù)館展廳內(nèi)的小型雕塑，當(dāng)它們以方陣的形式陳列在人們眼前的時(shí)候，觀眾仿佛看到了這些形體富有生命力的生長(zhǎng)。或宏偉，或茁壯，均表現(xiàn)出一種力的擴(kuò)展感。在這里，曾經(jīng)深深影響過劉永剛的表現(xiàn)主義精神得到了轉(zhuǎn)化與改造，表現(xiàn)主義或者抽象表現(xiàn)主義所具有的神秘感被代之以更加充滿陽光感的正面頌揚(yáng)。在此，可以清晰看到劉永剛將西方當(dāng)代藝術(shù)傳統(tǒng)與中國文化傳統(tǒng)精神結(jié)合在一起的努力。
羅伯特·戈德沃特（RobertGoldwater,1907-1973）在討論原始主義的界定時(shí)曾經(jīng)說過：“最終，單純性和根本性的實(shí)質(zhì)便是它們中有價(jià)值的、為它們而存在的：換句話說，是假設(shè)一個(gè)人在歷史上、心理上和美學(xué)上越是返璞歸真，事情就越單純；由于它們更單純，它們也就更深刻、更重要、更有價(jià)值。”（《現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)中的原始主義》，殷泓譯）這段話既可以作為理解劉永剛現(xiàn)有作品的注釋，也可以看作是對(duì)劉永剛的《愛擁》系列一個(gè)值得期待的、有待進(jìn)一步延展的廣闊領(lǐng)域的描述。
（郭曉川，美術(shù)學(xué)博士，藝評(píng)人，《今日中國美術(shù)》主編，北京中力文化體育公司藝術(shù)品投資總顧問）
Appearance andEssence: the Development of Liu Yonggang’s Artistic Outlook
Guo Xiaochuan,PhD, fellow of China Arts Academy, famous critic of fine arts
It is apparentfrom China Radio International’s interview with Liu Yonggang thathe started to be interested in German expressionism in the early1990s. At an exhibition of German expressionist works, he foundthat they were very similar to his idea of the best way ofexpression. Therefore he decided to pursue his studies and careerin Germany.
There is aconsistent style and pattern to everyone’s thinking, and that isall the more true of artists. The selection of the way of thinkingis not sudden innovation, but the intensification of some uniquefeature in a continuous process. In every seemingly new ‘turn’ ishidden a clue of long standing. Liu’s understanding and acceptanceof German expressionism are exactly the continuation of his way ofthinking. In one of his earlier works that aroused interest in hispeers, Shepherdess of Northern Sala, one could see many factorsthat coincide with the spirit of German expressionism.
At itsbeginning, German expressionism carried on the expressionisttendency in the traditional arts of Northern European countries.That tendency could be strongly felt in the ‘barbaric’ arts ofearly Germanic people, the medieval Gothic art, and works by suchRenaissance artists as Bosch and Bruegel. What was it aboutexpressionism that fascinated Liu? Or, what was it aboutexpressionism that inspired him to go to Germany? Though I haven’tdiscussed that with Liu, I can tell from his artistic career thatit is an important key to understanding his artistic outlook andworks.
As advocated byErnst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), who founded Drucke Die in 1905,in a manifesto, ‘Everyone, every one of us, will express whatdrives them to create directly and without any insincerity.’Praising Van Gogh, Gauguin and Manch, they held primitive arts inpious esteem. Melancholy, emptiness and puppet-like expressionswere almost characteristic of such expressionist works. Gauguinwent so far as to believe that ‘modern human intelligence has lostits function in elaborate analyses; it fails to feel the simplestand the most obvious.’ (Edward Lucie-Smith, Contemporary WesternFine Arts, 1986) Under such a principle, their strategic focus wasthe understanding and use of primitivism. In terms of the theory ofcontemporary western theatre, primitivism has three orientations:performance, ritual and carnival (Wu Fei, The Avant-garde and thePrimitive: Three Characteristics of the Avant-garde Theatre).Expressionist artists incorporate the visual intuition ofprimitivism into their means of creation, which went a long way toexpressing irrationality, passion, mysteriousness and subjectivity.The mysterious passion and suggestive expressionism inspiredcontemporary Chinese arts to create important works. One of themasterpieces is the world-acclaimed oil painting Shepherdess ofNorthern Sala painted by Liu in 1987. The rendering of the humanfigure and colors reflect his interest in latent passion andsubjective meanings. The posture of the human figure, almost clumsyand stiff, indicates his sensitivity to ritualistic primitivismart.
Instead ofconfining his art to German expressionism, the ten-odd years ofstudy and creation will take his creative practice beyond theexpressionist spirit. As he said, ‘After I saw a lot of exhibitionsand works abroad, I found that for all that I learned in collegeand saw abroad, I had lost myself. I was still learning andimitating. But I finally came upon the point where I found itnecessary to be myself. How do I find myself? I got to find myroot. Where is the root? It’s the traditional Chinese culture. I’vebeen fond of Chinese characters since I was young. So I started toreturn. That is, I began to study and compare characters ofdifferent periods of the tradition. And finally, I turned theirshapes and compositions into visual images.’ (quoted from CRI’sinterview with Liu). That indicates that his artistic outlookexperienced some new development, that is, the incorporation oftraditional Chinese culture and art into the formal expression ofcontemporary art.
It was duringthat period that Liu created a large number of works of abstractexpressionism. As we know, abstract expressionism is in line withexpressionism in terms of the anti-figurative aesthetic view,self-indication and the forceful expression of the artist’s ownfeelings. Liu’s works convey a dignified power with powerful,uninhibited strokes and rich, bold colors. Some compositions thatfeature the cross convey religious sacredness. That may be theresult of the interweaving of the ritual-orientation andcarnival-orientation in primitivism. Interestingly enough, Liudeliberately accentuated the importance of ‘writing’ in traditionalChinese calligraphy. The stress on the spirit or impression in theChinese cultural tradition is similar to the importance attached toabstractness in modern western culture. In the eye of westerners,who are used to perceive the world in terms of the binaryopposition between the subject and the object, the abstraction ofthe object is also fascinating. The Chinese belief in tianrenheyi,or man being an integral part of nature, suggests unity of thesubject and the object. As Wilhelm Worringer (1875-1965) observed,‘Easterners known that they cannot see god in his limitedness.’(Form in Gothic, tr. Zhang Jian et al) That epistemologicalcharacteristic determines that the Chinese care more about formsthat suggest abstractness, as embodied in their perception andstudy of calligraphy, and their aesthetic appreciation of theinterest of ‘brush and ink’. Liu was keen enough to grasp thespirits and changes of Chinese and western arts and cultures, andwas ingenious enough to incorporate the form and spirit of modernwestern art into his thinking about the spirit of the traditionalChinese art. The result was contemporary works rich in the orientalspirit.
As he paidattention to the oriental, especially the Chinese tradition, hemade an original examination of a more primitive type of humanfeeling and power that interested him. The outcome was the seriesof sculptures entitled Embrace of Love. Talking about the theme,Liu said, ‘Let’s embrace the world, mankind, society and every daywith love! Love is the only way to mutual possession. Let lovereign!’ He got his inspiration from oracle bone inscriptions, theMongolian script, and even the Basiba script.
Liu’s Embrace ofLove is reminiscent of Brancusi’s Kiss. With simple, impressionisttechniques, Brancusi elevated the love of a couple embracing andkissing each other to a pregnant idea of love, the tenderness ofwhich induces great warmth in the heart of the viewer. The movingeffect could not been achieved by any realistic work. Valuing pureand complete intuition, Brancusi expressed his perception of theessence of things with extremely simple shapes. Apparently, Liualso tried to use a simple way of expression to abstract andpersonify the theme of love and to make his own interpretation ofthe essence of love. However, the love he tries to expoundtranscends all human limitations; it was the love as in ‘the Goodlove people’ (Confucius). When Fan Chi asked Confucius what wasGoodness, the latter answered, ‘It means loving people’ (Analects:Yan Yuan). We may say that the love of the individual and theGoodness of society are the objects and essences of each other.‘For an individual, Goodness is, in essence, the call for theessence of life. It is the ideal objective diligently pursued bythe individual, and also the driving force of the individual’sperfection.’ (Zhang Han &Shi Hongwen, History of ChineseAesthetics). What Liu tries to express is such a highly abstractand meaningful idea of ‘love’.
Centering roundthe theme of love, abstract characters are arranged in personifiedpostures of embrace and varied structures. They produce an effectof heaviness and softness. While expressing his sensitivity to andoriginal understanding of the material, Liu turned hard stones intowarm, gentle lives. When his sculptures, both the tall, open-airones and the small ones in the art museum, are displayed in aformation, viewers seem to see them grow with full vitality. Theirgrandness or sturdiness conveys a sense of expansion. Here, theexpressionist spirit, which had deep influence on Liu, wasconverted or transformed. The mysteriousness of expressionism orabstract expressionism is replaced by positive eulogizing. Here weclearly see Liu’s efforts to blend the tradition of contemporarywestern art and the spirit of traditional Chinese culture.
(Guo Xiaochuan,PhD in fine arts studies, art critic, editor in chief ofContemporary Chinese Arts, Chief Advisor for Investment in Works ofArt at Beijing Zhongli Culture and Sports Co. Ltd.)