画家钟耕略将于今秋从岭南北上，假中国油画院举行新作个展，他为此已准备经年了。算起来耕略君来京办展，从1991年在中央美院画廊起，又经过两次在中国美术馆的展览，到这次是第四回了。这就是一种持续的热情，是谓“以画会友”。事实上，我自己和这边不少同行们就是从第一次那时起认识他的，光阴荏苒，彼此的交谊已经二十多年了。久居海外的友人回来办展应该是美术界的一道常景了，而像他这样携夫人李瀛一道频频归飞，就使我常常想起一对燕子的形象，那勤劳又热切的身影，飞翔在清朗的友谊的天宇上。

　　把钟耕略的多次展览叠加起来，我们可以看到他的艺术发展的状态和面貌。原来他生长和求学于南方，七十年代远去美国，在那里独立谋生治艺，好不容易。他依靠在国内打下的底子，并没有再上学校，而是直接在治艺的工作实践中提升学养，一步步发展自己的创造能力。在那里他既没有轻逐潮流，也不慕虚荣，而是从广泛了解中寻找符合本身品性的路径。不明白的人或许会怀疑：这不是保守习气么，到了美国还搞“写实”这一套?其实他是对的：沉着慎独，稳健求新。记得当初他带我去看纽约画廊的时候，他很熟悉它们的各种品相，着重领我去找到西班牙洛佩兹(Antonio Lopez Garcia)和法国阿瑞卡(Avigdor Arikha)的作品，使我至今受益。后来他曾应邵大箴之约，一直为《美术研究》写系列通讯和评介文章，可见他的识度方面。他的画法并不简单守成，如同我们在他那前三次来展中所看到和记得的，这里有三个方面的开展轨迹：先是出发于闹市，从中筛选出过客之匆匆以及街头的光影徘徊，在一种错杂横斜中透出时光流过的清冷意味，而完全没有被迷入彼邦媒体里面那样的喧嚣诱惑。然后他转向了大山大水，满是云腾浪涌的浩荡气象。他走出洋场闹市，神驰于西方和神州胜景的新视野所获得的兴奋，完全换了一个心中的景观天地，而画法却没有肆意狂放，仍然依靠着意志沉着的从容驾驭。经过这一番洗礼之后，他又从自然的宏大转向自然的精微，在多样试探中渐渐凝神于园林草木花果这个领域了。这一步走的时间比较长，估计其间的思量也比较多。如果只是按照我这里的文字描述来设想，可能会误解他一直只是处在变动中，然而这只是画风历程的一面;另一方面，或许是更重要的一面，作为对立面统一的，则更贯穿前后画风的特色，我称之为“清朗的观照”(Reflections of Clear Purity)。画家钟耕略难得有自己以理驭情的沉静性格，慎独自立的意志，所以画面上又始终贯串着他通过精致去把控自然的特色，虽然不免保留着某种过度的拘谨习惯。不过，“如人饮水，冷暖自知。”这进退尺度当然是画家本人才好掌握的。我们可以从这里面去看他在变与未变的矛盾中的发展。

　　一种重大的不变之变果然来到了，这就是我们在这一次来展中能够看到和应该乐于注意到的。它发生在近年，其根源在于换了和选定了生活的环境。钟耕略和李瀛在大洋彼岸那边住了三十多年，有赖三十年的壮岁，独立支撑，风华正茂，成就他作为一个东西文化羼和而骨子里更本土性的画家，在人生脚步临到六十岁这个拐点。他们俩虽然常常像燕子一样飞回祖国，飞到南方;而到了这时，经过有条理的经营，决意回归广州故乡安居。他们曾经常参与东莞、萝岗及珠三角等地的艺术活动，重新进入有老朋友和年轻朋友一起的人文圈子，从容地徜徉于岭南大地的山水之间，新颜旧貌一起让他领略怀想，乡土的温暖亲切能够让他安心享用。尽管我们对于现代人的来去不能简单地套用“鸟倦飞而知还”这陶诗词语来形容，然而他的精神重点毕竟是稳落到乡心上了。不幸的是李瀛病故，原本一对从这里起飞的双飞燕，如今她安憩故园。这伤痛何等沉重，但却没有击垮他，她的精诚融入了他的乡心，成为永远的内在光照。

　　不久前，钟耕略完成了一本图文新作集《绿色空间——不尽的怀思》，作为他开始六十以后艺术新程上的一种回顾性总结。既是双飞深情的凝结，又是空间展望的显示，估计也正好作为他将北上来展的一个最好的序曲。画家在书中写道：

　　“除了原始的乡情的驱使之外，更重要的一点，就是以一个青少年时带着中国文化背景远离家乡之后，在西方艺坛游历了三十年的艺术家的眼光，所观察到的岭南风物特色，以及一种混和着东方感性诗情和西方理性剖析的田园风景的新视象。如果没有这种新视象作为支撑点，纯粹以记录的方式来描绘美丽的田园风物的话，作品将会失去艺术上的探索意义。”

　　顺着作者本人的提示，我们走进他的“新视象”作品画幅中去，会看到两种俯仰于“绿色空间”的不同方面。一种是大幅，那弥漫于田园乡野上的绿，画家名之曰“岭南绿”，澄清而浓郁，那里面包涵着林野水网间丰富的生机，花如香雪下的湖平如镜，茂密垂枝间隐约的青山人居，河网深处停泊的小舟。种种景象，乍看好像到处寻常可见的那种写生风景，细细品味起来不然，从中既可以联想起画家先前那些大山大水的气象，又可以领会到画家这几年来出入故土新貌之间所遇到的生熟杂陈的状态。总的来说，这是一种追求宏观纵览的境界。尽管这里运用外光作油画不无困难，但透过这一层可以看到探索中可喜的新契机。另一种属于小品，纸上的凝神微观，或许人们又视之为老式的彩画花果景物，其实又不然。在我看来，正是在这里显露了作者的语言和精神才能的升华。那些用色粉和色铅笔一点点、一丝丝地精工细描的花果，其实运用得随心顺手，有充实丰盈、舒卷自如的资质，有自然生命的成熟，有自家乡土的深情赞美，还有对造化之理的揭示——这最后一点，不妨引用一下晋人诗句来说，即是“寓目理自陈”、“适我无非新”(注)这样一种意兴。从技巧层面讲，虽用彩色，却是区别于彩绘(painting)的素描(drawing)，二者性质不同，是画家多年来潜心钻研的劳绩所在，这里面的精品之质，切不可当雕虫小技看。这是处在如今物欲横流的俗风中而独得生机精神于平常什物中的成果。

　　把这里的“绿色空间”放在当代画风中来观察，它是以乡心采自乡土的新视象。如今我们住在城市拥挤喧哗的楼群中间，离开自然景色远之又远了，甚至很少能见到晨露下的花朵，很少能仰见一方晴空，更别说一剪燕影了。人们越来越惯于打开电脑手机，在大小屏幕上的变幻里搜索一切，任其摆布。当然不是说现代人可以弃置物质文明日新的事物，而是说莫让人自己的精神世界全被它们困住了。所幸如今已有人出来突破这种自困，而重新寻求自然与人亲和相接的天地。耕略君归居以来在自己的艺术中集中创造的境界就是有志于这样的努力吧。我深有感于他的努力，喜称之为“乡心之珍”，并以此作为本文的题目，奉赠给前来观展的人们。

　　(注)：见东晋王羲之《兰亭诗》句：“仰望碧天际，俯瞰渌水滨。寥朗无涯观，寓目理自陈。大矣造化工，万殊莫不均。群籁虽参差，适我无非新。”

　　(钟涵：艺术家，中央美术学院教授)

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　　注：本文原载《绿色空间，不尽的怀思：钟耕略绘画近作展》画集，2014年10月，中国文艺出版社。

　　Artist Kang Chung will be heading north from the south of Lingnan to open his solo exhibition at the Chinese Academy of Oil Painting to showcase his latest works: he has been preparing for the show year in and year out. Come to think of it, Kang has launched exhibitions in Beijing over the years since the one held in the Gallery of Central Institute of Fine Art in 1991, followed by two more exhibitions at the National Art Museum of China, and now this is the fourth of his exhibitions in Beijing.

　　A consistent passion this is, and what we call “meeting friends through his artistic works”. In fact, many of my fellow colleagues and I began to know Kang during that very first exhibition he held in Beijing. Time zipped by and our friendly relation has lasted over 20 years. It can be said that it is quite a common scene for those who having lived a long time overseas to return to China to launch their art exhibitions; but for Kang who flew back often in the company of his wife Alice (Madam Lee Ying), that always started me thinking of the image of a pair of swallows, with those diligent and passionate silhouettes of theirs flying across the bright and clear sky of friendship!

　　We can see how and in what special ways the development of Kang’s art has progressed if we stack up and add together all his exhibitions held in Beijing. Originally, he lived and studied in southern China, then he left and ventured far to the United States in the 1970’s; there he made a living and sought artistic cultivation on his own which was harder then we could imagine. Based on the foundation he had forged when living in China, he directly pursued his knowledge in art and elevated his artistic strength through practical involvement working in the field without the luxury of attending further formal art education. Step by step, he developed his creative capacity. He did not fall prey to the false fads and fashions of the art scene there, nor was he fooled by vanity and fame. Instead, he sought a comprehensive understanding and knowledge of art, while focusing on finding a path which fitted his own disposition and character. Those who do not understand may wonder: Isn’t that conservative and repeating old practices lacking in courage? Why did he still go down the conventional alley of “realism” when he was already in the USA?

　　In fact, he was right: be composed and cautious when in solitude; be steady and firm to break new grounds. I remember how it was at the beginning when he took me to the galleries in New York. He was so familiar with all their special features and genres; and in particular, he led me to see the artwork by Antonio Lopez Garcia of Spain and Avigdor Arikha of France. The benefits for me having seen these two artists linger on until now. Later on, Kang began writing a series of newsletter articles and art reviews for “Art Research” at the invitation of Shao Dazhen, this tells of the breadth his knowledge in art.

　　The way he draws and paints is not limited to following conventions and guarding the well established. Same as what we have seen and remembered from his three previous exhibitions, here we have three aspects to his development trajectory: first it begins with the boisterous city, screening out from where only the hastiness of the sojourner and the wavering lights and shadows on the streets while capturing that cool and brisk flavour of solitude in the passing of time as seeping out from a kind of interlocked, jagged, intricate and disorderly images; the artist was absolutely not lured to the bustling temptations of the foreign country as those seen in the media.

　　Then he switches to the enormous mountains and the huge network of water bodies, full of clouds welling and waves rising, bespoke the spirit of vastness, extensive and voluminous. He has stepped out of the hustle and bustle of the metropolis, spirited away in the wonderful sights of both the West and his beloved China, elated with excitement over the new perspective he has so gained. He has totally changed the world of views inside him, yet there are no wanton or unbridled moves in the way he paints; he still relies on the steadfastness of his will power to master it all with ease.

　　Having gone through the above round of immersion in the macroscopic realm, Kang changes again from the vastness of nature to the exquisite and meticulous ways of it. Upon numerous attempts and trials he finally focuses his attention on the area of plants, including flowers and fruits in the fields and the landscape. This step has taken him a longer time to brood over, and I presume there has been more of thinking to do on his part. If the viewers base their imagination solely on the words I write here, they might mistake Kang for an artist who is constantly in the midst of changes only. In fact, this is just part of the picture where his artistic style advances. On the other hand--or perhaps a more important aspect it is, which, as an opposite but unifying aspect, exists persistently through the various phrases of his career interlacing all the changing features in the style of his works, and I would call it “reflections of clear purity”.

　　Artist Kang Chung is quiet and calm in his disposition, rare these days as he is able to keep his emotions under reins using his reasoning capacity; he is cautious in solitude and independent in will, therefore on the canvas he persistently masters the myriad features of nature through precision, although unavoidably retaining an air of being over cautious out of habit. Nonetheless, “like drinking water, only the individual who drinks the water knows if it is too hot or too cold.” This yardstick of manoeuvre is, of course, best mastered by the artist. We can see from here the development of his artistic journey through the conflicts he faces before and after changes are made.

　　An enormous change without change has really arrived, and this is what we should be able to observe or should be happy to notice in this exhibition. It has taken place only in the recent years, and it is rooted in the change and the final choice of the environment to live in. Kang and Alice have lived in the yonder shores across the ocean for over thirty years. Thanks to those thirty strong years, Kang has lived and worked independently, persevered while his spirit has been high and his talents flared. At a turning point in life when Kang celebrated his 60th birthday, he has succeeded in forging himself into an artist in whom Western and Chinese cultures exist in harmony while deep down, he is more a painter with distinct local colours. Although the two of them often flew back to their home country like a pair of swallows, flying home to the south; by this point in time, the decision was made to move back for good and live in their old hometown in Guangzhou with deliberate arrangements and orderly preparations made along the way. They often took part in art events and activities in Dongguan, Luogang, and the Pearl River Delta, starting anew and entering into artistic circles where old friends and young pals mingle; freely and relaxed they travelled in the mountains and waters in southern China.

　　The old and new faces of friends started Kang thinking and reminiscing; the warmth of the home town was there for him to happily embrace. Nowadays, we can no longer simply quote the ancient poet Tao Yuanming’s line “birds know to return home when they are fatigued from flying” to describe the coming and going of people in the modern time. Nonetheless, Kang has securely anchored the focus of his inner being on his heart at home. Unfortunately, Alice has passed away due to sickness. That pair of swallows which originally started their long haul journey from here--now she rests in peace in the old home in their native land. How heavy is this blow and excruciating the pain! Yet Kang has not been dragged down. Her faith has fused into his heart at home, which has turned into the eternal light for his inner reflection.

　　Not long ago, Kang Chung has finished a publication which is the collection of his latest works with text contents titled “Green Space—Infinite Memories”. This serves as an attempt for the artist to review and reach a conclusion via looking back at his own artistic journey as the new stretch begins at the point he turned 60. It is both the crystallization of the deep love of the swallow couple and the revelation of his space of perception. I believe it is also a very good overture to his latest exhibition soon to be launched in Beijing. The artist writes in his album:

　　“Apart from being driven by the primitive love for the homeland, there is one more important point and that is the eye of an artist who has left home and ventured far bringing with him a Chinese cultural background to journey in the western art scene for 30 years to capture and express what he sees as the special features of the scenery and sights native to the land in Lingnan in south China--that brand new vision of a genre of landscape painting of the country side wherein eastern poetic sensitivity blends with western rational analysis. If I only adopt the direct documentation way to paint and draw beautiful objects in the fields, my works would lose their meaning in terms of artistic exploration should this new vision as the pivot be missing.”

　　Following the hint given by the author himself, we enter into his works of a “new vision”, and there we can see two kinds of aspects looking up and down the “Green Space” of Kang’s. The first kind consists of the large pieces wherein the green spreading all over the country side takes centre stage, the green which the artist calls “Lingnan Green”-- clear, serene, pure and dense. In it are found the richness of plant lives sprawling all over the landscape and the network of water bodies, the calm mirror-like lakes serenely sitting under the fragrant snow like flowers, the little abodes for humans spotting the green hills hiding among dense hanging branches which make them almost invisible, and the small boats moored at the far edges of the rivers and network of water bodies. All these pieces would appear to be similar to those commonly seen scenery fit for sketches but when savoured closely, they simply are not. From them we can recall those earlier, spectacularly voluminous pieces of Kang’s works showing vast and extensive views of the huge mountains and large water bodies; from them we can arrive at an understanding of the situations with the new and the familiar juxtaposed in disorder which the artist has come across over the recent years as he went in and out of the new sights of his old homeland. Over all, this is the realm of searching for the lofty and the macroscopic. Although there is no lacking in challenges as outside light is being used in oil painting here, a glimpse of new opportunities can be seen seeping through this aspect in the process of the artist’s exploration.

　　The other aspect involves the small pieces of his works which share an intense gaze and focused observations on paper. Again, people perhaps would mistake them for old style still-life paintings of flowers and fruits. In fact, again, they are not. To me, this is where we see the sublimation of Kang’s artistic language and his inner spirit. Those flowers and fruits drew painstakingly bit by bit and stroke by stroke using pastel and colour pencils in fact mark Kang’s mastery of the techniques: his repertoire is wide, his substance full bodied, his hand performs with ease and he is in total control. There is the ripeness of life forms in nature, the deeply moving praises for the homeland in the country side, as well as the revelation of the ways of the creative forces of Nature—and for this very last point here the line by a poet of the Jin Dynasty could be quoted as a footnote to this enthusiasm: “Truth will reveal itself when it meets the eyes”, “Their novelty it is that chimes in with me”. **

　　In the area of techniques, his latest works involve drawing in colors which is different from painting--despite the use of colors that is. The two are not the same in nature, and this is the success resulting from hard labour on the part of the artist as he diligently studied and developed his artist skills over the years. The exquisite precision in this quality technique cannot be mistaken for the trifling skills of a scribe. It is the sweet fruit of success only Kang has mastered sculpting spirit out of and breathing life into the ordinary and the common place, as against the fads of vulgarity and bad taste prevalent in the materialistic world of today.

　　Placed here alongside the contemporary painting styles of our times for observation, “Green Space” is a new vision picked from the soil of the homeland through the heart of love for the natal home. We are now living in cities in crowded and noisy building blocks far removed from the scenery of nature, seldom even get to see flowers under the morning dews, rarely get to glance up and take a good look at a corner of the clear bright sky-- not to mention the sighting of the silhouette of a pair of swallows. People are more accustomed to turning on the computers or cell phones, searching for everything in the constantly changing cyber world on screens big or small, only to be under its control.

　　Of course I am not saying that people of this modern age can do without the latest products of the advancement of our materialist culture; what I am trying to say is that we should not allow our inner world to be totally trapped by them. Fortunately, there are people who have already started to break away from such self inflicted imprisonment, and are searching for a place where nature and human beings are warmly connected in harmony. Kang probably has been making similar efforts with a will to reach such a cosy space in his artistic pursuit since his return to live in China. I am deeply touched by his efforts, and with delight, I name this “Preciousness of the Heart At Home” and use it as the title for this article. I would like to dedicate it to all viewers who visit this exhibition.

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　　**Footnote: See the poem “Poem of the Orchid Kiosk” by Wang Xizhi of the Jin Dynasty:

　　Looking up, the azure sky meets the eyes,

　　Looking down, the emerald edges of the shallow shore shines;

　　Spaced out to infinity the Cosmo seemed boundless,

　　Truth will reveal itself when it meets the eyes.

　　How wonderful and great are nature’s creations--

　　Same it is with all and every being in myriad beauty.

　　Nature’s tunes and melodies, though differ--

　　Their novelty it is that chimes in with me.”

　　Zhong Han is an artist and Professor of Central Institute of Fine Art, Beijing

　　English Translation: Ingrid Tsang, Hong Kong