欣赏吴威的油画，你会惊讶于他以逆时代的方式呈现了自己的艺术风貌。

　　Admiring Wuwei's painting, you are surprised by his artistic style which goes against the trends of the time.

　　乍一看，吴威的艺术探索，似乎是在走回头路。比如，他选择了写实绘画，而在当代绘画中，具象艺术并不是艺术家的首选，更有甚者认为，当代艺术家的创新历程是以抛弃，或者和具象艺术决裂开始的。然而，吴威显然不是随大流的人，他说“如今的写实绘画就如一颗艺术大树中的一块树皮，不会受到多大的关注。我希望自己是这块树皮上一只惬意的小虫”。这只“惬意的小虫”完全不排斥写实风格，也不认为它是落伍和陈旧的画风，相反，他以倾注更饱满的热情和娴熟的技巧，展现出他对于具象艺术的热爱。最终，他在人物肖像画的还原度和逼真度上达到了极高的水准，画面的每个细节，都具有“与自然本身相等同”的忠实度。

　　On first impression, Wuwei returns to the past for his artistic exploration. For example, he chooses to create his paintings in the style of Classical Realism, but, in Modern Painting, figurative art is not necessarily the first choice for an artist. Some even believe that the personal development of a modern artist begins by discarding or breaking away from figurative art. Apparently, Wuwei is not a person who follows the trends of the day. He states: "Nowadays, Realistic Painting is like a bark on the tree of Art, which might not draw much attention. I hope I can be a cozy worm lying on the bark." The "cozy worm" does not exclude the realistic style entirely but he doesn't think the painting style is out-dated and old-fashioned, either. On the contrary, he shows his affection for figurative art with his enthusiasm and proficiency. Eventually, the reproducibility and verisimilitude of his portraits reach a very inspiring place. Fidelity of every detail in his paintings are "equivalent with nature itself".

　　另一方面，正如《明天的思辨》《风月几时》《境遇》《夜半歌声》《游园惊梦-1-3》等系列作品表现的那样，吴威的画作呈现出传统西方油画的古典风格魅力，这一点或许和他在俄罗斯列宾美木学院进修的经历有关。吴威的画有明确的艺术传承，作品的精神气质接近拉图尔、卡拉瓦乔和拉斐尔前派的画风。拉图尔的画核心技术即表现烛光散发的耀人眼目的光芒，运用逆光技巧清晰地展现事物的轮廓，将崇高的宗教仪式感表达得淋漓尽致。吴威也很喜欢卡拉瓦乔作品的构图，多幅画作中很容易找到与卡拉瓦乔的图式、光影、戏剧感所对应的元素。与此同时，吴威还吸收了诞生于英国19世纪的拉斐尔前派对作品的处理方式，以写实的传统风格为主，画风审慎而细致。

　　WuWei's paintings Tomorrow's Speculation, The Hours of Breeze and Moon, Circumstance, Songs of Midnight, Sweet Dream in the Garden showcase the classical charm of traditional western Realism and are, perhaps, connected with his experiences of studying in the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in Russia. He has obviously inherited certain styles in his work and artistic temperament, most notably the painting style of Latour, Caravaggio and the pre-Raphaelites. The core technique of Latour's paintings was to manifest dazzling candle-light. Applying this skill of backlighting, he outlined objects and portrayed a sublime sense of ritual incisively and vividly. Wuwei also admires the composition of Caravaggio's pictures. The corresponding elements in Caravaggio's method, shadow and the sense of drama could be easily seen in many of his paintings. Wuwei has also absorbed a realistic and traditional treatment in his paintings that is prudent and meticulous, which originates from the British pre-Raphaelites in the19th century.

　　何为艺术家的价值？认为艺术家的价值在于其在艺术世界里创造出的独特元素。吴威巧妙地运用西方古典画家的传统表现手法恰当地展现出中国题材的意境。当然，在吴威之前也有人尝试过这样的创作，但成功者并不多。将西方的油画语言硬生生地套上中国人的脸和服饰显得不伦不类，文化意境的相互融合并非是简单的生搬硬套，强制只会出现违和感。陈逸飞就是文化融合的典型人物，他的作品就创造了和谐的语言意境。他笔下的中国人形象既运用了西方油画语言，同时揉进了典型的中国造型，让人看着没有隔阂感。

　　What is the value of an artist? The value of an artist is to create something unique in the world. Applying traditional Western painting techniques in a subtle manner, Wuwei seamlessly expresses Chinese themes in his work. Certainly others have tried to create work in this manner before but few have succeeded. The brute force application of Western painting styles to Chinese aesthetics does not necessarily translate. Chen Yifeng is a successful example of this cross-cultural integration of styles. His works create a harmonious language of artistic ideas with no sense of alienation.

　　吴威的画作突破了具象艺术的单一呈现，融入了现代元素，将具象写实和抽象植入相结合。上世纪90年代起，中国美术学院开展“具象表现”绘画的理论探索和创作实践，就是在具象绘画的基础上强调突出表现张力。在吴威的作品中，形而下的现实物象和形而上的精神意象同时存在。正如他自己表述的那样：“我希望自己的作品也能传达出既有具象的叙事又有抽象的架构，既有表象的图式又有内心的述说和丰富感知”。

　　Wuwei's paintings have achieved a breakthrough of unity in figurative art, integrating modern elements and combining the abstract and the realistic. Since the 1990s, the Chinese Academy of Fine Art has placed its theoretical and innovational emphasis on Figurative Painting. In Wuwei's paintings both the physical objects of life and metaphysical mental images co-exist. Just as WuWei said "I hope my paintings can convey both figurative narrative and abstract frame, both representative models, state of mind and a variety of perceptions."

　　正是有了这样的认知，吴威的艺术实践才有了明确的指向性。在吴威的作品中，有几张画就直接用契里柯的背景变体，契里柯、德尔沃、巴尔蒂斯的作品做环境，在此基础上进行大胆探索，有意呈现一种现实人物和非现实空间碰撞混搭后的矛盾和不切实际感。比如《契里柯猜想》是一幅肖像和情景相结合的作品，用色上沿用古典绘画技巧，画面构成上多处运用三角形几何构图，桌面的道具取自契里柯作品《令人不安的缪斯》的图形和《哲人之攻占》里的挂钟。画中人正在体会契里柯广场的寂静感，让人感悟时间仿佛被催眠而停止的永恒力量。

　　With such perception, Wuwei's artistic practice is following a certain path. In some of his paintings he directly uses the background style of the Italian painter Chirico and uses the works of Chirico, Durwar and Balthus as painting environments. He then further explores, intending to evoke a daring juxtaposition of the collision between real person and non-reality space. For example, The Guess of Chirico is a work that is the combination of portrait and scene, follows the classical painting technique in colouring and often applies triangles in its composition. The items on the table are derived from the pattern of Disconcerting Muse and the wall clock in Attack and Occupy of Sage. The person in the painting is suffused with the sense of silence of Chirico Square. The people feel the hypnotic beat of time come to a stop.

　　以往，一幅作品一般只有一个三维空间，在现实中能找到对应物，让观者先认同环境，继而可以沉浸在某种情境中。吴威不想被单一的空间约束住，而是大胆尝试在一幅作品中呈现多重空间，在某个现实的转角，“期待能自由穿梭于心境内外”。为了在境里境外不停辗转，他不惜采用形式感强烈的图形来组成画面空间，通过图形构成的表象背后的力量，帮助画面中的人物表达更多内心的精神映像。更重要的是，吴威的作品突破了外部现实，呈现出现代人的精神特征。

　　Generally, there's only one three-dimensional space in a painting and counterparts can be found in real life. Viewers identify the environment at first and proceed to become immersed in a certain situation. Wuwei doesn't want to be bound by a single space but boldly tries to present multiple spaces in a single piece of work. In one corner of reality he "is looking forward to being able to move freely in and out of states of mind."He adopts a strong sense of form in his composition which helps to elicit the inner world of his characters. Most importantly, Wuwei breaks through external reality, presenting the spiritual characteristics of modern people.

　　影调、写实那一套语言是古典的，但又赋予现代精神，強烈地传导出现代人文思辨的意味。有评论家指出，在吴威的《指南针游戏-前传》《预言与启示》《飞鸟与谎言》《孤山惊蛰图》《卡拉瓦桥的游戏》等系列作品中，以“强化凝固的一瞬间为绘画特征，把生活中的常娱活动，通过静态的表情、眼神、手式等来表述人物的意识形态”。吴威抓住了现代人的的心理特征，尤其是处在社会转型期中的中国年轻人的心理特征。因为现实有太多的不确定性，他们的生活中有惊恐、惊鄂、紧张、不安等情绪的自然流露，这恰恰是带着明显时代烙印的精神特质，这是一种高度抽象的形而上的认知，却用极具象的形式把它固定下来。可以说，吴威找到了一种方法和语言，直抵现代人的心灵深处！

　　The language of chiaroscuro and realistic painting is classical but he endows it with a modern spirit and strongly portrays the ideas of modern people. Some critics argue that Wuwei"expresses the characters' ideology through the representation of their facial expression in repose, in the characters' eyes, gestures and common activities in life." In his works, The Episode of Compass Game, Prediction and Enlightenment, Flying bird and Falsehood, The Picture of Walking Insects in Isolated Hill, The Game of Caravaggio, etc. Wuwei captures the psychological characteristics of modern people, especially, the psychological characteristics of young people in China in a period of great social transition. Because reality holds many uncertainties, they express emotions naturally, including panic, dismay, anxiety, etc. And it's precisely this spiritual trait that is equipped with time. It is a metaphysical idea that is highly abstract becoming fixed in a figurative form. It can be said that Wuwei finds an approach and language to speak straight down to the depths of the modern soul.

作者：北京大学新闻与传播学院院长 陆绍阳

Author: Shaoyang Lu Dean of School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University