一朵百合的花期大概是七天，一幅画呢? 作于十六世纪初的《蒙娜丽莎》仍在卢浮宫微笑，街头艺术家Banksy千禧年后画的那幅《气球与女孩》却在去年香消玉殒于伦敦苏富比拍卖落槌的瞬间……艺术似乎让人类对于不朽的微弱呼喊有了被听见的可能，可幸运儿总是寥寥，万物仍旧无法逃脱消逝的命运，或早或晚。
The florescence of a lily is about seven days, but what about a painting? Mona Lisa, created at the beginning of the 16th century, is still smiling in Louvre, but Girl with Balloon, drawn by English street artist Banksy after the year 2000, shredded at Sotheby’s in London… Art makes it possible for mankind’s pursuit for eternality to be noticed a little bit. However, luck shines upon few, and everything runs its course and fades away eventually. It’s only a matter of time.
艺术家、策展人李捷
Dr. Jie Li-Elbrächter, artist and curator
“寻我·无我”展览现场
“Anatman Art” Exhibition
“我曾经以为，人要死，事会过，任何东西都会不见。可后来我的想法变了，即使人死事过，仍然会有点什么东西留下来，或许它再也无法被看到，被听到，被感知，但它在。这点什么东西，我认为是痕迹。”李捷在她的作品《痕迹》前面这样对我说，层叠的巨大红色冰块不断滴水，像红烛燃烧时滴下的泪蜡。她的声音轻而不飘，柔中带刚，像她的经历，漂泊过，迷失过，见过，但一直寻找着。她的丰盛和清晰或许是她不断寻找的证据。
“I thought that everyone will eventually die and everything just blows in the air. But later on, I’ve changed my mind. After we fade away, there’s got to be something left. That something exists, even though it can’t be seen, or heard, or perceived. That something, I think, is what we call a trace”, said Jie Li-Elbrächter in front of her artwork Trace. The layers and layers of giant red ice cube is melting and water drips off like the liquid wax dripping off a burning red candle. Her voice is soft with a touch of toughness, just like herself – once had a wandering and lost life, but has witnessed progress and is now looking for elevation. Her profuse experience and clear mind prove her eternal pursuit.
李捷 《痕迹》冰、宣纸 2019
Jie Li-Elbrächter, Trace; ice and ink paper, 2019
与宗教无关，与东方西方无关，与当代艺术无关，李捷策划的这个展叫“寻我·无我”，于2019年11月23日开幕。展览以“我”为切入点，以“修行”为关键词，有意弱化参与者的身份感，去掉所有头衔和标签，追内心而非追外物，向内走而非向外看，旨在用绘画、雕塑、装置、视频等形式表现艺术家的修行，从而带领观众沉心静气地跳出、观察、思考“我”，给所有主动或被动地快速运行着的，执着的，追逐也迷失的，想看却看不清的人一个可以思考和短暂抽离的空隙。展览的场所在朝阳区百子湾的竹语间，竹林不发一语，柔静自在心间。
The exhibition curated by dr. Jie Li-Elbrächter is called “Anatman Art” and opened on November 23, 2019. The exhibition has nothing to do with religion, with modern art, or with what differentiates east and west. Instead, the exhibition centers around “oneself” with “sādhanā” as the clue, deliberately gets rid of all the titles and labels to weaken the sense of identification of participants. In so doing, the exhibition aims to pursue one’s inner self instead of external materials, to demonstrate the “sādhanā” of artists via painting, sculpture, installation and video, so as to guide audience to jump out of the framework and observe on a neutral ground, to ponder on “themselves”. In other words, the exhibition creates a temporary aura that drives every viewer who is actively or passively persistent in something, pursuing something, or trying to figure out something, to think deeply. The exhibition was held at Zhu Yu Jian in Baiziwan of Chaoyang District, Beijing. One could sense the aura of tranquility in the bamboo forest.
康文峰 《无题19.11.6》 58x58cm 宣纸水彩色粉等 2019
Kang Wenfeng; No Title 19.11.6; 58x58cm; Xuan paper, water color and toner; 2019
张迪 《天梯》120×120cm 纸上水墨 2019
Zhang Di; Tian Ti (sky ladder); 120×120cm; ink painting on a paper; 2019
姚铭 《拆解-统一-拆解》 装置 2019
Yao Ming; Disassembly – Unification – Disassembly; installation; 2019
宗宁 《半拉山》 180x105cm 泛太克硫化钡基纸打印 2018
Zong Ning; Banla Mountain; 180x105cm; printed on Fantac barium sulfide paper; 2018
与宗教无关
开幕式上李捷向观众一一介绍二十多位参展人，每个人的个性、风格、气场各异，关于选择展品的标准，李捷强调两个字──真诚 ，所谓 “诚于中，形于外”。
在麦克风与闪光灯之外，一位僧侣打扮的人格外引人注目。他并未站在参展人的行列里，而是坐在自己的作品旁边——那是一幅极其鲜艳的沙画，画里有佛端坐正中。不过画未完成，僧人正轻轻敲打着他的锥型器具，彩色的沙缓缓流下。他全神贯注，一丝不苟地在台座上勾勒，堆砌，视一旁热闹的开幕式为无物，似乎关上了耳朵，颇有些离人间远远的意味。这位僧人叫仁子降措，和他一起来的还有祖古索朗仁波切——一位八零后活佛，李捷在西藏遇到的上师。这是他们第一次在寺院以外的地方做坛城沙画。
“坛城沙画，在藏语中叫做的dul-tson-kyil-khor，意思是彩粉之曼陀罗，是由数百万计的沙粒描绘出的奇异佛国世界。”僧人选择藏地特殊的石头，经过打磨、砸碎、烧晒煮染等复杂程序使之成为坛城沙画的可用材料。经过艰苦而细致的绘制，才能到一幅结构精密，方圆相见的沙画，画沙坛城的僧人都经过严格训练，制作过程稍有不慎就会前功尽弃。
这样一幅精妙绝伦、光华夺目的坛城沙画，结局却是被打扫干净，然后被倒进附近的河里。手轻拂则归空，祖古索朗说: “无常虚幻，如梦如幻，没有永恒，除了领悟到的真谛。”
把佛法看作理念和智慧，所以李捷才说这个展览与宗教无关；不论表达的方式，而论发心，论利他，这是李捷和祖古索朗仁波切一拍即合的地方。
No relation to religion
At the opening ceremony, Jie Li-Elbrächter introduced 25 artists to the audience. Each artist had his/her own personality and style. As for the standard of the collection, Jie Li-Elbrächter highlighted the feature of sincerity – “sincerity hides behind the form”.
Far away from the microphones and flashlights, a man caught the attention of everyone. He didn’t stand among the participants, but sat beside his work – an extremely vivid sand painting of which a Buddha sits upright in the middle. But the painting hasn’t been completed. He was still gently knocking on his cone instrument from which colorful sand flows down. With such concentration, he sat on the platform piling sand onto his work of art, totally ignoring the jollification around him. He seemed to hear nothing but the flowing sand, staying far away from the bustle of reality. He’s called Rigdzin Gyatso, and with him was Tulku Sonam Rinpoche – a living Buddha born in the 1980s, and a guru that Jie Li-Elbrächter met in Tibet. It was their first time to make a sand Mandala outside of their temple.
“Sand Mandala is called dul-tson-kyil-khor in Tibetan, meaning a Mandala made of colorful powders – a bizarre country of Buddhas composed of millions of sand grains.” Monks choose special local stones to go through complicated procedures like polishing, smashing, firing, drying in the sun, boiling and dyeing, transforming the stones into materials for sand Mandala. Only painstaking yet elegant painting skills could give shape to a sand Mandala that is square yet round in shape, precise and elaborate in structure. Monks worthy of being involved in creating sand Mandala are all strictly trained, to shoulder the risk of ruining everything because of a tiny mistake.
Such a refined, glorious sand Mandala would usually be cleaned up in the end, and dumped into the river. A gentle stroke leads to emptiness. “The capricious phantasy holds no room for eternality except the true essence generated from one’s comprehension”, says Tulku Sonam.
No relation to religion is reflected upon the exhibition concept of viewing Buddhist doctrine as an idea or wisdom. What Jie Li-Elbrächter and Tulku Sonam Rinpoche hit it off is putting absolute priority on the initial resolve and altruism, but not on pure expression approach.
祖古索朗仁波切绘制沙画过程中
Tulku Sonam Rinpoche is making the sand Mandala
祖古索朗仁波切 仁子降措 《莲花生大士坛城》 坛城沙画 2019
Tulku Sonam Rinpoche and Rigdzin Gyatso; Guru Rinpoche Mandala; Sand Mandala; 2019
廖建华 《LJH180406》150x200cm 布面丙烯 2018
Liao Jianhua; LJH180406; 150x200cm; acrylic on canvas; 2018
肖进 《水口系列》 30x30cm 布面油画 2018-2019
Xiao Jin; Waterway Series; 30x30cm; oil on canvas; 2018-2019
与西方当代艺术无关
“我一点儿都不想把这个展览和西方当代艺术扯上边儿。”李捷在采访的一开始就这样说，“我们可以去研究，但这跟我们没有切身的联系。”她不想刻意，害怕做作，最希望能自然而然。
艺术家杨黎明也参与了此次展览，他站在作品« 时空流韵 »前谈及这个“暗红系列”已经走到了尾声，被问到是何种原因促使一个系列的开始和终结时，他这样回答 :“我一直试图站在我旁边观看自己，我的心里有什么，我的身体里有什么。如果我已经离开这种状态了，一个系列就终结了。”
对于西方当代艺术的看法，他说: “西方的当代艺术来源于西方历史、文化、法律、政治，是由一整套的坚固逻辑逐渐建构起来的。而我们东方是没有这个逻辑性的，所以不必刻意去追求西方的当代艺术，因为你根本不可能追上。你可能追随一个月，一年，你不能追随十年，二十年，一辈子。我认为最可靠的，最稳固也最有可能持久的，就是你自己，你的内心，你的状态。”
其中的坚持与坚定，其中的清醒也好，透彻也罢，如果用杨黎明的绘画语言翻译出来，就是奇妙的秩序、圆融、能量和节奏，果真画如其人。话可以骗人，画很难骗人，尤其是艺术家十几二十年来稳定的，一脉相承的东西，或许比任何话术都能说明问题，说明他的思考力、价值观和精神内核。
No relation to contemporary art
“I don’t want this exhibition to have anything to do with contemporary art”, said Jie Li-Elbrächter at the beginning of the interview. She was unwilling and afraid to be pretentious, and all she ever wanted was being natural.
Liming Yang, artist, also participated the exhibition. Standing in front of his work Flowing Space-Time, Yang Liming claimed that his “dark red series” is coming to an end. When asked what motivated him to begin and end a series, he answered “I’ve always been trying to stand aside to observe myself, to see what’s in my mind and in my body. If I’ve gone away from such circumstance, my current series comes to an end.”
As for his opinion on modern western art, he said “The modern western art is derived from the western history, culture, law and politics, constructed upon a whole set of solid logic. We in the eastern world don’t share such logicality, so we don’t need to deliberately catch up with the modern western art. You simply can’t make it. It may take you a month or a year, but definitely not a decade, two decades or a whole life. I think the most reliable, stable and sustainable art is from yourself, your heart and your status quo.”
The persistence, perseverance, or the clarity in his words could be interpreted, via his own painting language, into a bizarre order, harmony, energy or some sort of rhythm. His paintings represent the very fullness of himself. Words can lie, but paintings don’t. Painting, as something that an artist holds still and inherits for over one or two decades, is more self-explanatory than any verbal script, for it illustrates the artist’s thought, values and the essence of the spirit.
杨黎明 《时空流韵》 280x215cm 布面油画 2018
Yang Liming; Flowing Space-Time; 280x215cm; oil on canvas; 2018
寻我也好，无我也好，真我也好，核心都是“我”，没了“我”，艺术家还能否表达 ?
在湖南一个山清水秀的县城长大，二十岁忽然到了北京这个繁华都市，彭勇对于高楼大厦“难以适应，缺乏过渡”，于是产生了一系列与城市和建筑有关的作品。
The core, be it seeking oneself, anatman or actual self, is always “oneself” without which art expression is submerged into question and doubt.
As a young boy growing up in a county of beautiful mountains and rivers and suddenly moving to the crowded city of Beijing at 20, Yong Peng had a hard time “adjusting” to a life surrounded by high-rise buildings. Hence the series associated with cities and architecture.
彭勇 《心城》 30x30x140cm 手工纤维 2019
Peng Yong; Soul of City; 30x30x140cm; handmade paper; 2019
类似地，作为一个土生土长的福建人，李满金见惯了四季常青，在来北京之后才原来发现树的叶子在冬天是要掉落的，“感到非常震动，树木因此慢慢走进了我的绘画题材。”李满金的树木里面充满了坚韧的力量，直觉的可爱，有一种近乎母亲般的温暖。
Similarly, as a person born and raised in Fujian province, Manjin Li has taken the privilege of being surrounded by evergreen trees for granted. She didn’t realize the fact that tree leaves fall in winter until he came to Beijing. “I was stunned by my discovery, so I gradually added the trees as an element in my paintings.” Manjin fills her trees with the power of tenacity, cuteness of instinct, and mothering warmth.
李满金 《丛林》150x150cm 布面丙烯 2019
Li Manjin; Jungle; 150x150cm; acrylic on canvas; 2019
邓新黎 《等云台》150x150cm 布上丙烯 2018
Deng Xinli; Waiting for Cloud Platform; 150x150cm; acrylic on canvas; 2018
张震宇 《灰尘系列》180x120cm 布面反复落灰、打磨、抛光、形成镜面 2015-2019
Zhang Zhenyu; Dust; 180x120cm; constant dusting, polishing and buffing the canvas to form up a mirror surface; 2015-2019
刘沧海 《寻找不朽》装置局部 2019
Liu Canghai; Seeking Immortality; installation part; 2019
寡言的张震宇，他的“灰尘系列”如今快要走到第十年了，需要不断地收集灰尘、打磨和抛光才能完成一幅作品。他说不求巨大的视觉冲击，只要能在平实的色彩和造型上寻找到细微的变化。做“灰尘”的这近十年里，他说他的感受一直在持续、在增强，一直能找到新的兴奋。
或许，有些艺术家就是种神奇的生物，用近乎是苦行僧的方式，像只工蚁一样地忙活，自顾自但乐在其中地追寻一点什么东西，一点人类可能到达的高度，一点诗中的诗，星外的星。
For the rather silent Zhenyu Zhang, his “Dust” series is reaching a history of a decade. Each work needs to go through multiple procedures, including collecting dust, polishing and buffing. He puts giant visual shock aside, but strives to spot trivial changes in plain colors and shapes. During the nearly a decade of continuing the “Dust” series, he felt that his senses have been constantly enhanced and he could keep finding new things to trigger excitement.
Perhaps some artists are mysterious creatures, disciplining themselves like a sadhu, working painstakingly like a working-ant, searching for pleasure in constant pursuit – pursuing something that mankind struggles to reach, poetry inside a poem, an invisible star far away from our own.
李捷 《石头和蛋-1》 布面油画 2019
Dr. Jie Li-ElbrächterBalance-1, Oil on canvas, 120*80cm, 2019
谢懿 《涅槃》 148cm (直径) 纸上墨色 2019
Xie Yi; Nirvana; 148cm (diameter); ink on paper; 2019
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