The Contemporary Transformation of Traditional Cultural Spirit
传统文化精神的当代转换
——解读王彤绘画作品
但另一方面，他又有意识地将自己前凸至西方当代艺术的前沿，袒露胸襟，接纳西方现代、后现代艺术多元杂陈的八方来风。在长期艰苦的探索中致力于与中国传统文化精神的对接和融合。
On the other hand, he consciously positions himself at the forefront of contemporary Western art, opening his heart to embrace the diverse and eclectic currents of modern and postmodern artistic expression. Through years of persistent and challenging exploration, he has devoted himself to forging a connection and achieving a fusion between these Western influences and the spiritual essence of traditional Chinese culture.
人们习惯于认为中西方艺术存在着明显的分野。即中国传统艺术及其哲学思考偏于“表现”，西方艺术及其审美侧重于“再现”。然而这只是一种被抽象化了的表象而已。即已崛起于20世纪初、代表着北欧精神和表现主义绘画而言。无论是它直率、单纯和强烈的主观特色，还是它鲜明的表达思想和呼唤情感的视觉语言，以及极具张力和富有激情的创作方式，都是对西方充满理性的“再现”审美定式的巨大挑战。而与中国的“立象以尽意”、“神在形似之外”,以及“人心营构之象”“妙与不似之间”的“意象”审美意蕴则有着诸多相通之处。王彤以其对本民族传统文化精神的深刻领悟和置身北欧表现主义艺术沃土的特殊身份,将中国传统文化中的“意象”审美精神作为内核,同时采汲了西方表现主义的创作方法,凭借特定的绘画语言,建构自身独创的艺术符号,“观物取象”,将心具象化、物化成为图式意象，以实现中国传统文化精神的当代转换。- It is commonly believed that there exists a distinct divide between Eastern and Western art—namely, that traditional Chinese art and its philosophical thought emphasize “expression,” while Western art and its aesthetics prioritize “representation.” However, this is merely a conceptualized surface distinction. When we consider the Expressionist painting that emerged in the early 20th century and embodies the spirit of Northern Europe, we find a different perspective. Its directness, simplicity, and intensely subjective nature, along with its vivid visual language that conveys thought and evokes emotion, and its highly charged, passionate modes of creation, all stand in stark contrast to the rationalist aesthetic paradigm of Western “representation.”
In fact, these characteristics resonate deeply with Chinese aesthetic principles such as “establishing images to convey meaning”, “spirit existing beyond physical form”, “images constructed by the human mind”, and “the subtle wonder between likeness and unlikeness.” With a profound understanding of his own cultural heritage and a unique position rooted in the fertile ground of Nordic Expressionism, Wang Tong takes the aesthetic spirit of yixiang (意象)—imagery imbued with meaning—as the core of his practice. At the same time, he draws upon the creative methods of Western Expressionism to construct his own distinct visual language and symbolic system. By “observing the world and drawing forth images,” he externalizes the inner world of the heart, transforming it into pictorial imagery—thus realizing a contemporary interpretation of the spiritual essence of traditional Chinese culture. -
长期以来,王彤坚持走着一条极其个人化的创作道路。他以其独到的文化眼光通过独特的技法演绎出主体心象,呈现出与众不同的个人视象。王形有着坚实的写实基础,作品的结构和笔法自然也不同凡响。他的作品以一种近乎立体主义的分解结构,表现主义的格局,架构出具有极大张力和韵律的画面,显现出蓬勃生机。他擅长以类似抽象表现主义的线条和分置组合的手法,呈现出一种中国式写意的独特风格。他又善于运用偶成的空白以及黑白和色彩的对比体现出中国艺术精神的气韵灵动,一种被幻化的空间。王彤的作品尽管仍然有着具象的因子,但画面中具体的形象已在很大程度上转化为一种抽象的色与线的韵律的回旋。而画面中经常出现的其强烈的款识朴拙而突兀,传递出深蕴在内的张力。
For many years, Wang Tong has steadfastly pursued a highly individualized artistic path. With his distinctive cultural perspective, he interprets inner imagery through unique techniques, presenting a personal visual language that sets his work apart. Grounded in a solid foundation of realism, his compositions and brushwork naturally reflect a remarkable level of mastery.
His paintings often employ a structural logic reminiscent of Cubist deconstruction and the compositional dynamics of Expressionism, resulting in images full of tension and rhythm, brimming with vitality. He skillfully utilizes linework akin to Abstract Expressionism and spatially segmented arrangements to develop a unique Chinese-style freehand aesthetic. Wang is also adept at using incidental blank spaces and the interplay of black, white, and color to evoke the spiritual rhythm and fluid dynamism characteristic of traditional Chinese art—a kind of transfigured space imbued with poetic resonance.
Though elements of figuration remain present in his work, the concrete forms are largely transformed into an abstract interplay of colors and lines, creating a rhythmic, swirling visual field. His signature, often boldly and naively inscribed within the image, appears abrupt yet intentional, serving as a point of expressive tension that conveys deeper internal force.
以王彤植根中国传统文化的精神取向和长期旅居北欧的特殊身份和生存方式。外部世界给于他的艺术以种种可能。但是如果没有他自身的不倦探索和辛勤开掘,仍然无法创造出充满生命力的不衰的神奇。所谓传统文化精神的当代转换,不仅源于他对于外部世界的关注和敏锐捕捉,更有赖于他对本民族文化精神和审美意蕴的无限眷恋和热烈情怀。也正因为如此,对于王彤来说,绘画语言和材料工具之与他,有时便显得那样无关紧要,它们只不过是他在表达自己的生命形式时的种手段的交换。这些绘画语言和材料工具在他手上似乎别具种灵性,它们在画面上所表现的质感,仿佛可以使你触摸到种精神和文化。这种精神和文化肯定都属于中国。
With Wang Tong’s spiritual orientation deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, combined with his unique identity and way of life as a long-term resident in Northern Europe, the external world has offered countless possibilities to his art. Yet without his own tireless pursuit and dedicated exploration, he would not have been able to create the enduring vitality and wonder that his work embodies. The so-called contemporary transformation of traditional cultural spirit in his art arises not only from his attentiveness to and perceptiveness of the outside world, but even more from his profound attachment to and passionate embrace of the cultural spirit and aesthetic essence of his own heritage.
Because of this, for Wang Tong, painting languages and material tools sometimes appear secondary—they are merely interchangeable means for expressing his inner life. Yet in his hands, these tools and languages seem to possess a rare vitality of their own. The textures they create on the canvas feel as though one could reach out and physically touch a living spirit—a cultural presence. And that spirit, unmistakably, belongs to China.
有人曾将王彤的画称作“魔幻写实主义”,我则感到不如将其称之为“意象表现风格”似更贴切。不知王彤老弟以为然否。
Someone once described Wang Tong’s paintings as “magical realism,” but I feel it may be more accurate to call them a form of “expressive imagery.” I wonder if Brother Wang Tong himself would agree.
Gong Yunbiao龚云表
2005年于上海Shanghai, 2005
（龚云表，艺术批评家，艺术策展人。历任上海艺术博览会办公室常务副主任、上海春季艺术沙龙副秘书长、《艺术上海》杂志主编、中国现当代艺术研究中心研究员。）
(Gong Yunbiao is an art critic and curator. He has served as Executive Deputy Director of the Office of Shanghai Art Fair, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Spring Art Salon, Editor-in-Chief of Art Shanghai magazine, and Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Chinese Contemporary Art.)
A true artist often views both the self and the world through a highly individualized lens. In this process of introspection and observation, the cultural spirit of the artist’s own nation—flowing like a genetic current—inevitably plays a role. It is within this profound cultural heritage that the artist seeks breakthroughs, transcendence, and transformation through the force of personal individuality, thereby constructing a unique pictorial language and visual schema. This language and schema are rooted in the traditional cultural spirit of the artist’s heritage, yet they also reflect the aesthetic sensibilities of the time in which the artist lives. As a result, the artist’s personal emotions and aspirations flow naturally onto the canvas. Tong Wang is clearly such an artist.
王彤在他去国远游的十余年间，一直甘于寂寞。固守其特立独行的艺术立场。魂牵梦萦的始终是民族传统文化精神。北欧那种显得过于凝重而张扬的文化语境造成的巨大反差，使他内心深处纠结着的民族文化精神和审美韵籍更成为无法化解，须臾不能分离的情结。他甚至不在乎在国内曾经深深眷恋并驾驭自如的油画语言，尽管他仍然主要采用油画形式，但更多的则是探寻中国笔墨的意趣，并以此来营造他的心象语境。
During his more than ten years of living abroad, Wang Tong has quietly embraced solitude, remaining steadfast in his distinctive artistic stance. What has always haunted his heart and mind is the spiritual essence of traditional Chinese culture. The stark contrast created by the culturally intense and demonstrative environment of Northern Europe only deepened his emotional entanglement with the aesthetic charm and cultural spirit of his own heritage—an inseparable bond that could neither be resolved nor abandoned. He even let go of the oil painting language he once deeply cherished and skillfully commanded in China. Though he continues to work primarily in oil, his focus has shifted more toward exploring the expressive nuances of Chinese brush and ink, using them to construct an inner, symbolic world of his own.