今天的艺术家已无意于以过分的热情投入对社会现实的直接评判，他们更多以旁观审视的姿态面对眼前的发生，外在巨变和内心激荡的冲撞，其结果不再是某种难解的情结，而是退隐为一种淡然悠远的记忆。于是，现实被转变为感性化和意念化的幻象，在不同的艺术家那里又与各自的经历和体验、个人的生存境遇和心理状态密切联系。内省的自我普遍存在于艺术家的作品之中；即使在不以人物为主要对象的作品中，个我的意识依然隐藏于其中。就使这一时期的艺术获得了一种冷静和智慧的品格，透露出十分个人化的倾向。另一方面，艺术观念和风格的纷争杂陈和渗透兼容，使艺术家淡化了在艺术选择上的刻意用心和创新标榜，而是更加注重潜入一种与个体生存状态和心理体验相契合的平静而踏实的探索。

　　在艾安的绘画作品中，所能体会到的就是一种虽不虚幻却十分遥远的现实的影子，他对个人生存境遇和心理状态的暗示即出没于若虚若实的画面情境之中。寡言的艾安，总是以一个离群索居者的眼光审视和想象有限的四周，同时又以一中压抑甚至惶恐愤懑的心情面对沉默的自我。飘移不定的身心处境，加强了他对所谓现实的虚幻意识和局外旁观的态度。你几乎体验不到诸如“时代”“现实”“社会”、“潮流”等概念在艾安作品中的存在。这是一个没有“时态”的世界，是一个身处现世而心在缘外的无言者的自我空间。它没有呻吟出来的痛苦，或者扭曲出来的悲愤，静静的悲凉和淡淡的忧郁贯穿于作品的整体。象征的手法使一切变得更加不可捉摸，正如艾安自己所追求的：“作为绘者，我喜欢它们在我头脑中的无数的幻象以及梦中纷飞的种种意境；作为观者，我却愿意走进这个重新构筑的世界，体验另一个生命的完整过程。”体验过喧嚣或者正在经历着浮躁的人们，在艾安的作品面前未必能够感受到无言的凝重和沉默的份量。

　　无言是艾安作品的性格，是他对周遭一切实在或潜在压抑的默认和承受，是一种无可奈何的安然和消沉。尤其是1993年前后的作品，暗灰色或偶为赭色的基调使画面陷入了低沉的忧郁。他的作品中大多数是阴沉的天空，对他而言，那是一段没有睛天的日子，即使有阳光，他所看到的也是阳光投射下的阴影。环境对他来说构成一种潜在的威胁，而人似乎只有躲避或承受才有可能获得基本的生存。《正午》、《冬天的童话》、《雨后》等作品中经常出现的向日葵不再是普通的植物，而是被放大了的凌驾于人的存在之上的力量；人几乎成为它的陪衬和点缀，在它的覆盖下显得无足轻重。在《影子》、《睛朗的天》等暗示阳光的作品中，藏头盖脸的雨衣人带着他的影子始在躲避。除了近乎僵直的姿势多少提示了他的生命外，他几乎就是一灵魂走失的空壳，但是雨衣的庇护又无法掩饰他的惶恐和不安。围墙的阻隔在悲凉中又加入了绝望的成份，铁路的延伸不过是梦幻中的回忆，而围墙与铁路之间的矛盾在《废弃的墙》中最终使人无法作出判断或选择。特定时段的苦闷和郁悒遣泄于幽闭而沉闷的空间里，萦绕于孤独而抑郁的象征物中。

　　艾安1995年以后的作品似乎转向了以人为中心，并且偶尔开始注意窗外的风景。雨衣人彻底剥离了庇护的外套，从原来的重压下挣扎地走到了前面，但是依然得赢弱无力而郁郁寡欢，并且无法摆脱自己过去的影子。多为侧身或背影的体态仍然掩不住他在极力地回避。窗外的风景在阴沉的天空下不会令人心悦目，而在振臂蹲下的男人体的面前尤其显得萧瑟、冷漠和残酷。不过在艾安最近的作品中，以往的情形似乎始转变。在一幅描绘街景的作品中，阴影正在消失，阳光正从夹缝中投射进来，围墙也不再成为障碍物，绵羊也似乎比去有了更多的自由。这是一个比以往美好的梦境，也许透露出艾安的心境始好转的信息。

　　艾安的作品是他个人心路历程的无言陈述，是对自己缠结、郁闷、无奈却又隐含着渴望的心境变迁的自我调整和不断排解。象征对他来说是一种无法做作的力量，是“向自我意识的报复”，一切的郁结就在这样的报复中获得释放。他利用不易控制的蛋彩和水彩画法作精细描绘的做法，或许也多少使他的心情得到了一些缓解。这似乎是一个十分个人化的陈述，然而艾安及其作品中的背景还是多少暗示了某种与90年代的社会和文化环境相关的联系。

　　在一个主流消隐而分流并进、强权失效而均势争呈的时代，英雄主义的理想和主宰潮流的愿望被一个比以往残酷得多的现实所破灭。回到自身虽说多少是一保守的姿态和策略，然而又是一个不容选择的必然。对艾安而言沉默是他的力量所在，是其内省的自觉和自我的表露。积极与消极之辩已无法用来讨论这样的问题，忠实和真诚也绝不是简单的表白。在一个充满呐喊、讥讽、笑骂、揶揄、宣泄的多声部世界里，无言也是一种声音，或许是另一种形式的呐喊和抗争。

一九九七年二月一日

　　Contemporary Chinese artist' s do not show any great enthusiasm for the direct criticism of social reality, preferring to act as observers of the events taking place around them. The conflict between external changes and internal reactions is no longer inextricably complex but has retreated into indifferent and distant memories. ln this way, visions of reality are converted into perceptual and conceptual illusions, and are closely related to the experiences, life style and psychological state of the individual. An in-trospective sense of self is found in the work of most artists and is implied even in their non figural works. Contemporary art is thus imbued with a sense of sobriety and intelligence and reveals a tendency towards individuallsation. on the other hand, the fusion of miscellaneous ideas and styles of art leads artists to play down meticulous application and extrava gant innovation in their work and to indulge in a more tranquil and practical exploration of their own life styles and psychology.

　　The shadow of reality, remote and yet not quite illusory, can be sensed in the paintings of Ai An where its indistinct expression suggests the artist' s own physical and mental existence, Ai An examines. and even imagines, his limited environment from the perspective of a soli tary onlooker, and at the same time confronts his own silent self in a state of depression, restlessness and resentment. The wanderings of his body and mind have instilled a sense of disillusionment and the feeling of being merely an observer of so- called reality. It is difficult to find concepts such as contemporaneity, reality, society or current trends in his works, which de pict a world without"tense", the individualised space of a silent man who exists in this life but whose mind wanders in another world. There is no sign of grief or misery, only a quiet desolation and melancholy that is diffused throughout his work. The use of symbolism makes Ai' s work a1l the more undredictabie, in the artist' s own words："As a painter I like the numerous illusions in my mind and the ideas that present themselves in my dreams;as an onlooker I prefer to enter this re- constructed world and experience the whole course of this other life. "When faced with Ai' s work. the strength of silence may not be felt by those caught up in this noisy world.

　　Silence is a prominent feature of Ai An' s work, representing both the artist' s endurance and accedtance of real and potential threats from his environment, and his superficial ease and sense of helplessness. In works produced around l993, dark grey or the occasional use of burnt ochre invoke a feeling of profound melancholy. The majority of Ai' s paintings depict a dark, cloudy sky are-ference to an inner perception of days without sunlight. Even when there is a hint of sunshine, it is merely a shadow cast by the sun. For the artist, the environment is po- tentially threatening and his figures can only survive through endurance or escape. The sunflowers frequently depicted in works such as Noon,A fairy tale of winter, and After the Rain no longer appear as ordinary plants, but as enlarged forces that daminate man' s existence;Ai' s figures are a mere foil, insignificant orna ments under their canopy. in paintings such as the shadow and a clear Day, in which there are sugges tions of sunlight, we also see a man in a rain coat ap parently escaping along with his shadow. Apart from his stiff gestures that are in some sense representative of his life, he appears soulless, his terror and agitation visible even within his protective raincoat. The division created by the wall adds a sense of despair to an atmosphere of sadness, while the extension of the railway line recalls the land of dreams. The contradiction between the wall and the rai1way line depicted in the Wasted Wall signifies the difficulty involved in making a judgement or choice. The artist' s misery and pain at a particular time, implied by the use of isolated and gloomy symbols, are released into this confined space.

　　In works executed since l995, Ai has used figures as the central theme of his paintings, with an occasional glimpse of the landscape through a window. The male figure has been completely stripped of the protection of the raincoat and appears to be struggling towards the foreground and away from the pressures he faces. Nevertheless, he still seems weak and sad and is incapable of escaping from his shadow. Whether we see a rear view or the man' s profile it remains obvious that he is attempting to escape. The landscape under a dark sky is unappealing, presenting a desolate, indifferent or even cruel face to the naked man about to jump from the window. In his most recent works, however, the situation appears to have changed;in one painting depicting a street, the shadows are vanishing a beam of sunlight enters through a crack. The wall ceases to be an obstacle, and Ai An's sheep seem to have more freedom than in previous works. This is a land of dreams more beautiful than those than preceded it- perhaps an indication of the spiritual growth of the artist.

　　Ai an's work is a testament to the workings of his mind, a form of self adiustment, a release for his feel- ings of de pression. helplessness and desire. His symbolism is not forced, but"a retaliation against the sense of self "by means of which the artist finds relief from compiexity. Ai's detailed depictions in tempera and water colour may have helped him to release his negative emotions, and thus appear to be very personalised statements, and yet his paintings also reveal their relationship to the social and cultural mliieu of the l990s.

　　In an era when the mainstream is disappearing and being beplaced with a variety of"streams", and when political authority has become ineffectual and is baloanced by an equilibrium of fobces, the ideal of heroism and the desire to dominate have been destroyed by a harsher reality than that of the past. A retreat into the self may appear conservative, but when no other alter native is available it becomes inevitabie. Ai An reveals his power by silence, which is both a conscious in trospection and an expression of the self. It is pointless to debate the pros and cons of this question-honesty is never a simpie matter of declamation. In a noisy world filled with shouts, irony, mockery, ridicule and self revelation, silence consti tutes another form of sound and perhaps another type of struggle.

Qian Zhijian

Beijing, February, l997