展期 Period：
2024.3.16—2024.5.4
艺术家 Artist：
地点 Venue：
新闻稿 Press Release：
具象且凝练的人物造型，富于变化而高纯度的色彩运用，以及繁复密集的画面信息，展现着画家持续思索的证据。从2018年以来，张弓开始将宗教题材系统地作为思考和创作上的通路，借此获得个体启示以及对未来可能的启迪。我们由此见证了画家于创作中的转变，即由从外部的吸收和沟通，逐步地转向对内部的省思和探求，通过对基督教题材的研读和再创作，借此对世界文化运行中的某些底色和机理加以描绘。
展览题目“冬有时”是对时间性的指称，也是对冬天终将过去，春天必将到的期许，映照着展览所处的季节与对社会情景的隐喻。在此次展览中，张弓不仅持续深化了近年来其个人对宗教史经典的关注，更将其绘画的触角延伸至更为多样的形式实践中。在这些作品中，我们常常能看到一个位于中央，且占据画面和故事主体的“主角”。在艺术家的笔下，他们常常以迅疾的姿态，仿佛从遥远的画面之外奔涌而来，并向着画面外的目的地坚定前行，他们的行为与动态仿佛正带来改变世间的力量。画中形象展现出的那些迫切行为和动态能量，又或者在排除掉一切纷扰后的平静与安宁，由此共塑出极大的张力。
于《来了8》（2022）中，马匹夸张抬起的四肢，铅笔线条所暗示的巨大动势，仿佛因其速度所席卷的天地众生，都提示出象征着饥荒的黑马骑士飞驰向前时不容置疑的强大气势。《一粒麦子》（2023）中，成熟的麦子压弯了枝腰，坠落的麦粒成为死亡和新生的象征，而太阳的五彩斑斓的光芒俯照大地，仿佛世间一切即将重启。而在另一些如《唯一》（2020）、《我的灵8》（2021）、《爱1》（2023）等作品中，则将坚定、爱与希望的主旨加以交织和传递。
张弓在这些绘画中，充分调用了油彩、丙烯、铅笔、油画棒、刮刀等媒材，虽仍借用了动漫画等样式中以硬边勾勒造型的方法，却超越了传统意义上动漫画惯常采用的赛璐璐平涂方式，将其丰富为描绘具体内容时可供创造性使用的工具。厚重而细致的点状、线条与色彩，使得原本接近“扁平化”的画面中生发出如浮雕般立体的形象、光影与物质感。而在更为深入的画面细节中，动漫画在涂画上原本所追求的快速和经济性则在张弓的创作中反转为一种漫长而勤恳的劳作：艺术家事无巨细地在堪称小巧的画布上描绘光影中波涛纹路的起伏不定，每一片枝叶的色泽变化乃至其上的反光，让人感到绘画者对绘画和其意欲言说之事的虔诚。
The figurative and concise character portrayals, the varied and highly pure use of color, and the intricate density of visual information all serve as evidence of the painter's ongoing contemplation. Since 2018, Zhang Gong has systematically incorporated religious themes as a pathway for reflection and creation, gaining individual insights and potential enlightenment for the future. We witness the painter's transition in his work, moving from external absorption and communication to internal reflection and exploration, depicting certain underlying tones and mechanisms of world culture through the study and reinterpretation of Christian themes.
The exhibition title "Winter Will End" refers to temporality and also expresses the expectation that winter will eventually pass, and spring will inevitably come, reflecting the season of the exhibition and metaphorically alluding to societal circumstances. In this exhibition, Zhang Gong not only deepens his personal focus on religious history classics in recent years but also extends the tentacles of his painting to richer art history and more diverse forms of practice. In these works, we often see a "protagonist" positioned centrally, occupying the frame and the narrative. Under the artist's brush, they often appear with swift gestures, as if surging from a distant image, steadfastly advancing towards their destination beyond the frame, their actions and dynamics seemingly bringing about a transformative force in the world. The urgent actions and dynamic energy depicted in the figures or the calm and tranquility after eliminating all distractions create immense tension.
In "Advent 8" (2022), the exaggerated limbs of the horses and the immense momentum implied by the pencil lines suggest the undeniable power of the black horseman symbolizing famine as he gallops forward. In "The Grain of Wheat" (2023), mature wheat bends its waist, fallen grains become symbols of death and rebirth, while the colorful rays of the sun illuminate the earth, as if everything is about to restart. In other works such as "The Only" (2020), "My Soul 8" (2021), and "Love 1" (2023), themes of determination, love, and hope are intertwined and conveyed.
In these paintings, Zhang Gong fully utilizes media such as oil, acrylic, pencil, oil pastel, and scraper. While still employing the method of hard-edged outlining of shapes seen in styles like manga, he transcends the flat application commonly used in traditional manga by enriching it as a creative tool for depicting specific content. The thick and intricate dots, lines, and colors give rise to three-dimensional images, light, and materiality in what was originally close to "flat" images. In the deeper details of the images, the speed and economy pursued in manga painting are reversed into a long and diligent labor in Zhang Gong's creation: the artist meticulously depicts the fluctuating patterns of light and shadow on the seemingly small canvas, the changes in color of every leaf, and even the reflections on them, conveying the painter's devoutness to the art and the intended message.
