序陈瑞献
站在哲里珂(T.Géricault)的巨作《梅杜莎木筏》面前,在他笔下的暗黑的大海边,会有晕浪的感觉。哲里珂那种出神入化的写实功夫,是每个画家梦寐以求的绝活。即使在写实的记载功能已被摄影所取代的今天,画家仍然得依靠它的力量,才能传达一种更高的超现实精神,更高的心像与思想的组合,像马格利特(R.Magritte)笔下的《恋人》,一件永续让人钦羡的杰作。这就是任建辉的艺术所呈现出来的令人叹服的面貌。
建辉的功力了得,神思超卓,他一直埋头创造,近作有极大的感染力量,充满罕见的动态,水墨与油彩的有机缝合;作品包含对时政的反思,人们在物质世间的种种行为与动作,以及对未知的盼望,甚至在某种时空中人变成飘瓶的命运,也是他笔端的关怀。但建辉很清楚:艺术除了启人灵犀,有时甚至让人忘掉恐惧,就是无法像肥料那样,让植物生长。因此,他的风格强烈但单纯的人像,跟他的心像繁复的场景,同样叫人激赏。
我们可以很安稳的说,建辉是在吴冠中的调教下冒出头来的杰出“叛徒”。他传承了老师对艺术的奉献心与激情,其余都是自己的独创。
2011年6月2日
PrefaceTan Swie Hian
Facing The Raft of the Medusa, the gigantic masterpiece of Théodore Géricault, beside the darkened ocean under his paintbrush, one would be seized with nausea by its waves. Such perfect skill of Géricault’s in representing realism is an artistic forte every artist dreams of attaining. Its power is still indispensable for the artist to transmit a greater spirit of surrealism and a higher combination of imageries and thoughts, even as its function of recording reality is being replaced by photography today. Just like how Rene Magritte rendered his The Lovers , it is a great work forever adorable to us. And such is the stunning feature manifested in the art of Ren Jianhui.
Jianhui possesses exceptional artistic skills and an outstanding line of thought. Immersed unceasingly in creation, his recent works exude immense power, brimming with uncommon dynamism and a seamless join of Chinese ink and Western oil techniques; they include the reflection on current affairs, portrayal of an multitude of human behaviours and actions in the material world, and hopes for the future, and even the fate of man which is now a floating bottle in a certain space-time is within his concerns through the paintbrush. However, Jianhui is well aware that art, apart from being inspirational and sometimes even capable of making one forget his fears, is unable to grow plants like fertilizers. Therefore, his pure portraiture, though powerfully stylised, is as admirable as his scenes of bewildering imageries.
We can safely say that Jianhui is a distinguished “rebel” trained by master Wu Guanzhong, making a name for himself. Having inherited only the master’s devotion and passion for art, the rest all belongs to his originality.