2013年3月2日空间站将为您带来刘可个展——“条控”，这也是空间站今年的首个项目，展览将持续到4月2日。

本次在空间站呈现的展览 “条控”是刘可的第四次个展，也是他首次在北京举办个人作品展。“条控”既可理解成对条状图形的控制，也可理解成动态意义上的 “调控”。展出的作品全部创作于2012年。刘可2003年开始对线条“叙事性”的研究，从弯曲变化的粗线条，到2005年一些细密化风格的线条，如今是层次分明的色块与错落有致的单向线组成的画面。这批作品的标题《凝视》来自一个相对静止的对话关系——这些场景的呈现，都借自单纯图形交织在一起而构成的相对复杂的空间关系。刘可交替使用了丙烯、油彩和综合材料，金色、银色、乳白、红与黑等近似于中国传统的颜色互相叠压与渗透，使得画面在层次与覆盖，破坏与平衡间，找寻一个精神状态平衡的临界点。色块和线条，浓重浅淡之间界限硬朗鲜明，具有工业时代的建筑外观的平滑的机械感，直线、垂直、纵横，成了城市的生存的视觉经验。颜料的质地作为物质的存在被凸现出来，颜料的厚度成为色相互相叠压的区分物，被覆盖的颜色依然通过自己的厚度来显示过程，这些过程的痕迹在画面的边缘处得以有意的保留，在平面的绘画中延伸出空间和时间的纬度。这些调控的图形同时被色彩和线条的节奏所控制，使得视觉在细节与整体印象间跳跃，此时的绘画也似音乐，伴随时间展开的是观众在细微观察中得到的整体旋律，色阶与线条交相辉映，使单纯的图形在整体的控制中显示出多样性的变奏，并赋予刘可所暗藏的来自于绘画元素组合关系中的“叙事性”。他形容创作过程“画这些画如同在禅修”，“艺术的乐趣在于瓦解与重建游戏规则”，“在无拘无束的条件下，让自己的创作思想，随语言自身的向内和向外同时进行双向的舒展游戏”。伴随时间得到的对细微单纯之物的领悟几乎占据了画面的全部，并且开始自我表意。

在过去10年间，刘可的作品一直在“叙事“的轨道上发生着变化，无论从画面或主题上。从早期“听狼”系列可以看出，艺术家对自身视觉记忆的储备调动是丰富而自由的：马王堆壁画，民俗图腾文化，与学院派经典视觉元素，从中西对望在潜意识里产生的组合，到对最单纯的点线面控制的研究。其后，随着刘可教学生活中的一些文本涉猎，他的作品发生了变化，从“具象”走向如何理解“具象与抽象之间的关系”，如何理解“抽象”，刘可说“他现在基本不去考虑这是具象还是抽象画。”画面只是一种表达。他在画面上表现为大面积的色块和线条涌入其中，不再是低吟浅语，那些曾经出现过的如同壁画般铺陈叙事的具象细节不见了，细致窥视变成了更为确切的表现，所谓的细节也历经多个层次的覆盖，被粗细不同的线条更改。如今，刘可的关注点已从对图像记忆、文化源头，隐私、性以及繁复叙事，渐渐拓展至提炼视觉语言的共性，表达自身灵性状态的对话空间。

同时，刘可作为广州美术学院油画系第五工作室的教师，多年所从事当代艺术的探索，对广州本地的艺术生态起了相当重要的作用。他所参与的腾挪小组与腾挪空间，是广州近年来重要的实验艺术实践现象。这些都是刘可一直试图以艺术家个体的创作与实践建立起的一个个人同社会现实与历史语境之间的 “中间平台”。

STREAKS—— Liu Ke Solo Exhibition Press Release

Space Station will present you Liu Ke Solo Exhibition“Streaks“on March 2nd , 2013. This is also the first project of Space Station for Year 2013, and the exhibition will be on for one month till April 2nd.

This exhibition “Streaks” is the 4th solo exhibition of Liu Ke and the first time of his in Beijing. The title can be understood as the control on strip patterned graphics, or just the action of control and regulation. All the exhibited works were created in 2012. Liu Ke started his “narrative” study on strips and lines from 2003 with the curving thick lines, developed to some close and detailed lines with high density in 2005, and now stays at combination of clearly-layered color lumps and logically random single-direction lines. The title of these works “staring” comes from a comparatively Quiescent dialogue relationship. The presentation of these scenes all rely on a relatively complicated spacial relations formed by simple graphics put together.Liu Ke has utilized acrylic, oil and synthetical materials and colors similar to Chinese traditional colors like golden, silver, milk-white, red and black to have accomplished a critical point of spiritual balance between layers and overlays and between breaking and balancing. The Color lump and lines, with heavy and light approach, are clearly defined. It gives out a smooth sense of machine like the building surface of industrialized society: straight lines, vertical, horizontal, crossword have become the visual experience of urban life. The natures of color materials are distinguished as existing materials, and the thickness of which also become evidence of different layers. The covered colors can still show the process by its thickness, and signs of the process have been intendedly kept in the margin area, which makes the panting acquire its dimension of space and time.These controlled graphics are also agreed with the tempo of colors and lines to make visual experience jump between details and general impressions. Now that painting is like music: with time goes on, what the audience receive is the general melody from detailed observations, with color steps and lines coping with each other, simple images demonstrating series of variations and the “narrative” style hidden in relations of artistic components being embodied to Liu Ke. According to Liu Ke, “Creating these paintings are just like practicing Zen”, “The fun of art comes from disintegrating and rebuilding game rules”, “With no limitations, let the thoughts follow the direction of language inward or outward to extend themselves”. The enlightenment from trivial and simple objects have overwhelmingly occupied almost the whole painting and have begun to express itself.

In his latest 10 years, Liu Ke’s works have been changing in his “narrative” track, no matter on the painting or subject. We can tell from his early “Listen to Wolf” series, the artist had rich and free accumulation and manipulation on his own visual memories Mawangdui fresco, folk-art totem culture, and classical visual elements of academic field  from what the East-West comparative study subconsciously had produced to study on simplist point, line and plane control. Then, involved more and more in texts and archives in teaching experience, Liu Ke had turned from “representation” to how to understand “the relation between representation and abstract” and how to understand “abstract”. Liu Ke “never tends to think whether it is a representational painting or abstract painting now”, according to himself. Painting is just a kind of expression. His brave practice of big area color field and lines has replaced the low-key touches like the narrative representation similar to fresco. Close observation has become more precise demonstration and the so-called details have also been covered and shifted by different weight lines. For now, Liu Ke’s attention has extended gradually from image memory, origin of culture, privacy, sex, and monotonous stories to the generality of visual language and expressions of the dialogue space of one’s own spiritual status.

At the same time, Liu Ke’s artistic exploration as the teacher of the 5th studio of oil painting department in Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art has played an important role in local art ecology. Sabaki group and Sabaki Sapce he has been involved in are influential phenomenon of experimental art practice in Guangzhou in recent years. These are all “in-between platforms” that Liu Ke has been trying to set up between a individual and social reality and historical context based on artists’ independent creations and practices.

刘可作品 | Liu ke's artworks