“石中剑”周杨个人群展

在古老的不列颠大陆流传着石中剑的传说。那块磐石似乎从天而降，也没有人知晓剑的由来，人们口耳相传：只有王者能够将剑从坚石中拔出。石中剑肃然地伫立在那里，穿越亘古，直到年轻的男孩无心之间将它轻巧地拔出，亚瑟王奇幻而绚烂的故事便从石缝中汹涌了出来。这场关于成长的故事里，充满着坚毅与勇敢，青春而生猛，自我觉醒的力量和对禁锢的冲破，壮阔与孤寂交相回响。回顾周杨十年以来的创作历程，像极了这则文学母题在个人生命中的投影。
 
展览《石中剑》收录了周杨十年间各个时期的作品。画面从量变到质变，观之如同“一个人的群展”。文人石是他最早反复出现的元素，早期作品中的石头往往平和而静谧，富有含蓄飘逸的中式审美情趣，传达出他在当代艺术创作中对于文人传统的向往，希望通过由表象形式的描白来追求淡泊飘逸的志趣。
 
而之后发生的事情则离奇了起来，文人石开始被不合时宜地安置于怪诞夸张的布景中，被扭曲、幻化、击碎，于是石头的牢固感开始被不安与流动所取代。孤独、疼痛、挣扎与撕喊，这些情绪的宣泄甚至是赤裸裸的。在童话般的斑驳色彩之下，流露出的是初心志趣与现实生活间的割裂。
 
在最近的系列中，周杨则通过对过去的颠覆实现了与现实的和解。他将视线从自身转移到了日常里，投入了波普艺术的怀抱，采用涂鸦的手法进行抽象表达。我们所处的当下，人多、车多、楼多，面对的事物总是熙熙攘攘，这种光怪陆离的都市感构成了周杨这些作品的主体。在霓虹灼灼背后，是周杨对于那些微妙而柔软瞬间的捕捉。镜头定格在烟火绽放时候蔓延的寂寞，夕阳与星光中落寞的身影，久违的恋人短暂拥抱的一刻，使得这些作品在时髦的外表之下，具有了一种东方式的黯然禅寂（Wabi-sabi）之美。
 
以石为源，执笔作剑，周杨勇敢而自知地在艺术与成长交织的世界里进行着自我的觉悟与救赎。画布后那颗躲藏和闪烁的心，东西方绘画本源性的冲突与交融，物象与心像的找寻与再现，将在他的绘画世界里永远地翻滚着。

In ancient Britain there was a legend of the sword in stone. The stone seemed to fall from the sky, and no one knew where the sword came from. It was said that only the king could take the sword from the stone. The sword in the stone stood there in awe, passing through ancient times, until a young boy inadvertently pulled it out lightly, king Arthur’s fantastic story flowed out from the stone crevice. This story is about growth, full of perseverance and courage, the power of self-awakening and to break through the imprisonment, magnificence and loneliness echo alternately. Reviewing Zhou Yang's process in the past decade, it is like a projection of this literary motif in someone’s personal life.

The exhibition Sword from the Stone includes Zhou Yang's works in various periods over the ten years. Images change drastically, just as a group exhibition of his own. The Chinese literati stone is one of his earliest and recurring elements. Stones in his early works are always peaceful and quiet, full of implicit and elegant Chinese aesthetic preference, which conveys his yearning for the tradition of ancient literati culture.

What happened afterwards becomes bizarre. The literati stones begin to be inappropriately placed in the grotesque and exaggerated sceneries, distorted, metamorphosed and broken. The firmness of stones is therefore to be replaced by restlessness. Loneliness, pain and struggle, these emotions are even vented nakedly. Under the mottled colors of childlike innocence, what is revealed is the separation between the original aspiration and real life.

In his latest series, Zhou Yang reconciles with reality by subverting the past. He shifts his eyes from himself to the secular world, embraces Pop Art by using graffiti for abstract expression. We live in a time when there are massive people, cars and buildings, and the things we face are always bustling. This strange metropolis feeling constitutes the backbone of Zhou Yang's latest work. Behind the neon lights is Zhou Yang's capture of those subtle and soft moments. It can be the loneliness spread when fireworks blooming, a desolate figure in the sunset and starlight, or the moment when long-lost lovers embrace, which makes these works under fashionable appearance, with an Oriental Wabisabi beauty.

With a stone as his origin and a pen as his sword, Zhou Yang bravely and self-consciously carries out his own realization and redemption in the world of art and growth. The hidden and flickering heart behind the canvas, the original conflict and blend of eastern and western aesthetics, and the search and reproduction of objects and minds will always be rolling in his painting world.