C hapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China II

Written by Karen Smith, renowned art critic and curator of contemporary Chinese art

Although it did not appear so at the time, 1992 proved an important year for Zhang Xiaogang. Not least, for a pair of paintings, titled Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China I and II, produced at the end of what had been a long period of intense philosophising about the nature of contemporary art. A central concern was the artist's own place within the increasingly "pop" and "cynical realism"-styled schools that were appearing in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan at the hands of Fang Lijun, Yang Shaobin, LI Shan, Yu Youhan, and Wang Guangyi. Zhang Xiaogang saw himself as a "traditional" painter, with very "traditional" concerns, and had begun to feel out of step with the "modernism" that was unfolding around him. The state of modern art had been revealed in 1989 at the China/Avant Garde exhibition in Beijing. Zhang Xiaogang's work, some of the most beautiful examples of his early spiritual imagery on paper, seemed dwarfed by the scale of the other works, and by the presence of a number of large installation pieces. This, together with the powerful impact of events later that year in June in Beijing, forced the artist to believe a new direction was required. It took a couple of years, but in retrospect Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China I and II were exactly the result of that belief.

The first impression of Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China II is surely one of fragility. The placing of a baby, a vulnerable condition of life, on a hard wooden box, strikes a note of fear in the heart of every parent. Yet, this is art and, therefore, our fear is mitigated: this child is a metaphor, a symbol of human existence and to understand its predicament we must read the signs Zhang Xiaogang has provided for us. From a Christian perspective, that the baby lies on a cushion of cloth invokes the image of the Christ child. Indeed, his gaze is directed—by a familiar disembodied red-coloured hand—towards an open book which one might assume to be a Bible or book of faith. It could as easily contain a spiritual alchemy as history. How this is read depends upon the viewer's identity, experience and personality and, of course, the viewer's ability to read Chinese characters, for here, similar to those later photographic works, is an early example of the artist writing directly on one of his compositions, and to the viewer, in the form of a personal diary. Although, in its entirety, not all of the text is made explicit, neither here nor on the open pages of a second book that is "hung" on the wall amidst the collage of photos, and which surely quotes one of Zhang Xiaogang's favourite philosophers, or lyricists, or which there are many.

To assist further with a reading of Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China II, Zhang Xiaogang incorporated an array of additional clues into the composition, found nominally in the black and white representations of the distinctive social portrait photography of the early decades of the People's Republic. These take the form of monochrome photocopies of the original photographs, which have been glued to the canvas and, thereby, to the "wall" directly behind the baby. The use of photographic images as remarked in Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China II marks the first systemic exploration of Chinese-styled portrait photography in Zhang Xiaogang's painting which, by 1994, had established its significance for his next period of development within the Bloodlines / Big Family series.

From the first Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China I to the second Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China II, a move towards a more distinctive personal language is in evidence. On the one hand, Zhang Xiaogang brings a heightened and distinctly classic realism to his depiction of the first red baby in Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China I, employing a degree of chiaroscuro to give life to the physical presence of the child. Yet, the red baby is simpler, younger, and by comparison more innocent than the yellow baby. In the second composition, Zhang Xiaogang has altered the formal qualities to place greater emphasis upon the aura of the child. The physical body of the yellow baby is still highlighted by a pool of light that is draped across its torso, but something has changed in the attitude and physicality of this yellow baby. This is the subtlety that was mastered here in an almost invisible stroke of the brush from one painting to the next. Imperceptibly almost, we sense that this baby is stirring, its mind is opening, and as we come to this awareness, we understand how Zhang Xiaogang hints at the instant in each of us when a process of mental absorption begins: whether this leads to true knowledge, to enlightenment or to indoctrination, only the future can determine. But through this small transition, and in light of the works that would follow, in 1993, as Zhang Xiaogang moved towards the creation of the Bloodlines / Big Family series, here in 1992, he was becoming confident of the vision emerging in this work. Here, the carefully constructed symbolism of the setting and of the surrounding objects resonates against the emotion that emanates from the solitary, lone but not alone, vulnerable yet calm, aura of the baby itself. One might presume that the choice of yellow to highlight the baby marks a shift away from what can be read as Zhang Xiaogang's rumination on the recent political ideology circa 1989—Zhang Xiaogang's generation had been constantly described as the red generation, as the children of Mao Zedong's New China, which left many to struggle which a complex and debilitating range of emotions, especially post-1989—towards possibly reflection upon the plight of modern Chinese society in general.

We find this, too, in the background of the painting, in the use of photographic images, taken directly from Zhang Xiaogang's reality. A closer examination of the figures in the photocopy portraits on the wall behind each of the red and yellow babies reveals a shift of focus from political or historic figures, towards the masses of ordinary people. In Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China I we see images of political leaders, such as Chen DuXiu who participated in the formation of the Chinese Communist Party, right through to the founding of the People's Republic and its early years. Through these images, Zhang Xiaogang also plots the unfolding of history from the 1920s to 1949, the battles fought by the Communists, as well as strife from foreign invaders. In Chapter of a New Century – Birth of the People's Republic of China II the focus of these images turns to the Cultural Revolution period from 1966 to 1976, which is also the year in which Mao Zedong died. Through this examination of the recent history that led to the birth of the People's Republic, Zhang Xiaogang still manages to consider the events in terms of the personal experience of a single individual: that is the genius of the use of a baby as the central focus of the painting. It is in the juxtaposition of a baby, the ultimate age of innocence, and the social manifestations of life in the People's Republic as depicted in the black and white photographic imagery collaged on the wall of the space in which the baby is lain on the box, that we find such a poignant sense of despair as well as tenderness towards the innocence of youth that is, fleetingly, still beyond corruption. Borrowing the child's innocent gaze, the artist asks: As the latest in a long, long line of descendents of the Middle Kingdom, to what could the present generation trace its genesis? To what faith did it owe allegiance? For what purpose should it strive, and to what values should it adhere?

創 世篇: 一個共和國的誕生二號
撰文 / 凱倫·史密斯，著名藝術評論家及當代中國藝術策展人

1992年對張曉剛來說是重要的一年，儘管當時並不如此見得。其時，他的畫作《《創世篇: 一個共和國的誕生一號》和《創世篇: 一個共和國的誕生二號》問世，這是在對當代藝術的本質進行了長足而深刻的思辨之後創作的。在方力鈞、楊少斌、李山、余友涵以及王廣義推動下，在北京、上海、武漢湧現「波普」和「玩世現實主義」藝術流派。張曉剛要面對的一個核心問題是如何在這潮流中擺正自己的位置。他自認是有「傳統」關懷的「傳統」畫家，漸漸感覺到和周遭興起的「現代主義」格格不入。1989年在北京舉辦的中國現代藝術大展揭露出現代藝術的發展狀況。張曉剛的參展作品屬於描繪精神意象的早期紙本佳作，相比起其他大尺幅參展作品及一些大型裝置藝術卻相形見絀。此外，同年六月北京發生的事件帶來劇變，迫使藝術家堅信新方向的必要性。回顧其創作歷程，《創世篇: 一個共和國的誕生一號》和《創世篇: 一個共和國的誕生二號》，正是這種信念經過數年探索後的成果。

《創世篇：一個共和國的誕生二號》給人的第一印象無疑是脆弱感。一個嬰兒、一條脆弱的生命，被置放在堅硬的木箱上，如此景象總會讓為人父母者深感憂慮。可幸這是藝術創作，嬰孩是隱喻，是人類生存的一種象徵；我們藉著解讀張曉剛筆下的標記，理解到生命的困頓。從基督教的角度來看，嬰兒躺在布料墊子上讓人想起聖子的形象。他的視線被一隻熟悉的紅色的手所牽引，望向一本翻開的書，我們可以想像它是聖經或其他信仰的書，潛藏著對精神的救贖，尤如歷史於人一樣。如何理解這幅畫，完全取決於觀者的身份、經歷和性格，當然還有閱讀漢字的水平。這幅畫近似於後來的、取材自攝影作品的畫作，是張曉剛直接在畫作上書寫的早期例子，觀者還可以將其當作個人日記來解讀。不管是這本攤開的書，還是那本被「掛」在照片牆中間的書，上面的文字雖然都未必清晰可辨，然而這些文字想必引自張曉剛喜愛的許多哲學家或詩人。

為了更有助於理解《創世篇：一個共和國的誕生二號》，張曉剛在構思中加入了大量額外的線索，空洞地呈現於新中國早期獨特的社會肖像黑白攝影畫面之中。這些線索以照片原件黑白色影印本的形式被貼在畫布、也就是嬰兒後方的「牆」上。《創世篇：一個共和國的誕生二號》的照片意象，標誌著張曉剛第一次系統地探索中國式肖像照元素，對1994年〈血緣：大家庭〉系列的下一階段發展有深遠的意義。

從「創世篇」的第一章《創世篇: 一個共和國的誕生一號》到第二章《創世篇: 一個共和國的誕生二號》，可以明顯看到藝術家走向更獨特的個人語言。一方面，在一號作品中，張曉剛描繪的紅色嬰兒著重表現典型的古典寫實主義手法，采用一定的明暗對比法使嬰兒更有栩栩如生的實體感。然而，比起二號作品中的黃色嬰兒，紅色嬰兒顯得更簡單、年幼和純真。在二號作品的構圖中，張曉剛在造型上加強了嬰兒的光暈。投射在身軀上的光圈突出了黃色嬰兒的形體感，但黃色嬰兒的神情及肉身卻跟紅色嬰兒比起來卻有所改變。此中的微妙之處正是藝術家為二號作品帶來近乎遁形的一抹神來之筆。循著細微的蹤跡，我們能察覺到這個嬰兒正在腦念萌動、心懷漸開。當我們意識到這一點，就會明白到張曉剛巧藏綫索，每個人在瞬間中墜入一池精神上的深潭：無論嬰兒的求索指向的是真理知識、啟蒙，抑或教化，只有未來才能決定。通過這個小轉折以及其後的創作可以發現，張曉剛到1993年開始創作〈血緣：大家庭〉系列，而卻早在1992年的此作中已經建立起表達該系列視野的信心。此作中，佈景與環境物件的象徵經過審慎經營，與嬰兒自身的光暈形成反襯，後者單獨卻不孤獨，脆弱但又冷靜。我們可以假設，藝術家選擇用黃色來描繪嬰兒，代表了張曉剛從1989年間對政治意識形態的反思中逐漸抽離，轉向了對現代中國社會普遍性困惑的反思。張曉剛那一代人是毛澤東新中國的新生兒，一直被稱為紅色一代，大多數人難免掙扎在複雜又衰弱的情緒中，特別在1989年之後。

從作品的背景當中也可以看到張曉剛使用來自於現實生活中的真實照片。仔細觀察紅色嬰兒和黃色嬰兒背後牆上的肖像照片，可以發現一號作品到二號作品中關注對象的轉變——從政治與歷史人物轉向普羅大眾。在一號作品中，我們看到參與創辦中國共產黨的政治領袖陳獨秀，還有之後到中華人民共和國的成立和建國初年的歷史照片。通過這些圖像，張曉剛點撥出1920年代到1949年的歷史演變，包括國内共產黨參與的戰役，以及對外國侵略的抗擊。在《創世篇: 一個共和國的誕生二號》中，這些圖像的焦點轉向1966年到1976年文革時期，毛澤在同年末逝世。通過檢視銜接中國人民共和國誕生前期的歷史，張曉剛成功通過個體親身經歷出發去考量這些歷史事件，並演繹作品中心焦點的嬰兒。一個嬰兒，一個終極的純真時代——共和國的社會生活，展現在墻上的一張張黑白照片中，而嬰兒則躺臥在箱子之上——以上種種并置於畫面中，我們感受到一種淒楚的絕望感以及對純潔青春的柔情，一閃而過而又尚未消失殆盡。借用幼嬰的純真視角，藝術家叩問：我們身處中原國子孫千秋萬代之前哨，當今的時代能從源頭中追溯到甚麼？我們對當初何種信念失去信心？我們應該為甚麼目標而努力，而又抱著怎樣的價值觀？