In recent years, there has been more and more talk about new ink painting. The title of "new ink" is not without controversy, nor is it good for everyone, but the "new" ink is chiseled and increasingly deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In terms of content themes, expression methods, spiritual orientation, aesthetic interest and style, there are new things that are different from tradition. Ink painting in the modern sense should be counted from the generation of Lin Fengmian and Xu Beihong. Lin, Xu Yi descended, the field of ink painting gathered a lot of beneficial exploration, nearly a century of wind and rain, the hard work of generations, finally borne fruit.
The new ink painting roughly experienced two important stages in the early 20th century" of the "art revolution" and the "1985 new wave" in the 1980s, the former taking the traditional Chinese painting to the "end of the road" as the background, and the latter taking the reform and opening up and the in-depth introduction of Western art as an opportunity. Among them, there are both external forces and internal self-awareness, and realistic care and language change shape the new form of ink painting at the same time. In different periods, the problems faced by new ink painting, the methods of solving them, and the style of construction are different. This depends on two aspects, one is its relationship with art history, and the other is its relationship with current real life. The relationship with tradition is subtle and complex, both in harmony and inverse. Without reaction, it is not enough to break the previous law, and without unity, it is difficult to maintain the long-term. The relationship with reality must be observed, and it must also be from one's own perspective and in the method of art. This is also the only way to maintain a relationship with the two, and a good painter can always find a fit in it, sort out clues in a thousand and one problems, and take a measure.
New ink painting is new, but there is no unified standard and norm, different periods, different people or even the same person at different times. Mr. Lin and Mr. Xu's generation are on the cusp of the west wind and the east wind, and the fusion of the West and the West is the biggest and most effective way to make Chinese painting match the real context. Lin and Xu have different perspectives, and naturally differentiate into two paths that focus on language construction and one that favors realistic care. As for the "85 new wave", the west tide was even more turbulent, and the camp of the art world at that time, according to the words of Several gentlemen such as Shui Tianzhong, Liu Xiaochun, Lang Shaojun and Jia Fangzhou, was divided into three types: traditional, modern, and experimental. Each of the three has its own emphasis, of which the modern type and experimental type can be classified as new ink painting, and the traditional type competes with it. Standing on three legs, this kind of ecology is conducive to the overall deduction of art, looking at each other, complementing each other, and full of connotations, so as not to be biased and thin.
The new ink painting we are talking about today is the new or renewed on the "new" of the above-mentioned ink painting, and many new forms of extension and deepening, in general, there is also a common existence, that is, it has the characteristics of time presentness, spirit and form of contemporary meaning, specifically: it maintains a certain relationship with the subject matter, brush and ink and spirit of traditional literati painting, but also opens up the distance, which is quite respectful and distant. Taking the integration of East and West as the main means, changing from the side or from one corner of tradition, no longer relying on heroes with pen and ink alone, no longer following the formula to paint, but paying attention to reality, reflecting the current state of existence and aesthetic consciousness in concept, focusing on the exploration of daily experience, personal experience and personalized schema. The subject matter and theme are broader than the traditional: figure painting does not have to avoid daily trivialities, landscape painting can choose a corner of the slope as the main body of the picture, flower and bird painting does not need to be folded branches as a crane, and even these traditional classifications and naming are narrow. Once the content changes, the form has to change, otherwise it is inevitable that there will be the suspicion of new wine in the old bottle, although the new ink works continue the traditional ink material and medium, but in the language and spirit have been very different. Some new ink painters look at the fit of material and form beauty, or play the beauty of the material itself. At the spiritual level, it contains a certain alienation and criticism of tradition, unifying the transformation of ink painting with the persistence of ink nature. After departing from and dissolving traditional pen and ink, there is a surprise discovery of "willow dark flowers and bright villages". The new ink painting is capable of deconstructing and purifying traditional language, and the language thus tends to be simple, holistic, clear and full of personality. Unlike the traditional ink painting, which overemphasizes one move and one style, the posture of the new ink painting is open, and there is a great courage of "setting up the eight immortal tables and entertaining sixteen parties", which has great compatibility. Its path is tortuous, its appearance is diverse, but it is also clearly recognizable when viewed.
Time is the best inspector. Today, when we look at the new ink paintings of different periods, there are those who are exuberant in incense, and there are also those who have disappeared. Out of the predicament at that time, the main method and strategy is naturally the "anti" word, the good things in the tradition, may also be "children and dirty water are spilled together", fortunately, excellent new ink painters are taking into account the integration and transformation of tradition and modernity, East and West, new content and new forms. In the process of traveling, new ink painting is always affected and involved by many factors, because there are many problems that painters need to consider. For example, it is not easy for the audience alone, the Westerners seek innovation, the Chinese people are good and ancient, and the painters are both new and good. When it comes to innovation, I am afraid that other kinds of painting in the world do not have so many Taoist and burdens like Chinese painting. The cultural environment in which the new ink painters of the current era and the painters of the Lin and Xu eras lived was very different. Now the acceptance group has been diversified, turtles have turtle roads, snakes have snake roads, coupled with new ink in the ancient and modern Chinese and Western issues have a choice, examine the previous car, some problems are no longer problems, such as cultural identity, Lin, Xu era often glue and anxiety about the positioning of their own cultural identity, "85 new wave" painters are also trying to get rid of the shackles of cultural identity, until now, cultural identity is no longer as entangled as in the past. Although some problems cannot be said to have been completely solved, they are no longer the focus of the painters. The current new ink painters are facing new problems, for example, when facing the style of ink painting of the teachers, they must inherit it, but also need to return to the starting point to reposition the direction and method, so as not to be the same as the predecessors. New ink painting is not only changing at its own artistic level, but also unprecedented in the context of reality, market system and art ecology. Without problems, we lose our motivation, and there are problems in order to promote the artistic itinerary, show rich connotations and infinite vitality, which is the secret of the new ink "preservation".
Ink painting is not only a medium, it also accumulates Chinese way of thinking, visual expression, spiritual direction, aesthetic experience and many other "memory", in this sense, new ink has the significance of shaping new ideas in the new era. The new ink painting is the only way for Chinese painting to transform into modernity, this road is not a single wooden bridge, it is diverse and diverse. Hundreds of years ago, Shi Tao said, "Pen and ink should be contemporary." This sentence is constantly quoted by latecomers, and the background of the quotation is often in the face of strong resistance to tradition. Today, the new ink painting is also a daughter-in-law who has been a wife for many years, and fortunately, it is a consensus to keep pace with the times.
In fact, each of us has an ideal appearance of "new ink" in our hearts. New ink is not new for the sake of the new, it is not subversive of tradition is new, it should grow naturally from the tradition and adapt to the aesthetics and life of contemporary people. My ideal new ink will be able to carry on the past and open up the future. Today's new will also become a new cornerstone of the future, and it will also become a classic excavated by the research of latecomers. New ink painting can bloom in a hundred flowers, but there should still be enough academic norms. This criterion is not an authoritative approval, but an examination of the depth and height of the new ink in dealing with the relationship between tradition and the present, and with this second degree, there is considerable academic value. At present, although the new ink has not yet fully established a new set of norms, which just shows that it has enough room for extension, tigers and tigers are vibrant, but the new ink painting is more clearly directed, that is, on the one hand, it contrasts with traditional ink painting, on the other hand, it must be able to dialogue with the West, it is neither a traditional copy nor a Western copy. Through multi-directional reference and deep integration, a new ink with profound connotation and a new form is established, and the two-way promotion of internationalization and localization is completed. At a time when the world is talking about cultural strategy, the path taken by the new ink painting is a feasible cultural strategy.
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![Appreciation of moving ink works[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)