寻找优秀的年轻艺术家公告
严培明的访谈：童年的风景
访问者：Cecilia Freschini
被访者：严培明
转自 www.ceciliafreschini.com
1 - In 1967 you were a child living in a revolutionary Shanghai, and you saw the Red Guards threw away the monk’s books onto a huge fire… “I decided there and then that I no longer wanted to be a monk, because monk are traditionally peaceful and do not fight back.” You did not give up your naïve intentions; you choose your path with courage and perseverance. From this emblematic anecdote of you childhood, how did you turn up to became a painter? What makes you think you could keep on fighting through art? How you arranged your battle?
Which topics in the past and now you’re focused in?
The environment I lived and saw during my childhood was very important for me to become a painter. I like drawing since then. Artists live within the society and the artworks are the reflection of their concerns and understanding about the society. Art is a tool for me to express personal feelings and opinions on issues, for instance wars, injustice, live and death etc. Many people noticed and considered these questions through my artworks. That’s the way I fight. Human is the topic I always focus in and I use portait as a form to explore it. I drew all kinds of people from different classes, like soliders, politicians, religious figures, prisoners, children etc.
严：童年的生长环境、见闻对我成为一个画家有很大的关系，我从小就喜欢画画。艺术家生活在这个社会里，艺术创作反映了我对社会的关注、了解，并且我用创作把我的观察和个人的观点表达出来，比如说我长期关注的战争、不公平、生存和死亡等等社会问题。通过我的创作让更多人关注这些问题，这就是我的抗争方式。人是我一直感兴趣的主题，我以肖像的形式对这一主题予以表现，我画过各种各样、各个阶层的人，有士兵、政治宗教人物、囚犯、孩子等等很多。
2 - Hou Hanru, distinguished curator and critic, said “Ming is certainly one of the most determined and intransigent painters of our time,” adding: “looking at Ming’s powerful work, one becomes fully aware of the tension, and the inseparable connection between art and life.” Looking at your portraits I’ve always been wondering, where is the border between the figurative intention and the conceptual ones? I mean, what we look is more coming from the realism, from life or from your own feelings?
I saw myself as a figurative painter with a wild style and free techniques. I don’t consider, deliberately, the idea of being “conceptual”. I just use all the methods I could imagine when creating. Realism, life, and personal feelings are all my sources. Since life, death, and human tragedy are common themes and lie in all these aspects.
严：我一直自认是具象的写实画家，只是风格和技法是狂放的、自由的。我其实并不在乎所谓的抽象，我只是自由地用我所有能想到的方式去表达和创作。我的创作来源，应该说现实主义、生活、个人感情，三个全部加起来吧。我对人的生命、死亡和人的悲剧这样的问题非常感兴趣，这些命题都是普遍存在的，所以现实、生活、个人感情中都能感受到。
3 - 20 years after the “accident” … in your opinion, how the art field has developed in China?
There is off course development, at least the enviroment is freer than 20 years ago. But, the development of Chinese contemporary art is manipulated, to a large extent. The fame and attention it perceived, around the world, is deeply related to the development of China, as a country in the global economic network. China grows too fast to have a smooth process for everything. New things born and directly jumped to the result.
严：当然是有发展，比如说创作环境和20年前相比自由很多。但是，中国当年艺术的发展具有很强的操作性。它在世界范围内受到关注，和中国作为一个国家在全球经济的大环境中迅速发展的特殊性有很大关系，比如说，社会的剧烈演变、社会制度，等等。中国的发展太快，往往导致很多新事物的发展没有过程，很快出现“结果”。
4 - Living abroad perhaps helps you a lot in developing your art and gaining success… But an exile is not an holiday and you may hedge a scar in you soul. Can you, try to image which person, I mean, which Yan Pei-Ming, you would be now if you had never left China? Any regrets?
It’s hard to say “scar”. But I do feel that my indentity is the one of an orphan or a vagabon in front of the art world. This “exile” brings me a room for independent thinking and self-exploring, this enables the artistic freedom to develop in my own language. I personally think, independence and self-consciousness mean a lot for an artist. If I had not left, I would definitely be a different person, maybe an ordinarily artist. Environment is vital to create a real artist. So I never regretted leaving.
严：伤害很难说，但我确实感觉到我是以一个孤儿、流浪汉的身份和形象出现在全世界人的面前的。这种生活上的“漂流”带给我的是一个独立思考、发现自我的环境，在这样的环境中，我才能实现一种创作上的自由，发展我自己独一无二的语言。我个人认为，这种独立、自我对艺术创作来说非常重要。如果我没有离开，肯定不会是今天的这个样子，也许会成为一个庸俗的艺术家。环境是造就一个真正艺术家的根本，因此，所谓的“出走”没有任何遗憾而言。
5 - Now China is a completely different Country compared with the one you left… lots of artists friends of yours, came back and start a new life here… never come this plan into your mind?
In my opinion, China is becoming more and more material along with the economic development. The environement for art creation is loosened but, as I mentioned, what I have been focused on are issues existed in all modern society and human beings, not only in China. Thus, coming back or not doesn’t matter. Recently I travelled and exhibited around the world including China.
严：在我看来，随着经济的发展，中国正在变得越来越物质化，创作环境确实比以前宽松了。但是如我前面提到的，我关注的是当代社会与全人类的问题，并不仅仅局限于中国，所以回来与否并不关键。近年来，我也经常游走于世界，包括中国。
6 - You started to make exhibitions pretty early, and you made lots of shows. Is there anyone that meant a particularly importance to you?
Every exhibition means a lot me. The career path for an artist is like constucture. The deeper the foundation was, the higher the building would be. Creation needs accumulation. You can witness my artististic development, the birth and the implementation of new ideas through my exhibition. In another word, artists present their thinking about the society and politics through the exhibition.
严：每一个展览对我来说都很重要，好比盖房子一样，地基越扎实，房子才能盖得越高。平时的创作需要的是积累，展览见证了我的艺术发展和每次新想法诞生与实施的过程，换句话说，艺术家用他的每次展览印证其对社会、政治的思考。
7 - This is a really lucky and significant year for you. Your works have been exhibited in lots of remarkable museums: from Gamec (Bergamo) to Musée du Louvre (Paris) and the San Francisco Art Institute… and finally back to China! If I’m right this is just your third exhibition in the Mainland… it should be very meaningful to you…、
Yes, this is my third exhibition in Mainland China, my first one in Beijing. It’s important to me since it’s like going home. I tried a new form and method in a very young and, probably, the best art space in China.
严：是的，这是我在中国的第三个展览，也是在北京的第一个展览。对我来说非常重要，有一种回家的感觉。我非常重视它。这一次呈现的也是我做展览的一种全新的形式和方法，并且在一个还很年轻的、堪称中国最棒的空间内展出。
8 - In my point of you, this at UCCA Art Center, is a really amazing and surprising one. How the project born and how did you developed it? Why the decision to avoid your signature style drip paintings on canvas? Is just a case or means you are searching for new painting experiments?
When I saw the UCCA space for the first time, I was surprised by its significance and beauty. It’s the kind of space all artists dream of. I don’t want to damage the beauty by hanging paintings on the walls or dividing the space into areas. So I drew the landscape on one entire wall, painted the portaits on 34 flags, and hanging them upside down in two rows in the middle of the hall, one meter from the ground. Visually, the flags are like at a half-mast to mourn for the life and death. It’s the simpliest form which keeps the transparency and beauty of the space to the greatest extent. But due to the extremely loud engine sound of the blowers and the wind, it is the richest form as well. As soon as entering the hall, one should feel the visual and acoustic tense. The floating flags provide a dynamic shape and different expressions of the children’s faces. Therefore, the curatorial plan was an accidental result, affected by the feature of UCCA space. I didn’t consider it as installation art but a way to communicate and express.
严：我第一次看到UCCA空间的时候，就觉得它非常大、非常美，是可遇而不可求的空间。我不想破坏这种美感，比方说把画挂到墙上、洞里、用墙把空间划分出小块等等。所以我把画画在了展厅的一整面墙上和34面旗子上，把旗子放在展厅的中间两侧，并且将这些旗子挂置于倒挂的旗杆上，从而以降半旗的方式呈现出生命与死亡的悲沧感。可以说，这是一种最简单的形式，最大程度上保留了空间的透明度和美感，但是因为有鼓风机巨大的马达声和风，也可以说这是一个最满最充实的展览。一进入展厅，就能感受到视觉和听觉上的巨大张力和紧张感。因为风的关系，飘动的旗帜，让展览有了动感的线条。画在旗子上的孩子脸有了变化的表情。这样的展览方式是偶然的，跟空间本身的特点有关，并非装置艺术，对我而言，仅是布展的一种表达方式而已。
9 - What brings you from portraying the iconic characters of our time to painting 34 unknown Chinese new born children?
I did paint some famous figures but more of my objects were anonymous, like children, prisoners and soldiers. This exhibition is not the first time I drew children or so-called ordinary people. I feel this world is becoming more and more material, a “celebrity society”. We cared about those celebrities, stars, politicians, rather than a child begging on the street. It’s a common phenomenon. The photographs of my paintings were provided by the United Family Hospital. They are either orphans or abandoned. This exhibition aims to make people face the minority group again, someone who is not one of the celebrities. The landscape on the wall is the wonderland for those miserable children.
严：我确实画过一些著名的人物，但是更多的是无名氏，比如孩子、囚犯、士兵等。这次展览并不是我第一次画孩子或者所谓的普通人。在我看来，这个世界越来越物质化，是一个“明星社会”，很多人眼里只看得见、记得住那些“名人”——领袖、明星之流，不会去关注路边的小乞丐。这是一个普遍的社会问题。这次我画的小孩是协和医院提供的孤儿资料，是被抛弃的小孩，所以通过展览，想让大家重新正视孩子，正视明星以外的普通人群。整面墙的风景，正是提供给孩子们的美丽家园。
10 - Which different you perceive between foreign and Chinese audience? How do you think Chinese art lovers face your work?
Compared to local audience, westeners tend to like my works more. I think, this is becuase it takes time for Chinese people to accept/understand my art. No “MADE IN CHINA” mark existed in my works. On the other hand, it also takes time for Chinese people to develop the habit of visiting art galleries and museums, appreciating art. The art community is growing here. Take the audience I talked to this time, they got the feelings I tried to say and were moved.
严：是有一些不同，相对而言，好像西方人更能接受并喜爱我的作品。我想，可能对于大部分中国人而言，接受我的作品还需要时间。这种不同的本质原因在于我的作品没有任何“MADE IN CHINA”的印记。当然，中国人正在慢慢养成去美术馆、博物馆的习惯，接近艺术的人群正在逐渐增加。就我这次回来接触到的观众来看，他们还是感到很震撼的，他们感受到了我想要传达的力度和主题。
11 - Tell me a little about the present relationship between Yan Pei-Ming and China.
China is my home country. I’m an artist. Art has no national boundaries
严： 中国是我的故乡 ，我是一个艺术家，艺术是没有国界的 。
点击-ArtBaba 展览现场!
访问者：Cecilia Freschini
被访者：严培明
转自 www.ceciliafreschini.com
1 - In 1967 you were a child living in a revolutionary Shanghai, and you saw the Red Guards threw away the monk’s books onto a huge fire… “I decided there and then that I no longer wanted to be a monk, because monk are traditionally peaceful and do not fight back.” You did not give up your naïve intentions; you choose your path with courage and perseverance. From this emblematic anecdote of you childhood, how did you turn up to became a painter? What makes you think you could keep on fighting through art? How you arranged your battle?
Which topics in the past and now you’re focused in?
The environment I lived and saw during my childhood was very important for me to become a painter. I like drawing since then. Artists live within the society and the artworks are the reflection of their concerns and understanding about the society. Art is a tool for me to express personal feelings and opinions on issues, for instance wars, injustice, live and death etc. Many people noticed and considered these questions through my artworks. That’s the way I fight. Human is the topic I always focus in and I use portait as a form to explore it. I drew all kinds of people from different classes, like soliders, politicians, religious figures, prisoners, children etc.
严：童年的生长环境、见闻对我成为一个画家有很大的关系，我从小就喜欢画画。艺术家生活在这个社会里，艺术创作反映了我对社会的关注、了解，并且我用创作把我的观察和个人的观点表达出来，比如说我长期关注的战争、不公平、生存和死亡等等社会问题。通过我的创作让更多人关注这些问题，这就是我的抗争方式。人是我一直感兴趣的主题，我以肖像的形式对这一主题予以表现，我画过各种各样、各个阶层的人，有士兵、政治宗教人物、囚犯、孩子等等很多。
2 - Hou Hanru, distinguished curator and critic, said “Ming is certainly one of the most determined and intransigent painters of our time,” adding: “looking at Ming’s powerful work, one becomes fully aware of the tension, and the inseparable connection between art and life.” Looking at your portraits I’ve always been wondering, where is the border between the figurative intention and the conceptual ones? I mean, what we look is more coming from the realism, from life or from your own feelings?
I saw myself as a figurative painter with a wild style and free techniques. I don’t consider, deliberately, the idea of being “conceptual”. I just use all the methods I could imagine when creating. Realism, life, and personal feelings are all my sources. Since life, death, and human tragedy are common themes and lie in all these aspects.
严：我一直自认是具象的写实画家，只是风格和技法是狂放的、自由的。我其实并不在乎所谓的抽象，我只是自由地用我所有能想到的方式去表达和创作。我的创作来源，应该说现实主义、生活、个人感情，三个全部加起来吧。我对人的生命、死亡和人的悲剧这样的问题非常感兴趣，这些命题都是普遍存在的，所以现实、生活、个人感情中都能感受到。
3 - 20 years after the “accident” … in your opinion, how the art field has developed in China?
There is off course development, at least the enviroment is freer than 20 years ago. But, the development of Chinese contemporary art is manipulated, to a large extent. The fame and attention it perceived, around the world, is deeply related to the development of China, as a country in the global economic network. China grows too fast to have a smooth process for everything. New things born and directly jumped to the result.
严：当然是有发展，比如说创作环境和20年前相比自由很多。但是，中国当年艺术的发展具有很强的操作性。它在世界范围内受到关注，和中国作为一个国家在全球经济的大环境中迅速发展的特殊性有很大关系，比如说，社会的剧烈演变、社会制度，等等。中国的发展太快，往往导致很多新事物的发展没有过程，很快出现“结果”。
4 - Living abroad perhaps helps you a lot in developing your art and gaining success… But an exile is not an holiday and you may hedge a scar in you soul. Can you, try to image which person, I mean, which Yan Pei-Ming, you would be now if you had never left China? Any regrets?
It’s hard to say “scar”. But I do feel that my indentity is the one of an orphan or a vagabon in front of the art world. This “exile” brings me a room for independent thinking and self-exploring, this enables the artistic freedom to develop in my own language. I personally think, independence and self-consciousness mean a lot for an artist. If I had not left, I would definitely be a different person, maybe an ordinarily artist. Environment is vital to create a real artist. So I never regretted leaving.
严：伤害很难说，但我确实感觉到我是以一个孤儿、流浪汉的身份和形象出现在全世界人的面前的。这种生活上的“漂流”带给我的是一个独立思考、发现自我的环境，在这样的环境中，我才能实现一种创作上的自由，发展我自己独一无二的语言。我个人认为，这种独立、自我对艺术创作来说非常重要。如果我没有离开，肯定不会是今天的这个样子，也许会成为一个庸俗的艺术家。环境是造就一个真正艺术家的根本，因此，所谓的“出走”没有任何遗憾而言。
5 - Now China is a completely different Country compared with the one you left… lots of artists friends of yours, came back and start a new life here… never come this plan into your mind?
In my opinion, China is becoming more and more material along with the economic development. The environement for art creation is loosened but, as I mentioned, what I have been focused on are issues existed in all modern society and human beings, not only in China. Thus, coming back or not doesn’t matter. Recently I travelled and exhibited around the world including China.
严：在我看来，随着经济的发展，中国正在变得越来越物质化，创作环境确实比以前宽松了。但是如我前面提到的，我关注的是当代社会与全人类的问题，并不仅仅局限于中国，所以回来与否并不关键。近年来，我也经常游走于世界，包括中国。
6 - You started to make exhibitions pretty early, and you made lots of shows. Is there anyone that meant a particularly importance to you?
Every exhibition means a lot me. The career path for an artist is like constucture. The deeper the foundation was, the higher the building would be. Creation needs accumulation. You can witness my artististic development, the birth and the implementation of new ideas through my exhibition. In another word, artists present their thinking about the society and politics through the exhibition.
严：每一个展览对我来说都很重要，好比盖房子一样，地基越扎实，房子才能盖得越高。平时的创作需要的是积累，展览见证了我的艺术发展和每次新想法诞生与实施的过程，换句话说，艺术家用他的每次展览印证其对社会、政治的思考。
7 - This is a really lucky and significant year for you. Your works have been exhibited in lots of remarkable museums: from Gamec (Bergamo) to Musée du Louvre (Paris) and the San Francisco Art Institute… and finally back to China! If I’m right this is just your third exhibition in the Mainland… it should be very meaningful to you…、
Yes, this is my third exhibition in Mainland China, my first one in Beijing. It’s important to me since it’s like going home. I tried a new form and method in a very young and, probably, the best art space in China.
严：是的，这是我在中国的第三个展览，也是在北京的第一个展览。对我来说非常重要，有一种回家的感觉。我非常重视它。这一次呈现的也是我做展览的一种全新的形式和方法，并且在一个还很年轻的、堪称中国最棒的空间内展出。
8 - In my point of you, this at UCCA Art Center, is a really amazing and surprising one. How the project born and how did you developed it? Why the decision to avoid your signature style drip paintings on canvas? Is just a case or means you are searching for new painting experiments?
When I saw the UCCA space for the first time, I was surprised by its significance and beauty. It’s the kind of space all artists dream of. I don’t want to damage the beauty by hanging paintings on the walls or dividing the space into areas. So I drew the landscape on one entire wall, painted the portaits on 34 flags, and hanging them upside down in two rows in the middle of the hall, one meter from the ground. Visually, the flags are like at a half-mast to mourn for the life and death. It’s the simpliest form which keeps the transparency and beauty of the space to the greatest extent. But due to the extremely loud engine sound of the blowers and the wind, it is the richest form as well. As soon as entering the hall, one should feel the visual and acoustic tense. The floating flags provide a dynamic shape and different expressions of the children’s faces. Therefore, the curatorial plan was an accidental result, affected by the feature of UCCA space. I didn’t consider it as installation art but a way to communicate and express.
严：我第一次看到UCCA空间的时候，就觉得它非常大、非常美，是可遇而不可求的空间。我不想破坏这种美感，比方说把画挂到墙上、洞里、用墙把空间划分出小块等等。所以我把画画在了展厅的一整面墙上和34面旗子上，把旗子放在展厅的中间两侧，并且将这些旗子挂置于倒挂的旗杆上，从而以降半旗的方式呈现出生命与死亡的悲沧感。可以说，这是一种最简单的形式，最大程度上保留了空间的透明度和美感，但是因为有鼓风机巨大的马达声和风，也可以说这是一个最满最充实的展览。一进入展厅，就能感受到视觉和听觉上的巨大张力和紧张感。因为风的关系，飘动的旗帜，让展览有了动感的线条。画在旗子上的孩子脸有了变化的表情。这样的展览方式是偶然的，跟空间本身的特点有关，并非装置艺术，对我而言，仅是布展的一种表达方式而已。
9 - What brings you from portraying the iconic characters of our time to painting 34 unknown Chinese new born children?
I did paint some famous figures but more of my objects were anonymous, like children, prisoners and soldiers. This exhibition is not the first time I drew children or so-called ordinary people. I feel this world is becoming more and more material, a “celebrity society”. We cared about those celebrities, stars, politicians, rather than a child begging on the street. It’s a common phenomenon. The photographs of my paintings were provided by the United Family Hospital. They are either orphans or abandoned. This exhibition aims to make people face the minority group again, someone who is not one of the celebrities. The landscape on the wall is the wonderland for those miserable children.
严：我确实画过一些著名的人物，但是更多的是无名氏，比如孩子、囚犯、士兵等。这次展览并不是我第一次画孩子或者所谓的普通人。在我看来，这个世界越来越物质化，是一个“明星社会”，很多人眼里只看得见、记得住那些“名人”——领袖、明星之流，不会去关注路边的小乞丐。这是一个普遍的社会问题。这次我画的小孩是协和医院提供的孤儿资料，是被抛弃的小孩，所以通过展览，想让大家重新正视孩子，正视明星以外的普通人群。整面墙的风景，正是提供给孩子们的美丽家园。
10 - Which different you perceive between foreign and Chinese audience? How do you think Chinese art lovers face your work?
Compared to local audience, westeners tend to like my works more. I think, this is becuase it takes time for Chinese people to accept/understand my art. No “MADE IN CHINA” mark existed in my works. On the other hand, it also takes time for Chinese people to develop the habit of visiting art galleries and museums, appreciating art. The art community is growing here. Take the audience I talked to this time, they got the feelings I tried to say and were moved.
严：是有一些不同，相对而言，好像西方人更能接受并喜爱我的作品。我想，可能对于大部分中国人而言，接受我的作品还需要时间。这种不同的本质原因在于我的作品没有任何“MADE IN CHINA”的印记。当然，中国人正在慢慢养成去美术馆、博物馆的习惯，接近艺术的人群正在逐渐增加。就我这次回来接触到的观众来看，他们还是感到很震撼的，他们感受到了我想要传达的力度和主题。
11 - Tell me a little about the present relationship between Yan Pei-Ming and China.
China is my home country. I’m an artist. Art has no national boundaries
严： 中国是我的故乡 ，我是一个艺术家，艺术是没有国界的 。
点击-ArtBaba 展览现场!
