Teacher Yu Youhan has returned to nature.
The initial impression on me of Mr. Yu is as his name suggests: generous, tolerant and self-contained. The first time I met Mr. Yu was in 1986, when he and his student Wang Ziwei met him by chance in a bookstore. Mr. Yu invited us to visit the Changle Road studio, which is not far away, and he was already painting "black and white circles" at that time. He modestly asked me, a hairy boy, to give my opinion, and I honestly and unceremoniously expressed my feelings, put forward some different opinions, and wrote a page of comments criticizing him the next day and sent it to him. A few months later, when I went to Mr. Yu's house, I saw that he had made a picture album of the earliest "black and white circles" and even posted the comments I had written on the first page.
Mr. Yu's modesty and tolerance comes from the heart, and he never puts on a show with his students, and always learns together. I often hear him ask: Which painter have you been studying recently, and what are your experiences? Later, I felt more and more that Mr. Yu's attitude was the wisdom that can really make continuous progress. Sometimes, when my friends and I disagree on art, Mr. Yu will tell me: "Art is colorful, and he is also one." ”
Mr. Yu rarely writes anything, and what he writes is usually very short "aphorism" words, but they are all simple and easy to understand, such as: "Art is linked to tradition at one end and the future at the other." "Art seeks novelty, but novelty is not the only goal. "Art is creation, but creation is not the only requirement. "Artistic freedom of expression. "Painting is like walking, humans invented cars and airplanes, but still have to walk. "As for the words I listened to with my own ears and didn't write them down, it was even more. Mr. Yu has a lot of "theories". One of the most impressive ones is that "beauty is a fly in the ointment", which was born out of him when he discussed with me that "human nature is the limitations of human beings". There is also the "grassland theory": "If a grass is green, it means that the grass will be green soon"; Tent Theory": "If the tent falls one way, it should be pulled this way, and if it falls this way, it must be pulled that way...... Over the years, I have grown up and grown old under the guidance and help of these "theories."
Another quality of Teacher Yu that people deeply respect is compassion and kindness. He is gentle and humble, and in popular parlance, low-key, but his heart is sensitive and fiery. He not only loved his family and friends, but also had a deep compassion for all living beings. In the late '90s, when he started painting the "Ah! We" series, he once said to me, "I paint things that are obsessed with my dreams." He has been painting abstract paintings, but he does not pursue "pure forms" without emotion, but allows the viewer to experience the meaning of those forms for himself through color and brushstrokes.
For the friends around him, Mr. Yu's compassion is everywhere. When I was at a low point in my life, he would ride my bicycle for two hours to see me and encourage me, and whenever I encountered setbacks in work and life, he would accompany me for a walk and talk, giving him rational analysis and wise advice. Once late at night, I suddenly felt unwell and called him, and he hurriedly rushed to take me to the hospital for a careful examination, tossing until the morning, and later learned that he had to rush to Jiading to go to class in the morning......
As for Mr. Yu's artistic achievements and contributions to modern art, he has long had his own public opinion, and there are many articles introducing Yu Youhan's art in the recent "Circle of Friends". I would like to say that his artistic language is not just a Xi and reference to the Western painting language, but a Xi and experience of all human artistic experiences. Mr. Yu told me very early on: "I am a 'take-it-or-leave-it' in ancient and modern times. "His humility and tolerance allow him to constantly explore new things, and his compassion and kindness allow him to have deeper insight and expressiveness. He paints to explore beauty, but also to express his emotions. I think the core of his art is to express the "Tao of Nature", regardless of ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, this is the common wisdom of our human beings.
Abstract 201404-07 (acrylic on canvas) Yu Youhan
A while ago, I read a verse from the Song Dynasty Zen master Hongzhi Zhengjue: "Mo Dao Kun whale has no wings, and today I will return from the bird." This reminds me of Mr. Yu's "circles", especially one of the large white paintings in the upper right corner of the blue painting (above). That painting was the first figurative element in his abstract paintings, which was actually one of his early "black and white circles", and in his later years he changed the brushstrokes and background color of that old painting to blue. At that time, he first used the computer to print out the old photo as a sketch, there is a place in the upper right corner of the sketch that is stained, but it brings him new inspiration, I went to his studio that day, I saw that he painted that piece white, and was thinking about how to change it, I said that now it looks like it makes people think of blue sky and white clouds. Mr. Yu thought about it and didn't paint any more, so his abstract paintings began to have blue skies and white clouds on the earth.
At that time, Mr. Yu also enlightened me: Do you think that these naturally wandering brushstrokes are like a big bird? I immediately understood that he was painting his favorite Zhuangzi's "Wandering Away". There is a fish in the northern underworld, and its name is Kun...... In fact, when the ancients saw the whale coming out of the water, they imagined it spreading its wings and turning into a large peng. The use of the word "whale" in the verse of the Zen Master shows that he understands the source of this image: do not think that whales have no wings, and that you will personally experience the changes and reincarnation of the heavenly path like the changes of fish and birds. The verses embody the Zen master's deep understanding of the way of heaven, nature, change, impermanence, and reincarnation, and Mr. Yu's abstract paintings have the same meaning. That sketch has been hanging on the wall of my house ever since.
When Mr. Yu was seriously ill, one day I went to see him with Mr. Tang Guangming, and when we came home from the hospital, we looked at Mr. Yu's sketch, and we all felt that the words of Master Zhengjue were very appropriate for Mr. Yu:
The Modao Kun whale has no wings,
Today, I came back from the bird.
Source: Wenhui PEN Club
Text: Hippopotamus
Editor|Wang Qiutong