学术主持 Academic Adviser 鲁明军

开 幕 Opening 2021.04.17 3:30pm

展 期 Duration2021.04.17 - 2021.06.06

地 点 Venue 站台中国当代艺术机构 - 主空间 & dRoom (北京朝阳区酒仙桥路2号798艺术区中二街 D07)Platform China Contemporary Art Institute D07 Main 2nd Street, 798 Art District, Beijing

站台中国将于4月17日举办“魂兮归来——袁运生个展”，此次展览为袁运生先生在站台中国的第二次大型个展，展期持续至6月6日，由鲁明军担任学术主持。我们将调用主空间和dRoom展厅，对袁运生自二十世纪70年代末以来不同时期具有代表性的作品进行梳理并呈现。

袁运生先生带领中央美术学院油画系第四工作室

袁先生的第一届研究生外出考察

现场照片，2000年左右

“我深信，当我们真正研究古代艺术之后，再回味现代艺术之所以追求，也许能找到一个共同的基础，也许会认识到现代艺术的追索与我们在本质上相去并不很远，并且可以从中得到必要的启示。那时，将出现一种、十种甚至一百种重内容的素描，重情感的素描、重精神的素描。追索民族艺术的真精神。才是所谓继承传统的实质。其他的一切，都不在话下。魂兮归来。”

——袁运生《魂兮归来》1982年

▅ 展 序

文/鲁明军

在中国当代艺术史上，袁运生无疑是一个例外中的例外。1979年，首都机场壁画《泼水节——生命的赞歌》引发的剧烈震荡，将袁运生推向了舆论的风口浪尖。从此，这个事件以及“袁运生”这个名字皆成了一个时代的标志。时至今日，《泼水节》依然是笼罩在袁运生头上的一层历史光环，甚至掩盖了这张作品本身的语言风格及其产生的动因和条件，也曾一度让袁运生此后的艺术实践乃至他一生孜孜以求的艺术目标变得“黯然”。 

 ▲幸福的泼水节（第一张色彩稿）/纸本水粉198.6X33.9cm / 1979年

事件固然缔造了历史，也缔造了袁运生。但袁运生无意制造事件，他的目的是想通往一种跨越时空的精神，并借以缔造一种新的历史观。因此，对于《泼水节》赋予他的永恒光环，他从来都是不屑一顾，更不希望自己被粗暴地标签化。1982年，从西北考察、写生归来的袁运生“义愤填膺”地撰写了《魂兮归来》一文。文中指出：“在西方现代艺术的冲击下，我们应以民族艺术精神建立自信，找回失去的传统。”这样一种艺术观点显然承袭自上世纪50年代以来“油画民族化”的浪潮，特别是其师董希文的影响，甚至可以追溯到“美术革命”中的“民族化”主张，包括抗战期间关于“民族形式”问题的争论，等等，但实际上，在当时那样一个节骨眼上，《魂兮归来》无疑是逆潮流的。到底要不要“油画民族化”再度引发争议，作为参与者，袁运生并不反对“民族化”，在某种意义上，他自己就是一个“民族化”的践行者，但他并不觉得这个口号有什么意义，而是认为“一个画家学习民族文化”本身就是一种无需争议的自觉。且即便是号召“民族化”，也不是表面的袭用和标榜，而应该是一种精神性的承续和扬弃。因为，只有当艺术抵达至一定精神高度的时候，才会彻底化解古今中西之别，也才可能建立起真正的自信。

 ▲魏风塑像-敦煌莫高窟贰陆零 / 纸本水墨1981 / 68.4x137.4cm

“一个现代艺术家的平庸，往往表现在他虽然认识到‘现代’的重要，而不能认识到民间艺术的美好。他只会欣赏一架新式录音机的精巧，却不懂得一张陕北民间剪纸在艺术上可能是更富现代感的。”这是袁运生在出国之前的一篇文章《油画民族化吗？》中的一段话，多少代表了他对于“民族化”的理解和认识。也正是基于这样的认识，到了美国后，在毕加索、波洛克等西方现代艺术大师作品面前，他感受到了一种同样雄强的艺术之力。殊不知，毕加索也好，波洛克也罢，其实都深植于自己的历史和现实，且都借鉴过民间艺术。或许这一点，让袁运生倍感亲切。不过，这并没有让他觉得自卑，反而让他更加自信。此时，真正征服袁运生的不是毕加索，也不是波洛克，反而是他一直心向往之的汉唐气魄和魏晋风度，亦让他更加坚信自己的判断和选择。在美期间，他创作了大量的写生和素描，这些作品所传递的与其说是探索和理解异文化的一种渴望，不如说是在异文化的身上他感受到了他念兹在兹的民族精神。

去国十几年，袁运生虽然错过了轰轰烈烈的八五新潮美术运动和八九现代艺术大展，但他对于“气度、魄力和勇气”的追求和心心念念的“魂兮归来”又无不暗合——甚至预示——了80年代末栗宪庭所极力呼吁的“滚动着无穷困惑——希望与绝望的交织，理想与现实的矛盾，传统与未来的冲突，以及翻来覆去的文化反思中的痛苦、焦灼、彷徨和种种忧患——的大灵魂的生命激情”，只是不同的是，后者取决于作品背后的价值基础，而对于袁运生来说，作品（形式）本身就是能量和灵魂所在。1996年应邀回国后，他也没有进入任何一个圈子，而始终缺席于当时死灰复燃的各种激进的艺术活动和展览实验，直到今天，亦复如此。但他并不觉得遗憾，因为这显然不是他的旨趣所在，甚至有悖于他的艺术理念和艺术追求。当然，这样一种执拗的坚持和桀骜不驯的性格，也注定了他很难获得体制真正的认可。 从一时的“弄潮儿”到“被弃”的“独行侠”，袁运生已经习惯了孤身行走在边缘的边缘。也因此，他关心的永远不是身边琐碎的人、物和事，而是那些触不可及、但又是现时代至为稀缺的风范和气魄。

 ▲飞人 / 纸本素描1985 / 51x76cm

▅ 再议《魂兮归来》

袁运生，一九三七年生于南通市。一九五五年考入中央美术学院油画系，师承董希文先生。一九五七年，被划为右派，到双桥劳动改造。两年后回来准备毕业创作，完成《水乡的记忆》。毕业后悄然去了东北，在长春工人文化宫工作十六年。一九七八年，应邀前往云南写生八个月，在云南期间，云南繁茂的生命力大大地激发了他压抑已久的生命激情，创作了大量的素描风景、白描人物。正如张仃先生所言：“他从云南带回一本白描画集，都是生活写生，有人物也有风景。他热爱生活，并十分虔诚地看待生活；他有激情，有熟练的基本功。一遇到生活，他的线条，就像泉水一般，从地下喷涌而出，蜿蜒满溢。他的白描，继承了中国线描的精神，却从传统的程序中解放出来。他的白描，既是中国的，又是现代的。”此间他已将传统的线与线的现代造型属性充分融汇贯通，为日后创作《泼水节——生命的赞歌》壁画留下丰富的素材。“一九七九年十月，袁运生先生应邀为首都机场创作壁画《泼水节--生命的赞歌》，这是一件划时代的作品，也是一个时代的标志。同过去时代的强烈对撞引发了巨大的震荡——在当代艺术史上也许没有一件作品像它这样引发了海啸般的讨论。历史依据这种震荡画出了分界线：前一段是生命被捆绑被抑制的历史；后一段是生命解开绳索发动自己欲望的历史。这幅广为人知的机场壁画是一个开端：既是一种新艺术类型的开端，也是一个新社会欲望的符号开端。这是中国当代绘画的标志性事件。”（汪民安《从洁净到强度》，2019年） 

▲逍遥 / 色粉、蛋清、坦培拉、中国墨、日本手工皮纸1992 / 151x249cm

一九八〇年，袁运生任教于中央美院，组建壁画系。期间多次去敦煌、麦积山、霍去病墓、龙门等地考察并画以大量写生，在这几次的考察与写生中，他深感对传统造型艺术再认识的必要性，其心得总结在一九八二年所作《魂兮归来》一文中。这篇文章在当时的文化界和美术界引起很大反响，也奠定了他日后终其一生的艺术观。在文中，他强调了“在西方现代艺术的冲击下，我们应以民族艺术精神建立自信，找回失去的传统”。那是袁运生要离开中国时写下的一篇文章，是他用了三个月的时间在西北考察中国传统文化的一篇倾心之谈，明晰了他的艺术主张：“仅对传统的认识就值得我们深思，唐宋以前的中国艺术对造型的研究曾达到的高度成就今天还有多少？伟大的过去对于我们已经变得如此陌生，难道这不是一个悲剧吗？我们只有真正研究了古代艺术之后，再回味现代艺术之所追求，也许能找到一个共同的基础，并且可以从中得到必要的启示。所谓继承传统的实质，就是追索民族艺术真精神，即古人那种气度、魄力和勇气，以及高度的自信，自由进取的宏大精神。那篇文章就是我的西北感怀并呼吁必须以民族艺术精神建立我们足够的自信”。

一九八二年八月，袁运生应邀访美，同时接受数所大学邀请，作访问艺术家。在美国，其在艺术观念上已臻成熟，对中西艺术形式与观念上的差异有着清醒的认识。一九八四，他在哈佛当访问艺术家，然而其思索很快便回归到中国艺术的现状和前景。在美国的亲见亲闻给了他一种历史的意识，使对自身历史的再认识与回归成为一种必然。——“作为艺术家，如果清醒认识到自己的处境，便可以产生巨大的自觉，甚至再度燃起文化复兴理想之光。此时正是清理自己，做出决策的好时机，尤其是在绘画方面，只要决意不再跟风，便有希望，路总是人走出来的。不能简单地说乘人之危，但自强之路，还是这个时代所需要的。不论对世界还是对中国而言，都是机遇。”（袁运生《艺术经历》，2000年）一九九六年九月，应靳尚谊先生的邀请，袁运生重回中央美院任教。在全盘西化的学院教学系统下，他再提对传统的再认识，以及在传统中生成的现代性。

此次展览再以“魂兮归来”为题，继《魂兮归来》一文发表四十年后，再度回顾袁运生先生几十年间在艺术上的深耕与实践。他主张传统的回归不是封闭地摒弃世界，亦非斩断、嫁接、挪用；而是以传统为根基，在不断裂的情况下，延续和生长着传统的现代性。他以毕生的艺术实践践行了他的艺术观，具有文化史坐标的重要价值，此次展览也表达了对其艺术信念与毕生艺术实践的无限敬意。

 ▲牛（女宿） / 纸本水彩、钢笔1980 / 27x19.5cm 

 English Version

Platform China will hold “Regeneration—Individual Exhibition of Yuan Yunsheng” on April 17. This exhibition is the second large scale individual exhibition of Mr. Yuan Yunsheng at Platform China. The exhibition will last until June 6. We will allocate the major space and dRoom exhibition hall, to sort out and present the representative works of Yuan in different periods from the end of 1970s.

“I deeply believe that we may find a common ground when we review the pursuit of modern art after we have really studied the ancient art. We may realize that the difference between the searches of modern art and ours is not significant, and can get necessary enlightenment therefrom. At then, one, ten, or even a hundred kinds of sketches that lay emphasis on content, feelings and spirit will show up. The essence of inheritance of tradition lies in searching for the real spirit of national art, which is most significant. The tradition will be back.”

 --Regeneration, Yuan Yunsheng, 1982

▅ Preface

By Lu Mingjun

In the history of Chinese contemporary art, Yuan Yunsheng is undoubtedly an exception among the exceptions. In 1979, the violent volatility caused by the mural at Beijing Capital Airport Water-splashing Festival - Hymn of Life pushed Yuan Yunsheng into the teeth of the storm of public opinion. Since then, this incident and the name "Yuan Yunsheng" have become a symbol of an era. Up to now, the mural at Beijing Capital Airport is still a historical halo over Yuan Yunsheng's head, and even conceals the language style of the work itself and the motivations and conditions behind its generation. It once made Yuan Yunsheng’s practice of art and even his lifelong constant artistic goal "fade".

Although the incident created history and recreated Yuan Yunsheng, Yuan Yunsheng, with no intention to create incidents, aimed to reach a spirit that transcends time and space and create a new outlook of history. Therefore, he did not ever care about the eternal halo given to him by the work of “Water-splashing Festival”, not to mention being crudely labelled. In 1982, Yuan Yunsheng, who returned from investigation and creation of paintings from life in northwest China, wrote The Regeneration with "righteous indignation". The article pointed out that, “under the impact of Western modern art, we should build self-confidence with the spirit of national art and retrieve the lost tradition.” Such an artistic viewpoint obviously followed the wave of “nationalization of oil painting” since the 1950s, which was especially influenced by his master Dong Xiwen, which could even be traced back to the proposition of "nationalization" in the "art revolution". But in fact, the proposal of such a viewpoint was against the trend at the time. At this time, whether or not to "nationalize oil painting" once again aroused controversy. Yuan Yunsheng was not opposed to "nationalization". In a sense, he himself was a practitioner of "nationalization", but he did not see any point from this slogan. He deemed that "a painter learns from national culture" was a kind of self-consciousness, which was beyond dispute. And the call for "nationalization", if any, was not a superficial copy or tout, but a spiritual inheritance and abandonment. Because only when art reaches a certain spiritual height can the difference between ancient and modern art, Chinese and Western art be completely resolved, and a true self-confidence be built.

 ▲霍去病墓石兽 / 纸本水墨1981 / 66x99cm

"More often than not, the mediocrity of a modern artist is manifested in that although he recognizes the importance of 'modernity', but fails to see the beauty of folk art. He only appreciates the ingenuity of a new-style tape recorder, but cannot see the possible stronger modernity in a piece of folk paper-cutting of northern Shaanxi," quoted from Is Oil Painting to be Nationalized, an article written by Yuan Yunsheng before he went abroad. The passage somewhat represents his understanding of "nationalization". It was also based on such understanding that he felt the same strong artistic power in front of the works of Western modern art masters such as Picasso and Pollock after arriving in the United States. As everyone knows, no matter it is Picasso or Pollock, they are actually deeply rooted in their own history and reality, and both have ever referred to folk art. Perhaps this made Yuan Yunsheng feel much at home. However, instead of making him feel inferior, it gave him more confidence. At that time, what really conquered Yuan Yunsheng was not Picasso or Pollock; instead, it was the spirit of the Han and Tang dynasties and the Wei-Jin style that he had always longed for, which made him more convinced of his own judgment and choice. During his stay in the United States, he created a large number of paintings from life and sketches. What these works convey was not so much a desire to explore and understand foreign cultures, as the Chinese national spirit he found in foreign cultures, which he bore in mind constantly.

Away from China for a dozen of years, even though Yuan Yunsheng had missed the vigorous movement of “1985 New Wave Fine Arts” and China 89 Modern Art Exhibition, his pursuit of "tolerance, boldness and courage" and the "Regeneration" constantly born in his mind all coincided with each other -- even foreshadowed -- the passion of life of the great soul, as Li Xianting urged in the late 1980s, “perplexed by endless puzzles -- the interweaving of hope and despair, the contradiction between ideal and reality, the conflict between tradition and future, and the pain, anxiety, hesitation and all kinds of sorrows in the cultural reflections over and over again”. The only difference is that the latter depends on the value foundation behind the work, and for Yuan Yunsheng, the work (form) itself is the energy and soul. After being invited back to China in 1996, he did not enter into any circle, and was always absent from the various radical artistic activities and exhibition experiments that were resurrected at that time. It is the same to this day. But he does not feel any regret, because this is obviously not his aim, and even runs counter to his artistic ideas and pursuit. Of course, such a stubborn persistence and unruly character also doomed that it is difficult for him to gain real recognition from the system.

From a momentary "wave rider" to an "abandoned" "lone ranger", Yuan Yunsheng has become accustomed to walking alone on the edge. Therefore, what he cares about is never the trivialities such as the people and things around him, but the style and spirit that is always inaccessible but is also the scarcest in contemporary art.

▅ Reconsideration of REGENERATION

Born in Nantong in 1937, Yuan Yunsheng, was admitted to the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (“CAFA”) in 1955, with Mr. Dong Xiwen as his master. In 1957, he was classified into right wing and was sent to Shuangqiao Village for reform through labor. Two years later, he went back to prepare his graduation work, and completed the Memory of the Water Village. After graduation, he went to northeast China quietly, and worked in the Changchun Workers' Cultural Palace for sixteen years. In 1978, he was invited to go to Yunnan, where he had created paintings from life for eight months. At Yunnan, the flourishing vitality of Yunnan greatly aroused his life passion that had been repressed for a long time. And he had created a large quantity of sketches of landscape and outline drawings of figures. Just as said by Mr. Zhang Ding, “he brought back a collection of outline drawings, which were all sketches of life, including figures and landscape. He loves life and treats life quite sincerely; he is passionate and is proficient in basis painting skills. Once encountering life, his lines will gush out from underground like spring water, overflow, wind and twist. His outline drawings inherit the spirit of Chinese line drawing but get released from traditional program, which are both Chinese and modern.” During this period, he had already made the traditional properties of modern modeling of lines fully converge, and left rich materials for the creation of the mural Water-splashing Festival – Hymn of Life. In October 1979, Mr. Yuan was invited to create the mural Water-splashing Festival – Hymn of Life at Beijing Capital Airport. It is an epoch-making work and a sign of the times. The strong collision with the past incurred a huge shock – there was no work in the history of contemporary art that caused tsunami - like discussion like this. The history was divided by such shock: the first section of history was a history when life was bound and suppressed; the second section was a history when life got rid of the ropes and started to pursue its desires. This is a hallmark event in contemporary painting history of China. This widely known mural at Beijing Capital Airport is a beginning: it is not only a beginning of a new art type, but also a desire symbol of the inception of a new social. (Wang Min'an, From cleanness to power, 2019)

 ▲眺望西方 / 纸本水墨1991 / 136x70cm

In 1980, Yuan Yunsheng teached in the CAFA and created the Mural Department. During that time, he went to Dunhuang, Maiji Mountain, the tomb of Huo Qubing, among other places for investigation for several times and created many paintings from life. In these investigations and creation of paintings from life, he deeply felt the necessity of re-understanding of traditional modeling art, and summarized his experience in the article Regeneration written by him in 1982. This passage made a big splash in the cultural and art fields at that time, which also laid a foundation for his future life-long artistic view. In the article, he underscored that “Under the impact of Western modern art, we should build self-confidence with the spirit of national art and retrieve the lost tradition.” The article was composed by Yuan Yunsheng before he left China. It consisted of the words from the bottom of his heart after three-month investigation of Chinese traditional culture in northwest China, and clarified his artistic proposition, ”only the understanding of tradition needs to our reflection. How much have been left of the high achievements that had been realized in the research on modeling of Chinese art before Tang and Song dynasties? Isn’t it a tragedy that the great past has become so strange to us? We may find a common ground when we review the pursuit of modern art after we have really studied the ancient art, and can get necessary enlightenment therefrom. The essence of inheritance of tradition lies in searching for the real spirit of national art, that is, the spirit, boldness, courage, high confidence and the great, free and progressive spirit of the ancients. That article is my reflections on the northwest trip and I call for that we must build enough confidence with the spirit of national art”.

In August 1982, invited by several universities as the visiting artistic, Yuan Yunsheng went to the United States for a visit. In the US, his artistic ideas were almost mature and he had clear understanding of the differences between Chinese and Western artistic forms and ideas. In 1984, he worked as a visiting artist in Harvard University, but his thinking turned immediately back to the current status and prospect of Chinese art. The things he saw and heard in the US raised his awareness upon history, which made his re-understanding and return to his own history a certainty. – “As an artist, if you can realize your situation clearly, you will have strong consciousness, or even your ideal of cultural renaissance will be rekindled. At that time, it’s a good opportunity to sort out yourself and make decisions, especially in the aspect of painting. So long as you decide not to imitate others, hope will come as you will reap what you sow. We cannot simply put it as taking advantages of other’s difficulties, but the road of self-reliance is what the era requires. No matter it is for the world or China, opportunity is there.” (Artistic Experience, Yuan Yunsheng, 2000)

In September 1996, upon invitation of Jin Shangyi, Yuan Yunsheng returned to the CAFA for teaching. In the totally westernized teaching system of the Academy, he put forward re-understanding of tradition, and the modernity generated from tradition. Forty years after the publication of the article Regeneration, in the topic of “regeneration”, this exhibition again reviewed the deep ploughing and practice in art of Mr. Yuan Yunsheng in the dozens of years. His proposition of regression of tradition is not separating ourselves and abandoning the world, or disconnecting, grafting or borrowing. His proposition is to inherit and carry forward the modernity of tradition based on tradition without any breaking point. He fulfills his artistic view in his lifelong artistic practice. The artistic practice of Yuan Yunsheng has important value as a coordinate of cultural history. This exhibition also expresses our infinite respect for his artistic beliefs and life-long artistic practice.