The exhibition “Faith in Vision: Dual Exhibition of Fan Zhen and Xie Shan” will be held at the International Art Center of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in September 2024. The exhibition aims to showcase the purely sensory visual creations of these two artists in recent years. Fan Zhen and Xie Shan’s works lie between abstraction and expressionism, illustrating a trend in the development of contemporary Chinese art.
Fan Zhen’s visual expression stems from a refinement of her own senses. Viewers can feel a gentle yet continuous energy flow from her colour fields. Despite the seemingly calm surface of Fan Zhen’s paintings, they create a subtle interaction and resonance with the viewer’s body and mind. This interaction, akin to emotional therapy, allows one to experience peace and tranquillity on both a visual and spiritual level. The seemingly simple surfaces are imbued with meticulous artistic care, nurturing a profound energy. Fan Zhen pours her Zen understanding into her paintings, with colours continuously layered and exposed to sunlight as part of her daily practice. The sun endows her works with light and energy, and over time, a sense of emptiness pervades the environment of the works, creating an aura of Zen, transforming the “form of action” into “formless action.” Thus, Fan Zhen’s paintings form a transformative spectrum, allowing viewers to regain their belief in visual experience.
Similarly, Xie Shan’s paintings begin with direct visual observation, depicting a world that evokes deep emotions. The vibrant colours and dynamic images bring life to otherwise static scenes. His unique arrangement of specific elements—circles, arcs, and stripes- sets Xie Shan’s work apart. These images, which exist between abstraction and representation, are transformed by Xie Shan’s personalised arrangement into profound symbols of significance. The open-ended interpretation of these images is not confined to a simple ‘image-to-narrative’ correspondence but rather diversely engages the senses through a unique artistic method. This visual intuition precedes conceptualisation, and the painting language is shaped by the artist’s cultivated qualities, which is where the true charm of Xie Shan’s art lies.
Traditional Chinese ideas of the unity of Dao (the way) and Qi (the substance) fundamentally differ from Western metaphysics, thereby avoiding the pitfalls of purely abstract concepts. The belief in the visual aims to inspire and demonstrate that the abstract cannot be separated from the concrete and that pure sensory and expressive forms possess an indescribable power. The resonance between object and mind generates a subtle energy that unites the senses and the spirit, forming a transformative hope through visual belief.
《視覺的信仰——范禎與謝山雙個展》於2024年9月在中央美術學院國際學院藝術中心舉辦。該展覽旨在展示兩位藝術家近年來純粹感官的視覺創作。范禎與謝山的作品介於抽象與表現之間，體現了中國當代藝術發展的一個趨向。
范禎的視覺表現源於對自身感官的提煉，觀眾能夠從她的色彩場域中感受到平緩而持續的能量輸出。在范禎看似波瀾不驚的繪畫面前，卻能讓人的身心與之產生一種微妙的互動和調頻。這種互動性，猶如一種情緒療法，能夠讓人從視覺到精神層面感受到平和舒緩。看似樸素的平面，有著細緻入微的藝術關照，孕育著深沈的能量。范禎把自身的禪悟傾注於畫面中，通過日常的功課，色彩不斷疊加和暴曬。太陽賦予了范禎作品光芒與能量，經過時間的沈澱，空寂得以彌散於作品所處的環境中，形成禪境的光暈，化「有為法」為「無為法」。由是，范禎的繪畫形成了渡化的光譜，讓人重拾對視覺的信仰。
同樣的，謝山的畫作也從眼目的直接觀察出發，描繪著讓人感動的世界。鮮明的色彩和躍動的圖像，使得靜態的畫面顯得充滿生氣。謝山畫面中的具體元素，圓圈、弧形、條形，本是介於抽象與具象之間的圖像，而通過謝山個人化的安排，讓本來無意義的圖像變得意味深長起來。而這些開放式的意義解讀，並非僅僅是單一的「圖像——敘事」一一對應模式，而是互相作用，讓靜止的畫面用一種特殊的藝術方法，讓感知變得多元。這種視覺直覺先於觀念，繪畫語言成於修養的藝術家素養，是謝山藝術真正的魅力所在。
中國傳統思想的道器不割，與西方的形而上學有著根本上的不同，由此避免了純粹抽象的觀念陷阱。視覺的信仰旨在說明抽象的器不可與實在的道相割裂，純粹的感官與表現形式有著不可名狀的力量。物像與心像相契合併產生微妙的能量共振，讓感官與心靈和合於一，由是視覺的信仰形成了希望。
視覺的信仰⸺范禎與謝⼭雙個展
中央美術學院國際學院藝術中心
2024年9月07日—9月27日
