The weight of lightness

One of Speed Skating, by Yang Gang, 70cmx113cm, 2018.

□ Li Weiming

In the early 1980s, when I was studying at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, I went to Beijing to see an exhibition, stayed at the Guest House of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and met Mr. Lu Shen, but I did not meet Yang Gang, and I never had the opportunity to meet.

I knew Yang Gang in the 1970s, when I often saw his paintings in art journals and magazines and even newspapers, which were some hard sketches, running horses and fierce herders, and the morning and sunset on the horizon showed the vast life scene of the northern grasslands. These works seem to be all in one swing, showing the free and unrestrained youthful passion in solid realistic techniques. It seems not too much to say that Yang Gang was the art star of that era.

After the 1980s, it seems that Yang Gang's paintings have rarely been seen. The only deep impression is the long volume of "Greeting Relatives", the theme of life in the northern grasslands, the fresh clothes and angry horses, the composition with a sense of order, the joyful group atmosphere and the relaxed and stretching rhythm of movement, the elegant and temperate work pen color, filtering the domineering and rough of the 70s, making it easy to think of the Tang and Song styles in the classical painting tradition. During that period, I was mainly concerned with the problems of ancient art, the lack of understanding of the situation of contemporary painting. I didn't even know that Yang Gang went to the Beijing Academy of Painting later. Not long ago, I learned that our particularly outstanding young colleague Dr. Yang Xiao is the daughter of Mr. Yang Gang,—— and it is this unexpected opportunity that gives me the opportunity to get close to the world of Yang Gang's painting.

At the end of last year, Yang Gang's large-scale painting exhibition was exhibited at the National Art Museum of China, and Cai Tao and I had originally booked a ticket to visit, but unfortunately due to the control of the epidemic, the trip was temporarily cancelled. Today is the first time I have faced Yang Gang's original work. The exhibition at the Shenzhen Art Museum, entitled "Sheng Sheng - Yang Gang Art Exhibition", takes the Winter Olympic Movement as the theme, and according to the preface, it is mainly Yang Gang's live TELEVISION paintings in his later years. Of course, this is only a small partial display of Yang Gang's painting world, but for me, it is also a rare opportunity to learn "reading Yang Gang"!

Overall, this batch of works continues Yang Gang's keen intuition about the rhythm of movement in his youth, but the fast hard pen sketch lines are obviously purified - the simple soft pen highlights the sense of sculpture of the momentary shape while restoring the rapid movement of the object; for example, this "Snowboarding", I think it can be seen as a sculpture work. Based on intuition, he freely stumbles between classical tradition and modern fashion, giving a light sense of movement a sense of heavy, clumsy and large sculpture,—— in other words, Yang Gang's deletion of complexity reflects his understanding and attempt at calligraphic lines and traditional boneless painting methods, and gives the pen the expressive function of shape, potential and quality in the process of lifting, pressing and turning. Yes, I am talking about "skill" here, but according to the tradition, a "skill" that is highly skilled, well-understood, and consistent is also a manifestation of the metaphysical "Tao.".

This intriguing "appearance" seems to be more vividly exemplified in many of Yang Gang's works that show backlight "silhouettes", such as "Beijing Big Mama" (2003), "Festivals on the Plateau" (2012), "Climbing to the Top of the Mountain" (2014), "Violin Sound" (2015), "Twilight Rain Low" (2010), "Tai Chi 2010" and many works depicting ice and snow movements that have been completed on other occasions, which can be included in this interpretation. It goes without saying that finding an instant balance in the rapid movement of the approaching imbalance is both the wonder of the Olympic ice and snow movement and the miracle of human beings overcoming the limits of the self and exerting their potential to the extreme. From the reader's point of view, it is easier to experience the "sense of miracle" that Yang Gang has created for us in the visual tension that constitutes contradictions and conflicts. For Yang Gang, seeking balance in sharp opposition may be a philosophy of survival that is safe and well- and it is also in line with the psychological logic of imagination being fully exerted.

This small exhibition, which focuses on ink painting, also features a small number of oil paintings and calligraphy. Obviously, the curators considered how to present the whole process of Yang Gang's painting practice as effectively as possible in this exhibition. Some of the paintings show the author's interest in the modernist style (Liberty Brigade, 2004); traditional calligraphic lines are another important source of Inspiration for Yang Gang. It is said that many calligraphers highly value Yang Gang's calligraphy, especially cursive writing. I think that Yang Gang is not ready to become a calligrapher, and he is more inclined to feel the rhythm of calligraphic knots and line movements in the process of writing; moreover, this sense of rhythm may be more likely to resonate harmoniously with the "inspiration" when he wields his pen. Some handwritings indicate that Yang Gang also noticed the PingFu Ti. I speculate that just as the smooth hard pen sketch is transformed into a simple boneless brushwork, how to trace the grass from the Tang Cao of the Dragon Snake to the grass of the dragon and snake, such as the blunt circle, thickness and stagnation of the wooden axe cutting iron, may also be a problem that Yang Gang considered in the process of writing and painting interaction. There is no doubt that Yang Gang's writing experience has been integrated into his paintings, so it is not surprising that we rarely seem to see the traditional smudge brushwork in his ink paintings.

In Yang Gang's youth, just as almost everyone today has a "mobile phone" with both photographic functions, every painter has a palm-sized "sketchbook" in his pocket. I don't know if today's painters still carry that kind of sketchbook with them, whether they are happy and free to "sketch"; but I know that the vast majority of the visual cultural products we face today are the products of mechanical reproduction. Although there is absolutely no sense here that the popularity or decline of "sketching" and "photography" is regarded as a watershed in contemporary painting art, the difference is undoubtedly there in terms of visual perception and emotional attributes. At least in many painters of the younger generation, I often see careful productions based on some kind of utilitarian purpose, and once they leave the photography, they are often helpless!

Finally, I would like to say that in the vast northern grassland, listening to the sound of the disk flowing in the downtown studio, are two different scenes produced by Yang Gang's spirit, but the results seem to be the same, movement and rhythm, the ubiquitous soul in his works!

Thanks again to Liu Tao and Yang Xiao for their detailed tour.

Li Weiming is a researcher at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts