2013年的春天，将在北京举行名为“澄邈”的杨澄油画新作展。“心眸澄邈，神渟形凝”这八个字可以说是对杨澄近五年来作品的意象诠释。其油画所绘对象无论山岚雾霭、清塘瘦石还是暮雪秋荷，都透露着东方的气质，但表现的方式却是非常个人化的。杨澄在用他对自然、生命的感悟，营造着自己的“半亩方塘”。那些作品好像就是作者静静倚在池边，俯瞰晨雾萦绕的莲叶，远眺群山勾画的天际时，“心眸”所映出的样貌，不喧嚣、不慌张、不怠慢。

　　一

　　十年前，第一次见到杨澄的作品是在中央美术学院举办的青年教师作品展中。杨澄的画作留给我的记忆是从画前走过去了，又不得不回头多看了一眼那隐匿在半透明雾气中的几朵荷花。后来才知道这是杨澄回国后的首次亮相，作品很雅致、很纯净，甚至如靳尚谊先生的戏称：“有些文绉绉的。”或许是这份与作品的眼缘，我邀请他及几位老师的作品到上海展出，那个展览叫做“初夏”，试图表达他们走过春天的青涩开始渐入成熟。展览前言中写道：“在这个技艺被日趋忽视的艺术时代，用画笔表达艺术的魅力成为这批新一代艺术家的责任？？他们不热衷于对世界阴影的挖掘与简简单单的‘冲击力’、而强调对‘永恒’、‘耐人寻味’等词语内涵的追求。”这是我当时对他们这批年轻的学院艺术家最直觉的感受。由于办展，与杨澄自然也就相识了，成了朋友，过一段时间会去他画室看看画，聊聊天。对杨澄的感觉是有些“分裂”，他的相貌、行事、作品很难放在一起去思考。他雄壮的体格、粗密的虬髯、敏捷的思维、理性的分析、滔滔不绝的话语，对照他灰调子的、澄净的而且超级细腻、平滑的画面，让我深切地感到艺术与艺术家真是件神奇的事情，而且“画如其人”这句话指的不是表面的样子而是内心。

　　五年前，应邀在今日美术馆为杨澄等几位中央美院的同道艺术家策划了一个展览，名为“平远”，借宋人郭熙的《林泉高致》中：“自近山而望远山，谓之平远”来呈现五位艺术家的追求与当时的创作状态：心平气和，意在远方。杨澄在这个展览中呈现了他对中国园林内在气质的关注，山石、小桥、空空的房屋、银色的薄雾，有几分寂寥与无奈。杨澄在借物抒怀，隐喻着中国文人独有的心境，一点点扭曲、几丝丝凄美。

　　2013年，即将举办的这个展览是与杨澄相约三年后一次个人化的、小规模的尝试性呈现。此展题为“澄邈”。“澄邈”有清远之意，回想起十年前的“初夏”，五年前的“平远”，今天杨澄面对自己的创作不仅依旧平和，更多了几分淡定与沉静，可谓心存悠远、气定神闲。归国十年，再看他的作品的确磨出了一把有分量而没有锋芒的剑，如他的名字更加澄澈而本真了。

　　二

　　杨澄的从艺路径非常清晰，应该说是理想的学院式美术教育系统培养出来的范本。杨澄自小受母亲的影响，爱上了画画。从轻松进入美院附中到顺利考入中央美术学院标志性的油画系一画室，进而在毕业两年后留学美国，入纽约艺术学院攻读硕士学位，回国后再入中央美术学院任教。他的作品从青年美展到全国美展，各类展览、奖项接踵而至，杨澄的艺术之路虽不是大红大紫，也可谓顺风顺水。然而简历上的顺畅不等于创作上的轻松。今天杨澄作品的面貌，也是他几经纠结、数度破立的结果，因此还是有必要回望，梳理一下。

　　从中央美院附中到中央美院完成他本科学业的八年，是杨澄完善技术，建立自信，勾画理想的八年。杨澄的“手头好”是被公认的。他的同学曾告诉我，与杨澄在一起画画是件极其悲催的事情，你这边还在起稿，他那边大关系都出来了。因此，杨澄属于将理性当感性用的艺术家。他对画面的分析可以与动作同步，手的无意识即可以达到形与色的准确。对此，杨澄有自己的认识：“当然你说中央美院给我技术，但是我觉得美院还给我一个很有意思的东西，就是理想，还有对问题的关注。当时靳尚谊先生、杨飞云先生、朝戈先生、孙为民先生、胡建成先生等等这些，包括年轻一点的刘晓东老师，我觉得那个年代的教师，都是带着问题来任教。他们上课的时候，把他们对问题的思考和对问题的解决方法一块教授给你，而且你也可以参与进来。我赶上中央美院的黄金时期。”“理想”是抽象的，“问题”是具体的，“技术”是可以磨练的，“艺术”是难以捉摸的。杨澄有自己的理想，更有很多问题需要解决，他选择了出国。

　　杨澄在美国的两年，正是当代艺术风起云涌的时候，杨澄满眼的装置、影像、行为，在一阵狂喜过后，却产生了物理与心理上的真空，对西方艺术在“距离上无限靠近反而带来精神上的不断远离”。他转入了大都会博物馆、波士顿美术馆、芝加哥美术馆去看中国古代的艺术珍品，到远方去取近经，的确是件有趣的事。杨澄拿着他的油画笔转回到描绘中国的山河、园林、荷塘、湖石。在回国之后，杨澄发现自己的作品却如此的异类，但他决定坚持自己的选择，对此他这样表述自己的观点：“我在西方找到了自己独立的价值和制高点，我回国之后就不想再把它丢掉。虽然说中国人如今在重复西方人的生活，但是还有未来呢，生活还是要有未来。未来中国艺术是什么样？我觉得艺术家还得作出自己的努力。我不想做一个永远山寨西方的艺术家，山寨几年在中国出名火一把，从此销声匿迹。”

　　杨澄有他的理念也有他要面临的困惑。杨澄作品的中国气质，是否有其合理性，讨论这类艺术家生存、生长的可能性，就是讨论溶于水的中国艺术精神是否可以溶于油，或者完全超越于那些物质材料所代表的概念的羁绊，直接触摸艺术的本质。在具体问题上，杨澄对“不做什么”有清晰的认识。他有个比喻非常有趣，他说不能做动画片《蓝精灵》里“格格巫”式的艺术家，兑点这个，加点那个，制不出真正的艺术。虽然艺术家作品的风格有些是自然生成的，有些是理性分析得来的，有做加法的艺术家，也有做减法的艺术家，但无论使用何种手段，最后必要经过升华、纯化的过程。19世纪以来的“西学东渐”，“中西融合”，这些老旧的问题虽依然在讨论，但油画于一百多年间在中国这片土地上已经日渐学科化、本土化了。它早已不是用以改造中国艺术的工具，而成为可以自由生长并产生各类改良品种的普通的艺术形式，只是如何运用，如何赋予其新生命的问题了。杨澄在用平头的油画笔画着中国画的屋漏痕，激情溶于平淡从笔端渗出来，这种慢慢晕开的味道是他呈现的解决方案。

　　三

　　艺术需要激情，也需要相对恒定的状态。激情易来，也易去，因此最好的状态是在创作的过程中可以恒定的燃烧一段时间。从拿起笔就可以进入燃烧的状态，一个小时、一天、一个月，这需要专注的能力、需要技艺的支撑，需要良好的心理素质，更需要身体的保障，这是对一个职业艺术家的要求，更是修炼的过程。“澄邈”系列作品是杨澄这一修炼的最新的成果，他将来自西方的三联画概念与中国画中的横批概念相结合形成了如同超长的宽银幕式特殊的视觉效果。他选用的主题均来自中国画的传统母题，分别是醉归图、洗桐图、访戴图、拜石图。每一幅画都在讲述一个饱含文人气息、思想意趣的故事。杨澄创作的妙处是并没有如古人直接描绘陶渊明、倪瓒、王子猷、米芾的人物形象，而是借中国山水画之魂，以景之状造题中之境。“拜石”只将那皱、瘦、漏、透的奇石描画得入情如幻，“洗桐”则将以水刷洗桐树的童子化为了一场蒙蒙的细雨，把一大片桐树林打磨得发出幽幽的光泽。“访戴”将雪夜阑珊的清冷之气充满着整个画面，访的是一丝心境、一份情趣、一种态度，与自然的交谈本身就如同与好友的促膝而坐、把酒当歌。而“醉归”更是物象全无，只剩下冷色与暖色的交汇与碰撞，那是酒酣后酒神的迷醉，出发点并非抽象，是一种情绪的弥散。这一系列作品是杨澄的师心之作，物象不过是浮动的躯壳，它空灵了，作品却更充盈了。

　　杨澄十载的创作是一次澄怀的过程，心在远方，道在脚下，可能很远，但值得期盼。

　　transparent heart and eyes, quiet manner and form

　　Clarity & Distance

　　To Yang Cheng's New Paintings Exhibition

　　Wu Hongliang

　　In the spring of 2013, Yang Cheng's new painting exhibition which is named "Clarity & Distance"  will be held in Beijing. "transparent heart and eyes, quiet manner and form", these words are the imagery explanation of Yang Cheng's oil paintings in the last five years. The objects in his oil paintings, no matter they are mountains, fog, pond, stone, snow or autumn lotus, all these reveal oriental aura, but the expression way is very personal. Yang Cheng builds up his own "half-acre pond" by using his reflections on the nature and life. Those works are just like the image reflected from "calmness" that the painter silently stands by the pond, overlooks the lotus leaves covered by morning fog, looks far into the sky delineated by mountain group, without clamor, without hurry, and without neglect.

　　I

　　Ten years ago, I first saw Yang Cheng's works in young teacher's works exhibition held in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Yang Cheng's paintings impressed me somewhat specially, I remembered that after I passed by the paintings, I could not help looking back to the lotus flowers concealed in the translucent fog. I later knew that this was Yang Cheng's debut after he returned to China, his works are very elegant, very pure, even as Mr. Jin Shangyi joked that: "His paintings are somewhat genteel." Perhaps it's because the first-sight attraction by his works, I invited him and several other teachers to participate in Shanghai exhibition, which was called "Early Summer", the exhibition tries to express that they have passed through the green and astringency of spring, and began to ripen. The preface to the exhibition says that "In this art era in which techniques are neglected day by day, using painting brush to express the charm of art has become the responsibility of this new generation of artists …… they are not enthusiastic about excavating the shadow of the world and simple impact force, they emphasize the pursuit of the connotations of such words as 'eternal' and 'thought-provoking'." This was my most intuitive impression about this group of young academic artists. Because of the exhibition, I naturally got to know Yang Cheng, and we became friends. After a period of time, I came to his studio for seeing paintings and chatting. My feelings for Yang Cheng are somewhat "split", his countenance, behavior and works are hard to be put together for consideration. His stalwart body, dense whiskers, agile of mind, rational analysis and endless flow of words, in comparison with his gray, clean and super exquisite and smooth paintings, made me deeply feel that art and artists are wonderful things, and the saying "paintings reflect the painter" refers not to surface but inner heart.

　　Five years ago, I was invited to plan an exhibition at Today Art Museum for Yang Cheng and several other artists of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the exhibition is called "Flat & remote", borrowing from "Linquangaozhi" by Guo Xi of Song Dynasty: "To look into the remote mountain from a nearby mountain is called flat and remote" to represent the five artists' pursuit and the creation state at that time: peace of mind, with thoughts remote. In this exhibition, Yang Cheng showed his concern with inherent temperament of Chinese gardens, stone, small bridge, empty house, silver fog, somewhat desolate and helpless. Yang Cheng expressed his feelings by describing scenery, implying the unique mindset of Chinese scholars, a little twisted, somewhat sad and beautiful.

　　Five years later, in 2013, this exhibition to be held soon is a personal, small-scale attempt three years after the appointment with Yang Cheng. This exhibition is named "Clarity & Distance", which means faraway. I recall "Early summer" of ten years ago, "Flat & remote" of five years ago, today's Yang Cheng, in the face of his works, he not only remains calm, but also becomes more composed and quiet, he maintains his presence of mind, with thoughts remote. After returning to China for ten years, his works have become a heavy sword without cutting edge, just like his name, clearer and returning to his true self.

　　II

　　Yang Cheng's art career is very clear, it should be said that this is a model cultivated by an ideal academic art education system. Influenced by his mother, Yang Cheng loved drawing since his childhood. From easily entering the Middle School Attached to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, to the smoothly passing the entrance examination to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, studying at the symbolic No.1 Studio of Oil Painting Department; two years after graduation, he went to the United States to study in New York Academy of Art for master degree; after returning to China, he became a teacher in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. His works were successively displayed in Youth Art Exhibition and National Art Exhibition, he won many awards in these exhibitions. Although Yang Cheng's art career is not in the limelight, he has made smooth progress. However, the smoothness shown in the Resume does not mean the easiness in creation. Today's features of Yang Cheng's works are the result of his experiences which go through several times of destruction and construction, therefore, it is necessary to review and summarize his art career.

　　From his study at the Middle School Attached to the Central Academy of Fine Arts to his study at the Central Academy of Fine Arts for completing his undergraduate education, during these eight years, Yang Cheng improved his painting techniques, built up self-confidence, and drew the outline of his ideal. It was generally recognized that Yang Cheng was "good at painting". His classmate once told me that it was a tragic thing to paint together with Yang Cheng, when you were still drafting, he had finished the important relation in painting. Therefore, Yang Cheng is an artist using

　　rationality as sensibility. His analysis on painting can be synchronous with action, he can reach the accuracy of forms and colors by using his hand unconsciously. With regard to this, Yang Cheng has his own

　　understanding: "Certainly you can say that the Central Academy of Fine Arts gave me technique, but I think the Academy also gave me a significant thing, that is ideal, as well as the attention to problems. At that time, Mr. Jin Shangyi, Mr. Yang Feiyun, Mr. Cao Ge, Mr. Sun Weimin, , Mr. Hu Jiancheng as well as younger teacher Liu Xiaodong, I think that those teachers at that time adopted the problem-driven teaching method. During their lecture, they taught you how to consider the problem and how to solve the problem, and you can participate in it. I was fortunate enough to run into the golden age of the Academy." "Ideal" is abstract, while "problem" is concrete, "technique" can be cultivated, while "art" is elusory. Yang Cheng had his own ideal, and had many problems to be solved, he chose to go abroad.

　　The two years when Yang Cheng stayed in the United States were the times when contemporary art was developing with full force, Yang Cheng had his eyes filled with devices, images and behaviors, after a fit of ecstasy, a physical and psychological vacuum was generated, he infinitely approached to Western art in distance, but constantly went far away from it in spirit. He transferred to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago to see the precious works of ancient Chinese art. It is indeed an interesting thing to go abroad to study Chinese art. Yang Cheng began to paint Chinese mountains, rivers, gardens, lotus ponds, lakes and stones with his oil painting brush. After coming back to China, Yang Cheng found his works were such heterodox, but he determined to uphold his own choice. He expressed his views in this way: "I have found my independent value and commanding heights in the West, after coming back to China, I don't want to throw it away. Although nowadays, Chinese people are repeating Westerner's life, there is still a future, life must have a future. What will Chinese art be like in the future? I think an artist must make his own efforts. I don't want to be an artist who forever pirates Western art, who becomes famous in China for several years for his pirating, and then vanishes forever."

　　Yang Cheng has his own philosophy, as well as his perplexity that must be confronted. Whether the Chinese temperament in Yang Cheng's works has its rationality, to discuss the possibility of the existence and growth of these artists is to discuss whether Chinese artistic spirit which can be dissolved in water can be dissolved in oil; or completely transcend the fetters of the concept represented by those physical materials, and directly touch the nature of art. With regard to specific problems, Yang Cheng has clear understanding about what should not do. He has a very interesting metaphor, he said that he should not become an artist like "Gargamel" described in the animated cartoon "The Smurfs", who subtracts something and adds something, which cannot create true art work. Although some styles of an artist's works are naturally formed, some styles are derived from rational analysis, some artists do addition, some artists do subtraction, no matter what means to be used, finally the process of sublimation and purification must be gone through. Since the 19th century, although the old problems of "eastward spread of Western Culture" and "combination of Chinese and Western Cultures" are still discussed, over the last 100 years, oil painting has been gradually institutionalized and localized. It is no longer a tool to be used to reform Chinese art, it has become a common art form which can grow freely and generate various improved varieties, it is only a problem of how to use and how to infuse new life into it. Yang Cheng uses a flat oil painting brush to paint roof leaks of Chinese painting, passion is dissolved in mediocre, which permeated from his brush tip, this taste of slow spreading is what he wants.

　　Art needs not only passion, but also relatively constant state. Passion comes and goes easily, therefore, the best state is that during creation, a constant burning is allowed for a period of time. From the time of picking up the brush, you can enter into a burning state, an hour, a day, a month, which requires the ability of attention and the support of technique, requires good psychological quality, as well as physical health, these are the requirements for a professional artist, as well as the practicing process.Clarity & Distance series works are the latest results of Yang Cheng's practice, he combines the Western concept of triptych with the concept of horizontal scroll from Chinese painting to form special visual effect just as very long wide-screen. All the chosen topics come from the traditional motif of Chinese painting, they are "Coming home drunk", "Cleaning phoenix tree", "Visiting Mr. Dai" and "Stone worshipping" respectively. Each painting tells a story with rich scholar's odor, thought and purpose. The wonder of Yang Cheng's creation lies in that unlike ancient painters who directly portrayed the characters Tao Yuanming, Ni Zan, Wang Daqiu and Mi Fu, instead, he borrowed the soul of Chinese landscape painting to create the topic's scene by means of landscape. "Stone worshipping" only portrays the corrugation, meagerness, leakage and penetration of the grotesque stone wonderfully and magically; "Cleaning phoenix tree" transforms the little child cleaning the phoenix tree into a drizzling rain, a large area of phoenix trees is shined with dim luster. "Visiting Mr. Dai" is filled with the chilly air in the snowy night, the purpose of the visit is to pursue a mental state, a temperament and an attitude, the conversation with the nature is like sitting side by side and talking intimately with a good friend. "Coming home drunk" has no objects at all, only the confluence and dispersion of cold colors and warm colors are left, which is the drunkenness of the god of wine, its starting point is not abstract, it is a dispersion of emotion. This series of works are Yang Cheng's favorite works, objects are only floating skeletons, they become empty, while the works become richer.

　　Yang Cheng's ten years of creation is another process of mind purification, the heart is far from here, the road is under the feet, maybe very far away,  but it is worthy of expectation.