龍曉
松山智一 1976年出生于日本東京,現(xiàn)居紐約。多元文化的經(jīng)歷是松山智一藝術(shù)不可或缺的一部分,其作品同時具有古典與現(xiàn)代氣息,兼具裝飾性與概念性。他在東京、洛杉磯、紐約、邁阿密、中國香港等地創(chuàng)作過大型公共裝置雕塑和壁畫。其作品被舊金山亞洲藝術(shù)博物館、洛杉磯郡立美術(shù)館、阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國王室等收藏。
真實與迷幻、冰冷與溫暖、抽象與具體、現(xiàn)代都市與自然氣息……很難想象這些矛盾的感受會來自同一個展覽。而無論是成年人還是兒童,專業(yè)人士還是普通觀眾,都能被其作品深深吸引。這就是日本藝術(shù)家松山智一(Tomokazu Matsuyama)個展“自然可解”。3月初,該展覽在龍美術(shù)館(重慶館)展出以來,吸引各界人士慕名前去欣賞。日本駐重慶總領(lǐng)事渡邊信之應(yīng)邀參觀后,也被這位長期活躍在紐約的新晉日本藝術(shù)家的作品感動。
4月24日,日本駐重慶總領(lǐng)事館舉辦了一場“松山智一·自然可解”觀展會。渡邊信之總領(lǐng)事在現(xiàn)場介紹,通過作品能體會到作者在國際最前沿藝術(shù)圣地紐約的感知中,混合了日本元素后創(chuàng)造出的另一種新鮮感。
“自然可解”展覽于2020年11月在上海首次呈現(xiàn),此次在重慶展出,增加了數(shù)件新作,更加豐富了展覽內(nèi)容。展覽展示了松山智一極具獨特性的異形油畫和雕塑等作品,反映出藝術(shù)家廣泛多樣的審美語言。他以自己獨特的方式捕捉當下社會生活與文化的現(xiàn)狀,其創(chuàng)作理念與重慶這座魔幻之都能碰撞出與眾不同的火花。
“自然可解”主題源自于法律術(shù)語中的“不可抗力”一詞,指的是自然災(zāi)害或有礙社會、經(jīng)濟運行的突發(fā)事件。而松山智一發(fā)現(xiàn),即便身處于不穩(wěn)定時期,人們?nèi)耘f擁有繼續(xù)生活的力量,對未來充滿期許,且努力地重建他們的生活。
展廳入口一組名為《命運之輪》與《雙重危機》的作品,是松山智一嘗試通過通體拋光成鏡面的不銹鋼雕塑,以及“鹿角”和美國矮騎手文化的“車輪”元素,形象化地呈現(xiàn)“救贖實際上意味著什么?”這一主題。日本古代,鹿是圣物的象征,鏡子被認為是神靈居住的地方。而車輪代表了現(xiàn)代社會的工業(yè)消耗品,兩者的組合體現(xiàn)了藝術(shù)家對于人們一邊尋求心靈凈化,一邊過著物質(zhì)的生活的思考,還表達出他對人類實為矛盾體的認同,“鹿角”和“車輪”又代表“成為自己”的概念。
多年來,“騎手”一直是松山智一作品中的一個重要主題。在許多歷史畫中,騎手通常為文化或政治象征。松山智一通過當代藝術(shù)的形式將其重新定義為一種全球語言,試圖把這些騎手從歷史的宣傳背景中解放出來。從而也使觀者感受到典型的歷史主題與現(xiàn)在這個難以捉摸的時代之間的聯(lián)系。
松山智一堅定地認為,藝術(shù)家的關(guān)鍵職責就是捕捉和表達當下的生活。如今,人們通過電子設(shè)備去了解外界的現(xiàn)況,并在數(shù)據(jù)化的世界里尋找現(xiàn)實,讓本該存在的分界線逐漸變得模糊和不明確。他的繪畫反映了當今時代里這種不穩(wěn)定的分界線,如自然與數(shù)據(jù)、現(xiàn)實與虛擬。通過獨特的處理方法,他的作品呈現(xiàn)出田園牧歌和烏托邦式的畫面。
理解松山智一的畫類似一個編輯過程,相似元素的視覺線索會吸引觀者去尋找他們的軼事趣聞,從而產(chǎn)生新的想法和敘述。他將跨越時空的大量信息分解和精心重建,使原本不可能共存的事物共存。同時畫面既不缺少也不包含多余元素,保持著精美的平衡。
看完松山智一的作品,腦海中不覺會浮現(xiàn)一個問題:人們身處的“現(xiàn)實”是否真實,何為“現(xiàn)實”?這也許就是藝術(shù)家想要通過作品所傳遞的。我們不妨在色彩繽紛的畫展,在點點滴滴的生活中慢慢找尋答案。
Reality and illusion, apathy and warmth, abstraction and concreteness, modern metropolis and breath of nature... It is hard to imagine that these contradictory feelings come from the same exhibition. Adults or children, professionals or ordinary visitors, visitors are invariably deeply drawn to these works. This is the individual exhibition "Accountable Nature" by Japanese artist Tomokazu Matsuyama. Since the exhibition was exhibited at the Long Museum (Chongqing Pavilion) in early March, it has attracted people from all walks of life to visit. After Consul-General Nobuyuki Watanabe of Japan in Chongqing was invited to visit, he was also moved by the works of this rising Japanese artist who has been long active in New York.
On April 24, the Consulate General of Japan in Chongqing held a "Tomokazu Matsuyamai: Accountable Nature" viewing session. Consul-General Nobuyuki Watanabe introduced during the session that through the works of Matsuyamai, he can experience another sense of freshness created by the author's perception of New York, the world's most cutting-edge art mecca with a blend of Japanese elements.
The exhibition "Tomokazu Matsuyama-- Accountable Nature" was first presented in Shanghai in November 2020. This time, its debut in Chongqing has added several new works with enriched contents. The exhibition showcases Matsuyama's unique irregular oil paintings and sculptures, reflecting the artist's broad and diverse aesthetic language. He captures the current social life and culture in his own unique way, and his creative ideas burst into different sparks in the magical city of Chongqing.
The theme of "Accountable Nature" is derived from the legal term "force majeure", which refers to natural disasters or emergencies that hinder social and economic operations. Tomokazu Matsuyama found that, nevertheless, even in times of turbulence, people still possess the strength to continue living with expectations for the future, and work hard to rebuild their lives.
At the entrance of the exhibition hall, a group of works named Wheels of Fortune and Double Crisis are stainless steel sculptures that Matsuyama tries to polish into a mirror surface in an overall manner, plus the "antlers" and "wheels" elements of the American low rider culture, the theme of "What does salvation actually mean?"has been intuitively presented. In ancient Japan, deer was a symbol of sacred objects, and the mirror was considered to be the place where the deities abided. The wheel, on the other hand, represents the industrial consumables of modern society. The combination of the two reflects the artist's thinking about people seeking spiritual purification while living a material life. It also expresses his identification with "mankind as a paradox", while "antlers" and "wheels" convey the idea of "becoming oneself".
Riders have been a key theme in Tomokazu Matsuyama's works for many years. In many historical paintings, riders are more often than not a cultural or political symbol. Matsuyama redefines it as a global language through the form of contemporary art, attempting to free these riders from the historical rhetoric background. In this way, viewers could feel the connection between the typical historical theme and the elusive era.
Tomokazu Matsuyama firmly believes that the key responsibility of an artist is to capture and express the current life. Nowadays, people use electronic devices to understand the status of the outside world and search for reality in the digitalized world, blurring and equivocating the boundaries that should exist in the first place. His paintings reflect such elusive boundaries in the contemporary era, such as those between nature and data, reality and virtuality. Through a unique technique, his works take on pastoral and utopian scenarios.
Understanding Tomokazu Matsuyama's paintings is similar to an editing process, and visual clues of similar elements will lure viewers to seek their anecdotes and generate new ideas and narratives. He disintegrates and ingeniously reconstructs a large amount of information that spans over time and space, so that things that couldn't co-exist in the past can co-exist now. At the same time, the images neither lack nor contain redundant elements, maintaining a delicate balance.
After viewing Tomokazu Matsuyama's works, one can't help asking one question: is the "reality" people lives in real, and what is "reality" at all? This may be what the artist wants to convey through his works. Let's take our time to find out answers in the colorful painting exhibition and moreover, in the fragments of our day-to-day lives.