我只有两天我从没有把握

一天用来希望一天用来绝望

我只有两天我从没有把握

一天用来路过另一天还是路过

——许魏

兴涛大学毕业后做了教师，在家乡乐山呆了好多年了，那真是个土肥水美的地方，昔日君子的乐土、苏东坡的故乡。佛光普照，生活闲适日子过得安逸，但他似乎仍不满足于安居偶角。近几年，刘兴涛又在成都蓝项艺术区租了个工作室，在那里聚集着许多活跃的中国西南的艺术家：何多苓、周春芽、郭伟、赵能智、扬冕、罗发辉以及他的同窗吴建军和更年轻的艺术家们。

从兴涛不时寄来的邮件中看到近作，他的创作资源仍与家乡的生活场景和感受有关。乐山这样的县级城市的变化，也许是今天中国城市化进程中那些吃力和费劲追赶现代化步伐的中小城市的一个缩影。现代化提升了经济，却在文化和日常生活中造就了焦虑和困惑。日渐繁荣发展的后面带来的是更为明显的差别和迷失感。刘兴涛以《溃夜》命名的这组作品，将我们的视界引向白天喧闹繁华尽落的暗夜，县城空旷的街头、无边的灰暗、模糊不明的灯光、失落孤寂的行人，只有商业厨窗和广告灯箱闪着覆盖一切的欲望之光……用四川艺术家熟谙的传统表现性的笔法涂抹的这些单色风景，表达出一种空虚焦燥的生存感受，真实裸露的感情和挥之不去的伤怀与乡愁。在上个世纪八十年代中期之后，批评家们爱用“乡土”、“温情”以及感伤主义来形容西南地区本土特色的艺术，尽管这里包含对这一地区艺术家创作的一种轻蔑。但今天，谁也不会否认西南艺术家们对中国当代艺术的重复贡献，以及地方文化和社会生活对当代艺术的影响。正是重新认同这种地方性是构成当代性不可分割的一部分，刘兴涛与其他西南的年轻艺术家，才有可能在全球化的艺术网络和文化冲击的压力下找到富于特殊性的接点。

生存在千篇一律追逐进步和时代美学的中国县城边缘的艺术家刘兴涛尖锐而忧伤地关注着故乡的生存日常的方面，描绘小城、变迁、风景、空间、时光如织物抽丝后留下缝隙，那些不象北京、上海、成都般饱和的城市，在那里远离的中心和权力就如苦涩走调的空洞，堆砌在一起的有喧哗、脏乱的环境、尘土飞扬的国度、暗夜轰鸣、机器永远在开膛破肚、录像厅、台球桌、麦当劳、武打片、卡拉OK和灯箱广告构成了这个嘈杂、破败，即受到新文化侵袭的小城的场景，透过《溃夜》一次一次地闯进我们的眼前：风景、传闻、人物、记忆、美丽与哀愁，永远晕头转向地游弋于个人与历史两个空间。物欲过剩而愿望失落，白天的狂热一到深夜就变成了酸涩的调子；粗糙、色彩晦暗、仿佛蒙着层层雾的灰色，欲望如火中烧，孤独坚如磐石、荒诞挥之不去，信仰细过游丝，这一切我们何尝陌生？

我一直以为，枯燥乏味的县城生活一定会使艺术家诞生出感人的作品，不管是小说、电影还是绘画。县城生活与中国新的文化之间的巨大 的反差所孕育的激情和欲求始终在时光里酝酿着。许多年前，我也曾在乐山清衣江边黄桷树下小坐，泡一壶花茶远眺乐山大佛的身影，体验余辉照耀下那份安详和温暖的意境。今天，这些记忆和风景已经嘠然而止，全然退色。如《溃夜》喻示的那样，过去时代的理想和场景的溃败是如此的彻底，现实的暗部象溃烂的伤口无法收拾。如歌手许魏歌唱的那样：“我只有两天，一天用来生活，一天用来死亡。”因此，刘兴涛对于刚刚过去的县城生活时光的记录和描绘，令人肃然起敬——如果我们老去，这些绘画作品不会使这些时光销声匿迹，它会将我们共同带回时光的河流之中，如同我们曾经孤独忧伤地站在三江交汇处，站到上世纪90年代和本世纪初中国县城的暗夜的街道上，那时我们痛苦、穷困、迷惘而幼稚，浪漫、单纯和可笑。

叶 永 青

2006年7月7日

于北京望京寓所

I have two more days, I am at lost

One day for hope, another for despair

I have more days, am at lost

After walking through the first day, so is the next.

XuWei

Upon graduation, Xintao stayed in Le Shan for several years working as a teacher. Le Shan is the birth place of famous scholar Su Dongpo, and is a heaven on earth for mankind. Life is beautiful and comfortable here; however, Liu Xintao simply could not stay put without challenge, few years ago Liu Xintao moved to Chen Du and rented a studio in Lan Ding Art District where many famous southwest artists like He Duoling, Zhou chunya, Quo Wei ,Zhao Nengzhi, Yang Mian ,Luo Fahui and even his schoolmate Wu jianjun do their creative artworks there.

From the mailed images, it′s obvious that Xintao′s painting is deeply related to his hometown′s living conditions.

Le Shan is a County like a miniature of many China ′s small and medium cities which are trying to catch up with modernization strenuously ,just to reach urbanization but with much sacrifice. The elevations in economics has created anxiety and despair in daily life and as cultural impacts .Behind this progression that brings prosperity is a wider social gap and lost feeling.

“Despondent Night”-the title for this exhibition chosen by Liu Xintao himself, leads us to the reality of a bustling city late at night –quiet streets ,endless gloominess ,blurred lights, lonely and despaired street walkers and left with commercial display windows and bill boards trying to maintain the glory of the city in the day time.

Using Szechuan traditional painting technique, Xintao paints monochromic scenery adeptly by expressing boring life, deserted love, unforgotten sorrow and home sickness. In the mid 80′s, many art critics loved to use “native ness”, “warmness”and “sentimental value”to representation is also a humiliation to them.

But today, no one can deny the important contributions and influences of the southwest artists to the local culture and social life that lead to Chinese contemporary art. This recognitions has made local culture ad social life as part and integral of contemporary element. Hence Liu Xintao ,together with other southwest young artists,can now find his own style and unique characteristic despite under the pressure of art globalization network and the invasion of western culture.

As a suburban artist living in a stereotyped environment and chasing after ever changing progressive society and modern art,Lin Xintao′s sharp sense but despair feeling have directed him to detail attention of daily living environment, county scenery ,

Changing city, landscape space and scars that left by time. Unlike big cities like Beijing ,shanghai and Chengdu where have reached saturation point, counties are far from central government control and influence, but yet lie a big boring hollow hole where behind it filled with a mixture of progressiveness, dirty and dusty environment, night howling, annoying machinery noise, video shops, snooker tables, McDonald, kung fu movies, karaoke and commercial neon boxes which create untidiness ang

destruction,resulting from the invasion of new culture to this small counties.Through this”Despondent Night”we are repeatedly presented with landscape scenery,scandals,human behavior,memory,beauty and sorrow,and lost souls tomed between human and history dimensions.Desire has become despair,day time buzzling city has rurned intodull musical notes.What is left for us to experience is roughness,fading comlor,moodiness,burning desire,loneliness,absolute absurdness,and loss of direction.

I always believe that boring counties usually produce many talented arists who can create astonishing paintings.This applies to novel,movie and to art.The big differences between county life and China’s new culture have nurtured impulsiveness and strong desires that await time to bring them out timely.

Many years age,I ever sat under a tree in Le Shan Qing Yi,having a pot of flavored tea and watching of a shadow of Le Shan Buddha statur from a distance while feeling warm and peaceful.Today,this memory and scenery have gone indefinitely.

Just like what is said in the”Despondent Nighe”,the idealism and scenery of the past have been destroyed perpetually,replaced by a reality that full of scars and destruction.Just like what is sung by a famous singer Xu Wei,”I have only two days left,one for living and one for dying”,Liu Xintao’s efforts to documentaties the recent past of county life in lasting memory has to be given a big credit.When we all get old,Xintao’s paintings will remain as memory that can bring all of us back to the old days,be it remembering when we stand together at the cross road feeling lonely and sad,or be it when we stand at a dark street in a county of 90’s or early millennium,feeling painful,inadequate,loss,childish,romantic,

Naïve or ridiculous.

Ye Yongqing

At Beijing Wang Jing Flat

07 July 2006