有人说艺术的功能之一就是为时代建立图像的档案和记忆，当代的技术手段虽然已经可以制造和拷贝出逼真与超清晰的图像，但架上绘画作为一种记录世俗生活与精神世界情感和记忆的媒介仍然有其独特的价值。手工制作的东西仍旧是一个理想的情感和记忆的载体或是编码器，因为手和心是相联的，通过手在画面上的运动，心理和思想的反应和结构就会显示出来。绘画的画面就是一个复杂的密码系统，它并非是数字的排列和组合，而是我们视觉经验和记忆以及想象力与情感的编织组合，这与别的视觉艺术表现形式不太相同，因为绘画毕竟是来自艺术家最直接的心与手同步运动的结果，因此在当代艺术中绘画仍然有着不可替代的地位。

　　好的绘画来自风格与观念的养成，以及技法的实现。马修巴尼说过，你的想象力和观念能够走多远，你的作品就能够超越目前的边界多远，只要你拥有足够的手段和技术。

　　风格和语言的形成对于一个艺术家来说是至关重要的，形式的延续性并不能保证一个艺术家作品的艺术质量，但它会形成艺术家自己的个人语言和符号系统，从而逐渐演化成一种新的绘画形式与风格，这种语言和符号系统必然是独特的和得到承认的，它形成了艺术家个人的艺术标识。绘画在经历了长期的演化发展之后，各种风格都似乎被尝试过，但绘画仍然富有活力和生命力，它仍然可以为视觉艺术提供新的视角和图像，使得人们从另一种角度来看待现实的和精神的世界。即将在曼谷当代唐人艺术中心举办的当代中国绘画五人展，就是关于探讨在当下的社会和艺术情境中绘画到底能为我们带来什么样的一种视觉经验的问题，五位参展艺术家都已经或正在形成自己独特的视觉语汇。

　　陈文波、俸正杰、罗发辉、杨千和张小涛都来自中国四川，毕业于四川美术学院。现在中国的艺术界有所谓的四川画派或曰西南群体，这个群体产生过当代一些最著名的画家，如罗中立，张晓刚，周春芽，同时也拥有一些正在迅速上升的艺术新星们。其中的艺术家们彼此之间其实并没有统一的风格和观念或者说拥有着某种共同的艺术宣言，他们只是因为来自同一个地域，或多或少地分享着同一种地域文化和生活传统，于是也就自然地在气质和思想上有着相近的因素。这就和法国19世纪的巴比松画派一样，虽然米勒与杜米埃，柯罗与卢梭的画在形式感、题材和审美上都有着很大的差异，但他们都有着浪漫现实主义的关怀。巴比松画派是注重在户外写生的，直接的表现自然的景物和周围人的普通生活，而当今的画家们大多是在自己的工作室里进行创作的，他们的作品更多的来自他们对这个快速变化的社会的反应与思考，而创作素材和手法则来自各种媒体和材料，反映了艺术创作手段的多样化与现代的技术特征。 这五个艺术家们彼此的气质与艺术风格相差甚远，但他们都很沉静地作画，在一个浮躁的时代里坚持自己的艺术语言和方法的探索，与热闹的时髦运动保持一定的距离，但同时又有着开放的心态和积极的探索精神。

　　四川在历史上是一个自给自足的富裕省份，文化上也是偏居一隅，与中原和江南等文化中心有着地理空间上的距离，这使得四川的文化人或者知识分子都有着一种较为洒脱随性的特质。这些从西南走出来的艺术家们，他们中有人经历过85美术运动，有的人成长于经济开放的80、90年代。他们的文化基因中固然有中国传统文化的背景，但另一方面也较少沉重的历史感和意识形态的束缚，因此，受着天府之国的水土滋润的画家们更多的把他们的视角聚焦在世俗生活，尤其是都市生活的片断，就像陈文波画中的手术刀一样，它的冰冷的刀锋切入了当代生活的表皮，在一个微观的场域中试图揭示当代生活的一种坚硬、脆弱和冷漠的特质。他们的作品并不追求永恒的形式感，以及宏大叙事的结构，相反他们是以表现俗世的人物与日常的景象而见长的，只是这种日常的景象和人物在他们的画面上是以一种新鲜的角度去呈现与表达的，是经过了艺术家的想象而重新组合与构建的。针对当下的社会现实，他们的作品也具有尖锐的批判性，但这种批判性又是含蓄的，包裹在柔软的画面里，具有温情的特质，就像张小涛的绘画，画面被绚丽的植物花草、奇异的动物和荒凉的人工建筑的一角所占据，它们在画面中往往散发出腐败的和绝望的气息，具有一种邪恶的气质。在这里自然的生物与现代文明的人工环境产生了一种近乎恶毒的互相关系，他们彼此看上去是如此的不可调和，以至于产生了强烈的荒诞感。他的画面充满了官能性的陶醉与渲染，在一个视觉的盛宴中似乎隐含着某种强烈的不可知的危机。

　　另一位画家罗发辉来自成都，他的作品有着非常丰富的意象：巨大的溃烂的花朵，它们绽开如生殖器似的花芯漂浮在灰败的城市上空;面目模糊的像是浸泡在福尔马林液体里的苍白女性身体带有一种受虐似的病态的压抑。罗发辉的欲望图景展现的不是浮世大众的欢愉肉欲，而是沉沦时代的堕落忧伤。他的画面构图有着巴尔蒂斯的神秘感，同时也借用著名的古典绘画的图式。所不同的是，巴尔蒂斯的少女们所营造的是一种神秘梦境的氛围，而罗发辉画笔下的她们却带着腐烂的气息，在这里艺术家是在用一种另类的视角来解剖现代人晦暗与无奈的情感与精神世界，它们与现实世界平行重叠。

　　俸正杰曾被视作艳俗艺术的代表人物之一，而他现在的作品正越来越成熟，风格在经过了一个延续性发展阶段之后显现出精纯的形式感。他已经基本确立了自己的艺术语言，画面摈弃了不必要的装饰性元素，从早期的复杂的文化叙事中解脱了出来，看上去更加简练和纯粹，这时候的观念已经和风格融为一体，转化成了内在的绘画语言，从而达到观念与绘画的统一。他画中的那些没有具体身份认同的克隆美女的空洞而诱惑的眼神，正成为了我们这个缺乏精神深度和灵魂皈依时代的象征。

　　而陈文波现在则开始探讨绘画的边界延伸的问题了。他以前的作品讲究纯粹的视觉效果，以超级写实的技法来建构一个光滑平整的，没有时间性和具体的空间感的超现实的图像世界。虽然产生于他油画笔下的那些流光溢彩的物体有着写实主义的立体轮廓，然而它们给人的感觉却是平面的，在那个闪闪发亮的世界里所有事物的内在差异性都被抹去，所有的具体时空背景都被剥离，只留下冰冷的工业化的金属和光泽感。现在他开始试验加上作品与现场装置的结合，从而扩大了绘画的外延，使得二维的图像加入了三维的空间元素。

　　杨千曾经在美国住过10多年，这也许可以解释他对于尝试不同的边缘绘画技法的热情。他在04年之前创作了很多基于摄影图像的绘画，画面中的高度写实的对象与场景逐渐在一层层的机械喷绘中变得雾化，清晰的事物 于是均匀的喷涂颜料与手工绘画的痕迹混合在一起构成了一种独特的视觉经验。画面通常被一层冷漠的色调所覆盖，画家通过这种方式来试图消解画面的解读意义，透露出一种本质上的怀疑主义的态度。从2005年开始，杨千又开始试验一种全新的作画方法，运用荧光颜料和特殊的照明系统来制作双重图像的绘画，在一个完成的油画作品的表面再以荧光颜料绘制另一个图像，从而颠覆了传统的绘画概念，达到随着时间的改变以及灯光系统的转换，而产生的视觉空间的置换效果。

　　纽约时报的记者托马斯弗里德曼写过一本书，叫《世界是平的》，讲述在一个资本、技术、图像和观念的生产和循环流通日益全球化的今天，社会结构、生存环境和竞争法则发生着怎样的变化。这是一个剧烈变迁的时代，而当下的中国也正在制造全球独一无二的社会超级景观，我们的生活经验和视觉经验也在经历着急剧的改变。在中国这个古老而又现代的巨大社会结构里，世界正在变得平坦，但世界也正在形成多层的结构。在这个超级人造社会景观的建设过程中，过去和现在，现在和未来交叉汇聚，彼此渗透，现在的还没有完成，就已经成为了过去，而未来还没有到来，就已经成为了现在，各种时间层次彼此重叠，各种文化和意识形态彼此冲撞，我们没有了方向感和历史感，世界成为了一个平面的图像。就像陈文波画里的塑胶和金属物体以及俸正杰画里的那些美人头像一样，它们被抽离了背景，呈现的是一种扁平的印象。

　　Some one said that one of the functions of art is to construct the visual archive and memory of time. Although the contemporary technology could produce super-realistic picture and images，but painting as a media for recording the emotion and memory of both secular and spiritual world still possesses the unique value and character. Handwork is an ideal encoder of sensibility and thinking，because hand connects directly with heart，through the movement of hand on paper or canvas，the structure and trace of mentality and thinking will reveal. The painting image is a complicated cryptography，it’s not the format and formula of digits，but the formula of visual experience and memory. Painting is different from the other art media or genre，because it’s the outcome of the synchro motion of hand and mind.

　　Good painting comes from good concept，style and technique，as Matthew Barney once said：it’s just a matter of having the discipline to go the whole way with an idea，to stretch it as far as it can go.

　　The formulation of style and language is important to an artist. The continuity and consistency of style does not necessarily guarantee the artistic quality of an artists work，but it will allow the artist to create his own art language and symbol system，therefore his own style and visual characteristics. This visual system must be unique and recognizable，it creates artists personal artistic identity. After long history of evolution of painting，all kinds of style and manner have been experimented and developed，but painting as an important media of art，still enjoys its lively vigorousness. It still could supply new visions and imaginations for visual art，enabling people to see spiritual as well as secular world through an alternative view. The upcoming exhibition which is going to be held in Tang Contemporary Art Bangkok is a five men group show of contemporary Chinese painters. The exhibition is about exploring the issue of visual experience that contemporary art could possibly bring to us under the current social and cultural circumstances.

　　The five artists Chen Wenbo，Feng Zhengjie，Luo Fahui，Yang Qian and Zhang Xiaotao，they all come from Sichuan province in China，graduated from Sichuan Academy of Fine Art，from which a group of artists called Sichuan painting School or Southeast Group was formed. Within the group there are some most celebrated contemporary Chinese artist，especially oil painting artist，for example Luo Zhongli，Zhang Xiaogang，Zhou Chunya etc. Apart from that，some future masters are also growing up within this group. However，there is no distinct commonness among those artists in terms of style，genre，theme and concept，the reason they are being put into this category is just because they are come from the same region，and share more or less a common regional cultural background and life style. It’s like Barbizon school in 19th century’s France，although at the then time Miller and Daumier，Corot and Rousseau got few thing common in terms of style，form and theme of their artworks，but they all shared the idea of so called romantic realism，insisted making art from realistic approach. Barbizon school emphasizes on outdoor life drawing，but contemporary artist prefer to make art in their studio. Their works come from their reactions and speculations upon the rapid changing modern society，and done by various techniques and materials，reflecting the diverseness and technical characters of art making in contemporary time. The above five artists also display a great diversity between their works and styles，but they have all established their own style and characteristics，and adhere to their own ideas in their art practices. You can sense a clear consistency and evolutionary line from the images of their works. They explore the artistic languages and methodologies ceaselessly，keeping distance from trendy movement，and meanwhile also maintaining an open mentality and active spirit of adventure.

　　In the history Sichuan is a rich province of self-sufficiency，and due to the geographical distance from traditional cultural and political centre in China，it maintains its unique regional cultural characters. Thus the intellectuals and artists from the region have all possessed some relaxed and unrestrained manner. The above five artists belong to the different generation，some of them has participated in 85?Avant-Guarde movement，and some of them grew up in the age of opening policy and economic reform. They are all deeply influenced by Chinese traditional culture，but they are also less burdened by historical and ideological doctrines. They tends to focus their sight into secular life，especially the life of modern cosmopolitan people. It’s just like what Chen Wenbo’s image of the painting Make-up Knife is about：its icy thin blade cut into the surface skin of contemporary life，trying to reveal the nature of coldness，harshness and fragility of it by depicting trivial and banal scenes. This vision is represented through an alternative angle，through artists imagination and reconstruction，and it provides a certain stance of social critique?though not sharp，covered with smooth and soft images. Zhang Xiaotao’s painting is just a good example to express this temperament of their art. The big surface of his canvas is always occupied with colourful however septic plants and flowers，weird animals and stark human constructions. These visual elements emitted a kind of corrupted and desperate atmosphere in the image，delivering a feeling of evilness. The natural creatures and man-made environment confronts each other，and people can sense a malicious relationship between them by looking at the image，a strong feeling of ridicule and absurdity occupied the centre point of his painting. His images are full of visual ecstasies，and underneath these feasts of eye there lies some unspeakable crisis that emerging from the horizon of the painting. It suggests the artist’s strong concern over human society and its yet thorny and twisted relationship with nature.

　　Another artist Luo Fahui also comes from Chengdu. He is one of the initiators of the famous Blue Roof Art Centre ?the others are Zhou Chunya，Guo Wei etc. His works are saturated with cold blue and grayish soft brush strokes，by which human bodies and genital-like flowers are given a painful look of hopelessness. Those images all appear with the unpleasant feeling of horror，looks like nightmares floating in the mind of a schizophrene. The inhibited pervert lust expresses in his works is certainly not about individual’s fleshy desire，but the expression of decadence of human spirit. The images have a surrealistic quality，but they in fact are the mirror reflections of the world of human psyche.

　　Feng Zhengjie was once regarded as one of the representative figures of the so called Kitsch Art School that has once flourished in China’s art circle during 90’s. However，his style and artistic language has reached a matured state，getting purer and finer，after a few year’s practice and constant research in form and idea. His early work had been trying to be complicated，employed many visual elements to narrate or to set up a scenario，that to some extent weakened the power of the image. But then the screen of his painting getting more bolder with purer visual elements. His later works stick with the image of head portrait of young women with fresh and tender sexy red lips and wicked asquint，the images are free from excessive visual depictions，they are so imposing and identifiable and vain and flat that those big head portraits have become the visual symbol of our age of banality.

　　Chen Wenbo has now started to explore the boundary and the extension of the form and content of contemporary painting. His previous work focuses on the pure visual effect，creating a smooth，flat，sleek hyper-realistic world，in which the elements of time and social backgound have been erased. Although those shining objects in the images are painted with highly realistic manner，have three dimensional contour，but the psychological feelings they delivered to us are rather two-dimensional and planar. There seems no differentia exists between the objects in this sleek world，all the historical and social contexts are deliberately extracted out，only the images of shining synthetic materials are left. His visual world is constructed upon a flattened ideology that is now becoming prevalent in the time of globalization.

　　Yang Qian has been living in America for more than 15 years，that might be the reason why he is so enthusiastic about experimenting different alternative technologies employed in his painting. Before 2004 he has produced many drawings based on photographic image. The figurative portraits and objects and scenes are gradually getting fuzzy，by the layer and layer of jet ink sprays on the canvas，thus the even sprayed pigments and the hand-painted traces are mixed together to construct a kind of unique visual experience. Reality at here is erased，the issue of real and unrealness is again being questioned，and it addresses the artist’s deep rooted spirit of skepticism. From 2005，Yang Qian started experiment on new drawing technique，he employed fluorescent pigment and UV-light system to produce painting of double-image. Along with the switch of lighting system and elapse of time，the image of the painting changes magically，it subverts the conventional idea of oil painting，introducing the dimension of time and space into two dimensional painting，therefore extended the language of contemporary painting.

　　A journalist from New York Times Thomas L Friedman has written a book called The World is Flat，talking about how the traditional social structure，living environment and competitive regulation are going to change in a globalized time of free circulation of capital，technology and images and ideas. It’s an era of rapid and radical transformation，such transformation is also happening in contemporary China in which a super social and cultural transformation is undergoing. Our social and visual experiences are also undergoing a rapid change. In this old and also modern society，the world is becoming flat and multi-leveled. The past has integrated with the present，and the future is penetrated by the past. Different time layers overlap each other，different cultural forms and ideologies conflict each other. We lost the sense of history and orientation，the world has become a flat image. It’s just like those objects of metal and resin depicted in Chen Wenbo’s painting，and women’s head portraits in Feng Zhengjie’s artworks，they are all deprived with background and social context，appearing with a flat and compressed impression.