展览名称：非线性·陈劼作品展

主办方：南京艺术学院美术馆

策 展 人：顾耀峰  

学术主持：林书传

联合策展：徐轩露

展览时间：2019年9月26日-10月12日

展览开幕：2019年9月26日15:00

展览地点：南京艺术学院美术馆0号展厅

媒体支持：在艺APP

非线性陈劼

Chen Jie and Nonlinearity文：顾耀峰

By Gu Yaofeng

陈劼是个对语言极其重视的艺术家。这肯定是把双刃剑。在一定程度上，对语言重视很容易导致作品在意义探究上的削减。但语言是艺术之所以能长存世间的根本，“意义”不是。因此它的价值毋庸置疑，呈现方式、逻辑关联等等这些语言的外在表现是推动艺术乃至人类思维发展的武器，它们均以“语言”作为核心导向而存在，所以一件优秀的作品，一定是确立了某种语言——尽管人们未必能描述出其语言系统的面貌。然而，语言又极具不确定性，正如人们在表达和交流时，可以有多种方式、使用多种系统传达同一个意思，语言在转换过程中，系统的不一也为受众理解其本意带来了障碍。与此同时，不确定性也不时会给作品带来意外的魅力——这是不可控的意外惊喜。有一个典型的现象是：当艺术家的语言系统逐渐成熟形成风格，他在该时期的作品价值就越接近顶峰，同时，其活力也越接近死亡。因此可以这样认为，一个着迷于语言的艺术家，就如同不断推着石头上山的西绪福斯，做着对得起自己的努力，也做着现实意义上的无用功，它的积极意义，存在于每一次推动上山的过程，而非最终的硕果累累。

《被指代的符号》 30×80cm  布面丙烯 2019

在以往作品中，陈劼使用了多次“加减乘除”的符号作为某种意义承载。本次展览所展的《被隐喻的伤害》在视觉上依然有加号的元素，但随着加号渐变为十字架，其指向已与往常不同，有了更多的精神信仰方面的暗讽。在最新的这批装置作品中，木质材料成为了陈劼的主打。木质，意味着一定程度的坚硬，而又有一定程度的柔软，在中国的哲学系统内，没有哪种材料比木质更能体现“中庸”价值观。可在陈劼的作品中，他并不指着用“木”这个材料体现中庸，他感兴趣的是材料本身而不是材料代表的意义。包括《再沙发》在内，作品以貌似粗糙、不作修饰的方式粗暴地呈现某种混乱。按照常理，或许别的艺术家更青睐大量使用类似铸铁、青铜等等更具有重量感的材料，但是假如那样，“混乱”也就会因为材料的“重”而变得有秩序、变得整齐起来。显然，这并非陈劼的本意。材料本身是有指代性和象征意义的，在陈劼的这批作品中，他却尽可能地在驱除材料的象征性，只把材料还原成材料本身。比如《带红色的构造》，视觉上首当其冲的是几道虚空之门相互叠加，而制造“门”最常见的材料仍然是木头，当作品把材料剔除掉象征意义后，留下的就只有作品本身的观念了。

《再沙发-1》 82×78×66cm 木、铁、不锈钢、布、丙烯、 VAE乳胶 2018-2019

陈劼作品的抓手是材料。装置是如此，架上作品也是如此，但需要说明的是，他对材料的使用不是因为痴迷于材料探索，而是通过材料这种方式尝试不同的语言表达，一如人们想要拍照可以使用相机也可以使用手机。本次展出的数件作品尽管都命名为《故事》，但显然并非在叙事，而是用不同材料虚构了某种貌似有故事的场景。如果说陈劼的装置是用材料呈现混乱，架上作品则力图达到表达上的秩序和某种整齐，相比之下精致了许多。面对陈劼的这批作品，我们有理由这样认为：他并不是按照线性逻辑去表达关注的问题，也不是围绕某个主题垂直打一口深井，而是，他有意无意进行了倒置，他把主题变更为进行材料实验的承载物，每一件作品，都希望能有一些不同的语言尝试。因此，这批作品无论数量多少，其结构是“点”状的而非块面状的，每一个“点”都鲜活、独立。我个人很认可在这批作品中流淌出来的活力，仿佛就是一个现实版的西绪福斯在推着巨石一步一步往前走。而对于当今太过注重商业结果的艺术界来说，这种活力委实弥足珍贵——虽然在20多年前中国大地上遍地都是。并且，它与才华无关。

Chen Jie shows extraordinary passion for the language. Such passion is a double-edged sword for an artist, for it means, to some degree, a hindrance to the artistic investigation of meaning. Nevertheless, the eternity of art rests in the language, not the “meaning”. The language has its value; it, with its expressiveness and logic, is a strong stimulus to the evolution of art and even human thinking. It is safe to say that an artwork must have its language, describable or not, before it becomes excellent. The language has its uncertainty, in both expression and understanding. Discontinuity does exist there to create surprise for us – surprise intrinsic to no-control. A typical phenomenon is that the maturity of artistic language comes with the collection value at the peak and, in the meanwhile, the vigor at the bottom. A conclusion is conveniently reached that, for an artist big on the language, every step upward does mean something when it comes to the process or the artist himself; but, in the meanwhile, nothing when it comes to the result, a utilitarian dimension.

Time and times again, Chen Jie used mathematical marks “﹢”, “﹣”, “×”, “÷” in his works as meaningful symbols. In the piece to be exhibited – “Injury Metaphorized”, the visual element “﹢” can still be identified only that it has been deformed into a cross with more insinuation to the spiritual faith. Chen Jie has chosen for his latest installations wood as the main material. Wood, with balanced hardness and softness, is the best representative of the traditional Chinese doctrine of moderation. But for the artist, moderation is the not the pursuit; a material is a material as he sees it. The work “Again, a Sofa” seeks to show some disorder in the form of ruggedness. If the artist follows the common practice, choosing cast iron, bronze or other materials of weight, the disorder will sure be counterbalanced by the weight, which by itself conveys a feeling of orderliness. All materials have their own symbolism while Chen Jie treats them as just materials in the constructive sense, squeezing all out the symbolism. At the first sight of the work – “Structure with Red”, we see nothing but the overlapped doors though the material is definitely there. The concept of the work can be preserved only after the symbolism of the material has been cast away.

For Chen Jie, the material is but something he works on no matter it is an installation or an easel painting. He has no obsession to the material itself; he just tries his language on it. When you take a shot, the device maters only to the extent the shot requires, no matter it is a camera or a cell phone. The exhibits named “Story” are not narrative in spite of the name; they just show scenes of stories by using different materials. Contrary to the installation, in which the artist seeks disorder through the material, the easel painting represents the artist’s pursuit of orderliness and regularity in the form. It is well grounded that, for the exhibition, the artist Chen Jie doesn’t express his deliberations with the linear logic or “dig a deep well” for a particular subject; instead, he tends to, intentionally or not, reverse the order, treating the subject as something experiments are done on. He expects different languages for different works. In spite of the number, these exhibits are discrete, not concrete, that is, a group of independent and live points, not continuity. I cheer for the overflowing vigor in these works; it is reminiscent of the stone-rolling Sisyphus, and exists there as something truly precious today though commonly in China two decades ago. Vigor is vigor, independent of the genius.

艺术家简介

陈劼1972年   

生于武汉毕业于湖北美术学院油画系，获硕士学位现任教于中国传媒大学

主要个展：

2019    《非线性·陈劼作品展》，南京艺术学院美术馆，南京

2018    《形式逻辑·陈劼艺术作品展》，艺术国际美术馆，北京

2016    《局部进化论·陈劼作品展》，上海多伦现代美术馆，上海

近期主要联展：

2017 

“重新解释”宋庄青年艺术家群体现象研究展  宋庄美术馆 北京

“绘合”A3艺术计划第四回  湖北美术学院美术馆 武汉

2016 

“重构的他者”宋庄青年艺术家群体现象研究展  中山博览中心 中山

“10年(2006--2016)”宋庄美术馆建馆十周年特展  宋庄美术馆 北京

“海纳百川 壁立千仞”大型联展  北京东区艺术中心 北京

2015 

“ART021当代艺术博览会”  上海展览中心 上海

1972 Born in Wuhan

2006 Graduated from Hubei Institute of Fine Arts – Oil Painting with a Master’s Degree

Now Teacher with Communication University of China

Sole Exhibitions

2019 Nonlinearity–Exhibition for Chen Jie Art Works,Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts

2018 Formal Logic – Exhibition for Chen Jie Art Works, Artintern Gallery, Beijing

2016 Local Evolution – Exhibition for Chen Jie Works, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai

Recent Major Group Exhibitions

2017 Redefinition – Academic Exhibition on Songzhuang’s Young Artists Community, Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing

 Co-Painting – A3 Art Program IV, HIFA Gallery, Wuhan

2016 The Other Remodeled - Academic Exhibition on Songzhuang’s Young Artists Community, Zhongshan Expo Center, Zhongshan

The Decade 2006–2016 – Special Exhibition for 10th Anniversary of Songzhuang, Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing

Sea & Cliff – Large Group Exhibition, Beijing Eastern Art Center, Beijing

2015 ART021 Contemporary Art Expo, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai