張新權(quán)是個(gè)優(yōu)秀的風(fēng)景畫家，眾多表現(xiàn)鄉(xiāng)村主題的作品曾經(jīng)是他的專長(zhǎng)，明媚的陽(yáng)光、幽雅的樹(shù)木、古老的村屋和恬靜的小橋流水是多年前他筆下的常見(jiàn)題材，而灑脫爽利的筆觸和明快鮮亮的色彩則成為他的標(biāo)志性風(fēng)格。
2002年，一個(gè)偶然的機(jī)遇使他對(duì)民國(guó)時(shí)期的老上海產(chǎn)生了最初的興趣，并促使他完成了第一件表現(xiàn)“十里洋場(chǎng)”——外灘建筑群的作品，以此為契機(jī)，他開(kāi)始把大量的精力投注在對(duì)城市歷史圖像的研究之中。他發(fā)現(xiàn)，在工業(yè)文明開(kāi)始萌動(dòng)于中國(guó)的那個(gè)特殊年代，上海的樓房、街道、港口、船舶以及有軌電車等形象，構(gòu)成了一組組非常入畫的視覺(jué)符號(hào)群，他擅長(zhǎng)的用筆和用色方式也非常適合表現(xiàn)這樣的都市景色。
從那時(shí)起，張新權(quán)找到了他在風(fēng)景畫創(chuàng)作上的全新語(yǔ)言。在他瀟灑、迅疾而充滿快感的筆觸下，外灘、蘇州河及其周邊的大量歷史建筑都開(kāi)始成為他描繪的對(duì)象。從稀薄的涂刷到厚重的堆砌，他對(duì)畫面形象的塑造充滿了節(jié)奏感和音樂(lè)感。從單純的忠實(shí)記錄到自由的意向表現(xiàn)，他其實(shí)并不拘泥于真實(shí)的歷史風(fēng)貌，畫面也越來(lái)越主觀。那些上世紀(jì)三、四十年代經(jīng)典的上海舊貌在他的作品中甚至開(kāi)始變得有些抽象，有些概念化，從中可以看出，他已經(jīng)在以一種個(gè)人化的歷史觀對(duì)昨日進(jìn)行隨意性很強(qiáng)的組合與重新解讀。
在這些時(shí)而虛構(gòu)、時(shí)而真實(shí)的風(fēng)景中，熟悉的今天正漸漸被淡化，而陌生的昨日卻被強(qiáng)烈地凸顯出來(lái)。事實(shí)上，國(guó)內(nèi)許多城市正在為營(yíng)造與恢復(fù)歷史特色而進(jìn)行著全新規(guī)劃，在大量殖民地時(shí)期的建筑被列為重點(diǎn)文物保護(hù)單位后，眾多帶有歐美新古典主義風(fēng)格的建筑物正拔地而起，許多被拆除多年的有軌電車線路也正被推上復(fù)建的議程。在這樣一輪又一輪的懷舊風(fēng)潮中，張新權(quán)的作品顯得生逢其時(shí)，懷舊，正是這個(gè)高速發(fā)展的時(shí)代所必然引發(fā)的文化鄉(xiāng)愁。
現(xiàn)在，張新權(quán)的描繪對(duì)象已經(jīng)不僅僅是老上海，他把上世紀(jì)初工業(yè)化時(shí)代歐美都市風(fēng)景的許多視覺(jué)符號(hào)都引入了畫面，我們可以把他的作品看成是一個(gè)當(dāng)今的藝術(shù)家對(duì)都市歷史的感喟和懷戀。從《橫街》到《十字街頭》，從《河道》到《海灘》，從《蘇州河》到《碼頭》，他的作品正走向一個(gè)更加寬廣的視野，他所描繪的對(duì)象，是一種概念化了的風(fēng)景，因而，我稱之為“歷史的風(fēng)景”。這些風(fēng)景，在張新權(quán)的畫面里正被重新組合著，早期殖民時(shí)代上海曾經(jīng)擁有的繁華，在他的筆下逐漸超越了歷史時(shí)空，而那些被概念化了的都市風(fēng)貌，正在他全新的系列作品中被夢(mèng)想幻化、融合，進(jìn)而成為一種頗為異樣的視覺(jué)奇觀。
李旭 2007年7月8日
Zhang Xinquan, as an outstanding landscape painter, used to specialize in depicting rural life, such as brilliant sunshine, elegant trees, ancient village houses, tranquil bridges and streams, with the free strokes and bright color as his signature style.
In 2002, Zhang happened to develop an interest in old Shanghai of the Republic of China period, which drove him to his first painting, “The Metropolis Old Shanghai”, portraying the architectural complex in the Bund. Thereafter, he devoted himself to probing into the historical images of the city, to find that in that very age when industrial civilization budded in China, the images of buildings, streets, ports, vessels, and trams in Shanghai made up the picturesque visual symbols of the city, and his painting and coloring style was just designed for that.
Since then, Zhang has already found his brand new language in painting landscapes. His unrestrained, swift and pleasant brushwork touched the Bund, the Suzhou River and other surrounding architectures. His painting is always rhythmic and musical no matter he does it with watery coating or massive pileup. He is not confined to the historical scene itself, but turns from loyal recording to free expressing, more subjective way. The images of classic old Shanghai of the last 30s and 40s is abstract or even conceptualized, where we can see that he is randomly assembling and unscrambling the past with a personal historical view.
In those sceneries, some imaginary while others the opposite, the present we are familiar with is fading and the unacquainted past becomes the foreground. Actually, many cities in China are making urban planning to restore their historical characteristics. Neoclassical occidental buildings are rising abruptly and trams that were removed years ago are put on the agenda to be rebuilt, after the structures of the colonial time were preserved as cultural relics. In the trend of nostalgia, Zhang’s works come out at the right time, as nostalgia is just the cultural necessity of the fast developing society.
Currently, Zhang is not confined to the images of old Shanghai. Instead, he brings many visual symbols of the occidental cityscape of the last century into his works, to exclaim over and look back nostalgically on the city history. From “The Bystreet” to “The Crossroad”, from “The Watercourse” to “The Beach”, from “The Suzhou River” to “The Wharf”, his paintings are being produced in a gradually broadened horizon. What he is depicting is the conceptualized landscape, to be reset in his paintings. Therefore, it’s defined as “historical landscape”. The prosperity of old Shanghai in the colonial period, transcending time and space, together with the conceptualized cityscape, is miraculously transformed and fused in his works, as a peculiar visual spectacle.
-- By Li Xu, July 8th, 2007
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