有关隐喻的绘画 Paintings about Metaphor
薛若哲展览《存在的隐喻》画册撰文，2017.12.2 - 2018.3.9，北京现在画廊
Catalogue essay for Ruozhe Xue's exhibition ‘The Metaphor of Existence,' 2017.12.2 - 2018.3.9, Beijing Art Now Gallery
“绘画⼀开始就是⼀种虚拟语⽓…复制真实不再是绘画的任务。对于我来说，真实存在于我的选择中，存在于绘画的缝隙⾥。” 薛若哲的最新系列作品探讨绘画的交流与观看机制。这组绘画伴随着⼼理张⼒，充盈了⼀股冷峻的荒诞。荒诞来源于他对画⾯⾃⾝语⾔的篡改，使得绘画内部的正常逻辑发⽣了病理性的变异。但若结合绘画中所营造的整体⽓氛，及其所折射的⼼理状态看，这变异又显得合情合理。可以说，这是⼀组关于“差错”的绘画。吊诡的空间关系⽣发于错误的透视、前后等⼤的⼈物安排混淆了她们的空间关系；差错玩弄着观者的眼睛，逼迫他们进⾏饱含深思却又略显徒劳的凝视。错误的空间与透视造就了神秘荒诞的氛围，差错在若哲⼿⾥成为了⼀种饱含节制的美学。
诚如马格⾥特于1937年绘制的那张《不可复制》所⽰，绘画永远⽆法复刻现实。但绘画可呈现的真实可以来源于⼼理上的体验、对⽣活的体悟及对周遭环境的感应。在《体操》中，两个有着⼏乎相同背影、⾐着也⼀致的⼥孩站在⼀个看似空旷、实则封闭的房间中央，她们规训的⾝体仿佛被栖息在房间某⾓落的⼀股暗藏的⼒量管制、把控，接受着其虚拟的指令。画⾯背景中地⾯与墙壁的分界线与⼈物的腰际线发⽣了重合，不合常理的透视安排致使⼈物所处的空间产⽣了些许倾斜的错觉，加剧了画⾯空间的抽象与神秘。
相似的⼈物、⼀致的⾓⾊、不可辨别的⾝份，及她们与所处空间冰冷又孤独的协议关系，⽆不令⼈想起法国⼈类学家马克·奥吉（Marc Augé) 对⾮场所（non-place) 的定义。⾮场所是在现代化发展到极致的情形下，于我们现实⽣活中出现的⼀种越发遍及的“超现代”（supermodern) 空间。随之⽽来的是⼀系列⼈对空间感知上的转变。当⼈们进⼊此类空间时，他们就由平常的⾝份统⼀地转变为了对空间缺乏认同感的寻常过客、顾客或路⼈、只与空间维持着单⼀的契约关系，他们孤独又相似。这种现象在艺术家⼯作与⽣活的北京尤甚。伴随城市⼠绅化与空间流动性的加强，⾮场所空间由商场、机场、车站逐渐延续到了艺术家们的⼯作室与住所。就像薛若哲所说：“在每个城市，⼀切都太新了，新得让⼈觉得不真实。” 居⽆定所的⽣活状态，与各种客观原因导致的⽣活上巨⼤的不确定，使那⼀批⽣活在⼤城市边缘的艺术家从⼼理上成为了旅⼈。抽离又抽象的空间，及⼈与空间、⼈与⼈之间隔离又陌⽣的关系，所导致的⼼理紧张感也体现在了薛若哲的《体操》、《不规则四边形的⼊口》与《或远或近》的⾮场所化空间⾥。
正如对眼睛的欺骗早已不再是绘画美德的批判标准，在薛若哲的这⼀系列新画中，对眼睛的欺骗也不再取决于画中透视正确与否，⽽是由画外空间的光线、画的摆放位置及观者的观看⾓度决定。有些绘画中的⼈物介于画⾥与画外之间，如《不规则四边形的⼊口》，画中的空间通过站⽴在⼊⼜边缘的⼈物与观者的空间形成了交汇。左边那张画⾥从下往上看的视⾓及⼈物站⽴的位置制造了危险的氛围，仿佛这个⼥⼈下⼀秒就要从画的边缘跌落下来。薛若哲不仅通过对具象绘画传统的扭改，在画⾯空间中成功营造了⼀种神秘、不可⾔说的⽓氛，这种⽓氛还蔓延到了画外、侵⼊了观者所在的实际空间。⾛进薛若哲的展览《存在的隐喻》，观众会马上发现这是⼀个充满了斥⼒与荒诞⽓氛的展览房间——⼀个被背影包围的房间。挂在四⾯墙壁上的肖像画中的⼈物将后背⾯对观众、拒绝着观者的凝视与窥探。可以说这些绘画是反义的肖像画，⼈物在⾥⾯主要起着空间参照，与承载整个绘画机制的作⽤，其⾝份及其它个⼈信息扑朔迷离。早⾄2013年，薛若哲画中的⼈物就开始与墙壁发⽣关系，墙的存在给画⾯内部空间添加了令⼈窒息的局促感。对于看画的观众⽽⾔，他们所⾯对的实际上也有两堵墙——画中所绘的墙，及⼈物如墙⼀般⽆法穿透的背影。悬挂着⼀张张不是肖像的肖像画空间适当地延伸了画中的那种令⼈稍感压抑的荒诞⽓息。
薛若哲的创作历程是⼀个在绘画语⾔上删繁就简、“去伪存真”的过程。从《模拟⼈⽣》系列中⾊彩鲜明却又暗含着隔离感的虚拟游戏环境，到现今由灰墙及深⾊地板组成、趋向极简的概念化空间，艺术家掘弃了（同样属于⾮场所的）媒介环境⾊彩美好的外⾐与具体的⼈物⾝份，只通过他敏锐的感受⼒保留下那份属于这类空间特有的契约孤独感，与耐⼈寻味、充满混淆性的⼈与空间、⼈物之间的暧昧关系。画⾯暗藏的时间性虽也发⽣了些许的变化，却亦保留了⼀定的初衷。在薛若哲于2011年画下的《⽩画林》中，同⼀位穿着相同⾐服的模特暗⽰这是⼀个多重的时间画⾯，它包含了时间的三个瞬间。艺术家利⽤绘画的虚拟语⽓，将这三枚时间晶体收凝在了同⼀个画⾯之上，暗⽰艺术家曾经反复⽬睹这⼀荒谬情节的发⽣，即既视感的存在。在薛若哲此番的新作《不，再见》与《旅客们》中，艺术家再次将⼀个动作的瞬间切割下来、放⼊画⾯，但其⽬的与所呈现的效果则与绘画和观者之间的交流机制有关。《旅客们》画⾯中的主⼈公⾝体前倾，似正欲向前赶路。这张画挑选了⼀个从下往上的观看视⾓，使观者刚好可以采取从画⾯左下⽅伸出来的那只⼿的位置，并在⼼理上扮演⼿的主⼈的⾓⾊。由于⼈物的表情⽆从得知、⾝体语⾔也在最⼤程度上遭到简化，我们⽆法得知这是⼀张牵⼿⾏进抑或苦苦挽留的画⾯。《不，再见》所呈现的也是这样⼀个语焉不详的画⾯。这两张画中，绘画所捕捉的时间的单⼀切⽚相当于⼀个脱离语境的悬置符号，其意义随着观者的⾃⾝经历⽽流变、拒绝稳定。绘画是“断章取义的”，它给予观者多重解读的可能，这为他们带来不同的⼼理感受。绘画在此不仅作为浓缩了绘画本⾝寓意的隐喻⽽存在，还模拟了⽣活与⽇常关系中的不确定性及暧昧情形下所产⽣的⼼理状态。薛若哲利⽤他“绘画的缝隙”暗⽰了⼀种绘画的真实，与⼀种存在意义上的真实。《存在的隐喻》亦选择以《不，再见》中的这个徘徊于拒绝之间、游离于确定之外的暧昧⼿势作为起始，同时也将它作为了结尾。
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catalogue essay for Ruozhe Xue's exhibition 'The Metaphor of Existence,' 2017.12.2 - 2018.3.9, Beijing Art Now Gallery
'Painting speaks in a subjunctive mood from the very beginning…. Reproducing the reality is no longer the task of painting. To me, the truth exists in my choice; it operates in the gap of painting.' Ruozhe’s latest series explores the communication and viewing mechanisms in painting. Loaded with psychological tension, this group of paintings is charged with a sense of hard-boiled absurdity. The absurdity stems from his peculiar way of tampering with the language of painting, resulting in a pathological mutation in the logic within his paintings. However, if we consider the overall atmosphere that the paintings intend to create, as well as the psychological state they reflect, this variation seems reasonable. It can be said that these are paintings about ‘error’. The strange spatial relations emerge out of the wrong perspective and the arrangement of figures of equal sizes confuse their spatial relations; these mistakes are deceiving to the eyes of the spectator, compelling them to gaze in an attentive way, which is, in the end, futile. The erroneous depiction of space and perspective creates a mysterious and absurd atmosphere; error in Ruozhe’s hands has become a kind of aesthetics with a fine degree of control.
As René Magritte’s 1937 painting Not to Be Reproduced shows, painting can never reproduce reality. However, the truth that painting presents can come from a psychological experience, understanding of life, and the feeling of the immediate environment. In Ruozhe’s Gymnastics, two girls wearing the same uniform look almost identical from behind and are standing in the middle of a seemingly open, yet, in fact, self-enclosed room. Their disciplined bodies seem to be regulated by an invisible power which inhabits some corner of the room, as though they are receiving virtual instructions from it. The line between the ground and the wall in the background of the picture meets the waistlines of the figures. The unconventional arrangement of perspective gives rise to an illusion of a slightly sloping angle of the ground where the characters are situated, which intensifies the sense of abstraction and the mysterious feeling in the pictorial space.
The identical figures have anonymous roles and unidentifiable identities, and a cold and solitary contractive relationship with their space, all of which evoke the French anthropologist Marc Augé's definition of the non-place. This place is a kind of super-modern space that emerges in our everyday life in an extreme state of modernism. What follow are a series of changes in people's perceptions of space. When people enter such spaces, they uniformly experience a transformation from their normal identities into the role of ordinary passers-by, customers or pedestrians who lack a sense of identity and who simply maintain a one-way contractive relationship with the space. They are lonely and similar. This phenomenon is especially ubiquitous in Beijing, where the artist works and lives. Driven by gentrification and the increasing mobility of space, non-place is gradually extending from shopping malls, airports, and transit stations into artists’ studios and living spaces. Just as Xue Ruozhe said, “In every city, everything is too new to feel real.” Living in a precarious state due to a variety of realistic causes has resulted in huge uncertainty, psychologically turning artists who live on the edges of big cities into travelers. The psychological tension emanating from the abstract and isolated space, and from the alienating and estranged relationships between people themselves and people and space, is also embodied in the non-place space in Xue Ruozhe's Gymnastics, Trapeziform Entries, and Near, Far.
Just as tricking the eye is no longer a sufficient criterion for virtue in painting, in Ruozhe's new series of work, deception of the eyes is no longer contingent upon whether the perspective of the painting is correct or not, but upon the light from outside of the painting; i.e., the way in which the painting is displayed and the viewing angle of the viewer. Some figures are situated between the inside and outside of the picture. For instance, in Trapeziform Entries, the pictorial space intersects with the viewers’ space via the figure standing on the edge of the entrance. The bottom-up angle of viewing and the standing position of the character create a disquieting feeling, as if the woman could fall off the edge of the painting in a second. Xue Ruozhe not only succeeded in creating a mysterious and enigmatic atmosphere in the painted space through a modification of the conventional language of figurative painting, but also extended the atmosphere to the outside of the painting, penetrating the actual space of the viewer. As one proceeds into Xue Ruozhe's exhibition entitled 'The Metaphor of Existence,' he or she will immediately realise that the exhibition space is filled with sensations of repulsion and absurdity. The figures in the portraits hanging on the wall have their backs facing the audience, rejecting the viewer’s voyeuristic gaze. We can say that these paintings signify an antithesis to the category of portraiture. The figures mainly serve as a spatial reference to support the function of the pictorial mechanism, while their identities and other personal information remain unknown and indecipherable. As early as 2013, the characters in Xue Ruozhe's paintings have had an intriguing relationship with the wall. The existence of walls adds a suffocating, cramped feeling to the internal space of the paintings. The viewers actually face two walls – the wall in the painting and the backs of the figures which are as impenetrable as the wall. As such, the atmosphere of repressive absurdity in the painting is appropriately extended to the space where these non-portraiture portraits are hung.
The process of Ruozhe’s artistic creation is to highlight what is true to painting by simplifying and weeding out the superfluities of its language. From the colourful but estranged virtual gaming environment of the Virtual Life series to the conceptual minimal space which consists of grey walls and dark floors in the current series, the artist has abandoned the seductive colour of the (equally non-place) media environment and the specific identity of characters. What has been preserved through his artistic sensibility is a contractive form of solitariness peculiar to this kind of space, as well as the intriguing and ambiguous relationships between the characters and the space, and between the figures themselves. There is certain change in the temporality embedded in the painting, but it still retains some of the original intention. In White Painted Forest, which Xue painted in 2011, the repeated use of the same model wearing an identical uniform implies that this is a picture with multiple layers of time; it shows three moments in time. Seizing on the subjunctive tone of painting, the artist crystallised these three moments in time and placed them in the same painting. This suggests that the artist has witnessed the same absurd scene repetitively; that is, it implies the existence of the déjà vu.
In Ruozhe's new works, No, Bye and Travelers, the artist once again extracts a specific movement from an action and places it on the canvas; its purpose and the effect presented are related to the communication mechanism between the painting and the viewer. The protagonist in Travelers is leaning forward, seemingly on her way somewhere. The spectator views from the position of the hand that protrudes from the lower left side of the painting; he or she can identify psychologically with the owner of the hand. Since the expression of the characters is hidden from us and the body language has also been simplified to its extreme, there is no way to know if the painting is about walking hand-in-hand or urging someone to stay. No, Bye is also presented as a painting with ambiguous meaning. In these two works, the single slice of the time is not dissimilar to a detached symbol, whose meaning changes with the viewer’s own experience and resists stability. Painting is by definition ‘out of context’, which endows the viewer with the possibility of multiple interpretations, evoking a variety of psychological experiences. The painting here not only serves as a metaphor for the sake of enriching the meaning of painting itself, but also simulates a psychological state arising from uncertain and confusing situations in everyday life. The truthfulness of painting and the truth in its existential sense have been played out within what Xue Ruozhe suggests is “the gap of painting”. Not by coincidence, 'The Metaphor of Existence' also starts with an ambiguous gesture, swaying between refusal and affirmation in the painting No, Bye.
For more about Ruozhe's work, see: http://xueruozhe.com/
Catalogue essay for Ruozhe Xue's exhibition ‘The Metaphor of Existence,' 2017.12.2 - 2018.3.9, Beijing Art Now Gallery
 |
不，再见 No, goodbye
34x47cm 布面油画 oil on linen
2017
|
 |
体操 Gymnastics
200x180cm 布面油画oil on linen
2017
|
诚如马格⾥特于1937年绘制的那张《不可复制》所⽰，绘画永远⽆法复刻现实。但绘画可呈现的真实可以来源于⼼理上的体验、对⽣活的体悟及对周遭环境的感应。在《体操》中，两个有着⼏乎相同背影、⾐着也⼀致的⼥孩站在⼀个看似空旷、实则封闭的房间中央，她们规训的⾝体仿佛被栖息在房间某⾓落的⼀股暗藏的⼒量管制、把控，接受着其虚拟的指令。画⾯背景中地⾯与墙壁的分界线与⼈物的腰际线发⽣了重合，不合常理的透视安排致使⼈物所处的空间产⽣了些许倾斜的错觉，加剧了画⾯空间的抽象与神秘。
 |
不规则四边形的入口 Trapeziform Entries
195x175cm x2 布面油画oil on linen
2017
|
 |
或远或近 Near，Far
布面油画oil on linen
137x171cm 2017
|
相似的⼈物、⼀致的⾓⾊、不可辨别的⾝份，及她们与所处空间冰冷又孤独的协议关系，⽆不令⼈想起法国⼈类学家马克·奥吉（Marc Augé) 对⾮场所（non-place) 的定义。⾮场所是在现代化发展到极致的情形下，于我们现实⽣活中出现的⼀种越发遍及的“超现代”（supermodern) 空间。随之⽽来的是⼀系列⼈对空间感知上的转变。当⼈们进⼊此类空间时，他们就由平常的⾝份统⼀地转变为了对空间缺乏认同感的寻常过客、顾客或路⼈、只与空间维持着单⼀的契约关系，他们孤独又相似。这种现象在艺术家⼯作与⽣活的北京尤甚。伴随城市⼠绅化与空间流动性的加强，⾮场所空间由商场、机场、车站逐渐延续到了艺术家们的⼯作室与住所。就像薛若哲所说：“在每个城市，⼀切都太新了，新得让⼈觉得不真实。” 居⽆定所的⽣活状态，与各种客观原因导致的⽣活上巨⼤的不确定，使那⼀批⽣活在⼤城市边缘的艺术家从⼼理上成为了旅⼈。抽离又抽象的空间，及⼈与空间、⼈与⼈之间隔离又陌⽣的关系，所导致的⼼理紧张感也体现在了薛若哲的《体操》、《不规则四边形的⼊口》与《或远或近》的⾮场所化空间⾥。
 |
| "存在的隐喻" 展览现场 |
正如对眼睛的欺骗早已不再是绘画美德的批判标准，在薛若哲的这⼀系列新画中，对眼睛的欺骗也不再取决于画中透视正确与否，⽽是由画外空间的光线、画的摆放位置及观者的观看⾓度决定。有些绘画中的⼈物介于画⾥与画外之间，如《不规则四边形的⼊口》，画中的空间通过站⽴在⼊⼜边缘的⼈物与观者的空间形成了交汇。左边那张画⾥从下往上看的视⾓及⼈物站⽴的位置制造了危险的氛围，仿佛这个⼥⼈下⼀秒就要从画的边缘跌落下来。薛若哲不仅通过对具象绘画传统的扭改，在画⾯空间中成功营造了⼀种神秘、不可⾔说的⽓氛，这种⽓氛还蔓延到了画外、侵⼊了观者所在的实际空间。⾛进薛若哲的展览《存在的隐喻》，观众会马上发现这是⼀个充满了斥⼒与荒诞⽓氛的展览房间——⼀个被背影包围的房间。挂在四⾯墙壁上的肖像画中的⼈物将后背⾯对观众、拒绝着观者的凝视与窥探。可以说这些绘画是反义的肖像画，⼈物在⾥⾯主要起着空间参照，与承载整个绘画机制的作⽤，其⾝份及其它个⼈信息扑朔迷离。早⾄2013年，薛若哲画中的⼈物就开始与墙壁发⽣关系，墙的存在给画⾯内部空间添加了令⼈窒息的局促感。对于看画的观众⽽⾔，他们所⾯对的实际上也有两堵墙——画中所绘的墙，及⼈物如墙⼀般⽆法穿透的背影。悬挂着⼀张张不是肖像的肖像画空间适当地延伸了画中的那种令⼈稍感压抑的荒诞⽓息。
 |
Dancing
130 x 180 cm 布面油画oil on linen
2012
|
 |
白桦林 White Painted Forest
160x140cm 布面油画oil on linen
2011
|
 |
旅客们 Travellers
105x70cm 布面油画oil on linen
2017
|
薛若哲的创作历程是⼀个在绘画语⾔上删繁就简、“去伪存真”的过程。从《模拟⼈⽣》系列中⾊彩鲜明却又暗含着隔离感的虚拟游戏环境，到现今由灰墙及深⾊地板组成、趋向极简的概念化空间，艺术家掘弃了（同样属于⾮场所的）媒介环境⾊彩美好的外⾐与具体的⼈物⾝份，只通过他敏锐的感受⼒保留下那份属于这类空间特有的契约孤独感，与耐⼈寻味、充满混淆性的⼈与空间、⼈物之间的暧昧关系。画⾯暗藏的时间性虽也发⽣了些许的变化，却亦保留了⼀定的初衷。在薛若哲于2011年画下的《⽩画林》中，同⼀位穿着相同⾐服的模特暗⽰这是⼀个多重的时间画⾯，它包含了时间的三个瞬间。艺术家利⽤绘画的虚拟语⽓，将这三枚时间晶体收凝在了同⼀个画⾯之上，暗⽰艺术家曾经反复⽬睹这⼀荒谬情节的发⽣，即既视感的存在。在薛若哲此番的新作《不，再见》与《旅客们》中，艺术家再次将⼀个动作的瞬间切割下来、放⼊画⾯，但其⽬的与所呈现的效果则与绘画和观者之间的交流机制有关。《旅客们》画⾯中的主⼈公⾝体前倾，似正欲向前赶路。这张画挑选了⼀个从下往上的观看视⾓，使观者刚好可以采取从画⾯左下⽅伸出来的那只⼿的位置，并在⼼理上扮演⼿的主⼈的⾓⾊。由于⼈物的表情⽆从得知、⾝体语⾔也在最⼤程度上遭到简化，我们⽆法得知这是⼀张牵⼿⾏进抑或苦苦挽留的画⾯。《不，再见》所呈现的也是这样⼀个语焉不详的画⾯。这两张画中，绘画所捕捉的时间的单⼀切⽚相当于⼀个脱离语境的悬置符号，其意义随着观者的⾃⾝经历⽽流变、拒绝稳定。绘画是“断章取义的”，它给予观者多重解读的可能，这为他们带来不同的⼼理感受。绘画在此不仅作为浓缩了绘画本⾝寓意的隐喻⽽存在，还模拟了⽣活与⽇常关系中的不确定性及暧昧情形下所产⽣的⼼理状态。薛若哲利⽤他“绘画的缝隙”暗⽰了⼀种绘画的真实，与⼀种存在意义上的真实。《存在的隐喻》亦选择以《不，再见》中的这个徘徊于拒绝之间、游离于确定之外的暧昧⼿势作为起始，同时也将它作为了结尾。
Catalogue essay for Ruozhe Xue's exhibition 'The Metaphor of Existence,' 2017.12.2 - 2018.3.9, Beijing Art Now Gallery
'Painting speaks in a subjunctive mood from the very beginning…. Reproducing the reality is no longer the task of painting. To me, the truth exists in my choice; it operates in the gap of painting.' Ruozhe’s latest series explores the communication and viewing mechanisms in painting. Loaded with psychological tension, this group of paintings is charged with a sense of hard-boiled absurdity. The absurdity stems from his peculiar way of tampering with the language of painting, resulting in a pathological mutation in the logic within his paintings. However, if we consider the overall atmosphere that the paintings intend to create, as well as the psychological state they reflect, this variation seems reasonable. It can be said that these are paintings about ‘error’. The strange spatial relations emerge out of the wrong perspective and the arrangement of figures of equal sizes confuse their spatial relations; these mistakes are deceiving to the eyes of the spectator, compelling them to gaze in an attentive way, which is, in the end, futile. The erroneous depiction of space and perspective creates a mysterious and absurd atmosphere; error in Ruozhe’s hands has become a kind of aesthetics with a fine degree of control.
As René Magritte’s 1937 painting Not to Be Reproduced shows, painting can never reproduce reality. However, the truth that painting presents can come from a psychological experience, understanding of life, and the feeling of the immediate environment. In Ruozhe’s Gymnastics, two girls wearing the same uniform look almost identical from behind and are standing in the middle of a seemingly open, yet, in fact, self-enclosed room. Their disciplined bodies seem to be regulated by an invisible power which inhabits some corner of the room, as though they are receiving virtual instructions from it. The line between the ground and the wall in the background of the picture meets the waistlines of the figures. The unconventional arrangement of perspective gives rise to an illusion of a slightly sloping angle of the ground where the characters are situated, which intensifies the sense of abstraction and the mysterious feeling in the pictorial space.
The identical figures have anonymous roles and unidentifiable identities, and a cold and solitary contractive relationship with their space, all of which evoke the French anthropologist Marc Augé's definition of the non-place. This place is a kind of super-modern space that emerges in our everyday life in an extreme state of modernism. What follow are a series of changes in people's perceptions of space. When people enter such spaces, they uniformly experience a transformation from their normal identities into the role of ordinary passers-by, customers or pedestrians who lack a sense of identity and who simply maintain a one-way contractive relationship with the space. They are lonely and similar. This phenomenon is especially ubiquitous in Beijing, where the artist works and lives. Driven by gentrification and the increasing mobility of space, non-place is gradually extending from shopping malls, airports, and transit stations into artists’ studios and living spaces. Just as Xue Ruozhe said, “In every city, everything is too new to feel real.” Living in a precarious state due to a variety of realistic causes has resulted in huge uncertainty, psychologically turning artists who live on the edges of big cities into travelers. The psychological tension emanating from the abstract and isolated space, and from the alienating and estranged relationships between people themselves and people and space, is also embodied in the non-place space in Xue Ruozhe's Gymnastics, Trapeziform Entries, and Near, Far.
Just as tricking the eye is no longer a sufficient criterion for virtue in painting, in Ruozhe's new series of work, deception of the eyes is no longer contingent upon whether the perspective of the painting is correct or not, but upon the light from outside of the painting; i.e., the way in which the painting is displayed and the viewing angle of the viewer. Some figures are situated between the inside and outside of the picture. For instance, in Trapeziform Entries, the pictorial space intersects with the viewers’ space via the figure standing on the edge of the entrance. The bottom-up angle of viewing and the standing position of the character create a disquieting feeling, as if the woman could fall off the edge of the painting in a second. Xue Ruozhe not only succeeded in creating a mysterious and enigmatic atmosphere in the painted space through a modification of the conventional language of figurative painting, but also extended the atmosphere to the outside of the painting, penetrating the actual space of the viewer. As one proceeds into Xue Ruozhe's exhibition entitled 'The Metaphor of Existence,' he or she will immediately realise that the exhibition space is filled with sensations of repulsion and absurdity. The figures in the portraits hanging on the wall have their backs facing the audience, rejecting the viewer’s voyeuristic gaze. We can say that these paintings signify an antithesis to the category of portraiture. The figures mainly serve as a spatial reference to support the function of the pictorial mechanism, while their identities and other personal information remain unknown and indecipherable. As early as 2013, the characters in Xue Ruozhe's paintings have had an intriguing relationship with the wall. The existence of walls adds a suffocating, cramped feeling to the internal space of the paintings. The viewers actually face two walls – the wall in the painting and the backs of the figures which are as impenetrable as the wall. As such, the atmosphere of repressive absurdity in the painting is appropriately extended to the space where these non-portraiture portraits are hung.
The process of Ruozhe’s artistic creation is to highlight what is true to painting by simplifying and weeding out the superfluities of its language. From the colourful but estranged virtual gaming environment of the Virtual Life series to the conceptual minimal space which consists of grey walls and dark floors in the current series, the artist has abandoned the seductive colour of the (equally non-place) media environment and the specific identity of characters. What has been preserved through his artistic sensibility is a contractive form of solitariness peculiar to this kind of space, as well as the intriguing and ambiguous relationships between the characters and the space, and between the figures themselves. There is certain change in the temporality embedded in the painting, but it still retains some of the original intention. In White Painted Forest, which Xue painted in 2011, the repeated use of the same model wearing an identical uniform implies that this is a picture with multiple layers of time; it shows three moments in time. Seizing on the subjunctive tone of painting, the artist crystallised these three moments in time and placed them in the same painting. This suggests that the artist has witnessed the same absurd scene repetitively; that is, it implies the existence of the déjà vu.
In Ruozhe's new works, No, Bye and Travelers, the artist once again extracts a specific movement from an action and places it on the canvas; its purpose and the effect presented are related to the communication mechanism between the painting and the viewer. The protagonist in Travelers is leaning forward, seemingly on her way somewhere. The spectator views from the position of the hand that protrudes from the lower left side of the painting; he or she can identify psychologically with the owner of the hand. Since the expression of the characters is hidden from us and the body language has also been simplified to its extreme, there is no way to know if the painting is about walking hand-in-hand or urging someone to stay. No, Bye is also presented as a painting with ambiguous meaning. In these two works, the single slice of the time is not dissimilar to a detached symbol, whose meaning changes with the viewer’s own experience and resists stability. Painting is by definition ‘out of context’, which endows the viewer with the possibility of multiple interpretations, evoking a variety of psychological experiences. The painting here not only serves as a metaphor for the sake of enriching the meaning of painting itself, but also simulates a psychological state arising from uncertain and confusing situations in everyday life. The truthfulness of painting and the truth in its existential sense have been played out within what Xue Ruozhe suggests is “the gap of painting”. Not by coincidence, 'The Metaphor of Existence' also starts with an ambiguous gesture, swaying between refusal and affirmation in the painting No, Bye.
For more about Ruozhe's work, see: http://xueruozhe.com/
Comments
Post a Comment