展期 Period：
2024.4.5—2024.5.19
艺术家 Artist：
卡尔-海因茨·阿德勒 Karl-Heinz Adler、李迪 Li Di
策展人 Curator：
地点 Venue：
狮語画廊 Leo Gallery（上海）
前言 Foreword：
《跨文化系统：卡尔-海因茨·阿德勒 & 李迪对话展》由狮語画廊策划，由艺术史学家特雷莎·德·阿鲁达（Tereza de Arruda）担任策展人，将展出两位艺术家的精选作品。这也是两位艺术家的作品在共同背景语境下的首次并置呈现。
卡尔-海因茨·阿德勒（Karl-Heinz Adler，1927年出生于德国雷门特格林，2018 年卒于德国德累斯顿）和李迪（1963年出生于中国内蒙古）是两位在不同文化背景和艺术传统中成长的艺术家，但他们的创作与生活却有着有趣的交集。他们作为艺术家出生和受教的两个国家都有着密切的社会-政治-文化关系。总体而言，民主德国与中国文化上的关系反映了他们所处时代更广泛的地缘政治动态，其特点便是社会主义国家之间的团结。文化交流是促进两国相互理解与合作的一种手段。两位画家都是在相似的背景前提下开始接受艺术教育的。20世纪中后期，德意志民主共和国（DDR）和中国的绘画美学都是在不同的地区背景下形成的，并构成了反映各自社会的独特视觉风格：主要是具象和表现，强调清晰、直白、易于向观众传达视觉信息。对社会代表人物和风景的写实描绘是常常出现的题材，其风格往往让人联想到 19 世纪的学院派
在完成了类似的传统学习之后，两位从未谋面的艺术家都发展出了自己的艺术语言和职业生涯。卡尔-海因茨·阿德勒致力于与具体艺术（Concrete Art）相关的抽象艺术，以几何构图和对形式、色彩、动态、光学效果和空间的探索著称，其作品强调数学的精确性和形式上的实验性。李迪也专注于表现几何、抽象以及形式与空间之间的关系，通过简单姿态的重复唤起一种灵性与和谐感。对于这两位艺术家来说，从社会主义现实主义（Socialist Realism）过渡到具体抽象艺术（Concrete Abstract Art），代表着他们转向对艺术形式元素的探索，将抽象作为超越了字面解释和再现、传达复杂思想和感觉的一种手段。这两位艺术家通过限制色彩范围（通常是黑白两色，其次是正色），将观众的注意力引导到作品的几何形状、线条和构图上，这在抽象具体艺术中司空见惯。没有了各种色彩的干扰，观众的注意力就会集中在作品内部的结构元素与空间关系上。
八十年代末，李迪赴德留学，师从瓦尔特·达恩（Walter Dahn），就读于布伦瑞克美术学院（Hochschule für Bildende Künste）。自2010年以来，他一直生活在布伦瑞克和北京之间，他不仅有机会见证了德国的统一及其影响，也有体验到德国当代艺术的文化性与艺术性上的问题。《跨文化系统：卡尔-海因茨·阿德勒 & 李迪对话展》是一个重要的里程碑——它不仅首次以并置展出的形式回顾了两位艺术家创作生涯的多系列作品，作为卡尔-海因茨·阿德勒在中国的第一次展出，本次展览亦是一个加强跨文化对话的特别机会。
展览的策展研究和作品选择由艺术构成的视觉冲击力为主要考量。这些作品都以非线性的路径发展，但都充满了艺术承诺和自我探索——这是因为两位艺术家都渴望超越他们原初的疆域背景，不断拓展他们的潜力。本次展览侧重于来自不同视角的对话，包括各种布面与纸面绘画、木质拼贴画和摄影作品。展览中的墙面作品则通过卡尔-海因茨·阿德勒和弗里德里希·克拉希特（Friedrich Kracht）设计的前民主德国建筑外墙反映了公共空间中的艺术实现。铸模的混凝土砌块系统以巨大的规模点缀着城市全景。它们成为通过建筑介入形成的历史与文化遗产的永恒象征，构成了民族集体记忆的一部分，如今又在上海——这座体现了历史遗产与当代创新的独特并置、由传统构成的现代城市——这场独特的对话中实现了意义的延伸。
特雷莎·德·阿鲁达
2024年2月于柏林
The exhibition Intercultural Systems: Karl-Heinz Adler and Li Di in Dialogue conceived for the Leo Gallery and curated by the art historian Tereza de Arruda presents a selection of works by both artists, who are for the first time presented in a common context.
Karl-Heinz Adler (1927 Remtengrün - 2018 Dresden/Germany) and Li Di (1963 North China) are two artists from different cultural backgrounds and artistic traditions, but their work and lives intersect in interesting ways. They were born and educated as artists in two countries with strong socio-political-cultural relationship. Overall, the relationship between the DDR and China in cultural aspects reflected the broader geopolitical dynamics of their era, characterized by solidarity among socialist countries. Cultural exchanges served as a means of promoting mutual understanding and cooperation between the two nations. Both painters started their artistic education under a similar premises. The aesthetic in the painting of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and China during the mid to late 20th century was shaped by distinct local contexts, resulting in unique visual styles reflective of the respective societies: largely figurative and representational, with an emphasis on clear, straightforward imagery that could easily convey visual messages to the viewers. Realistic portrayals of social representants, and landscapes were common, often rendered in a style reminiscent of 19th-century academic painting.
After finishing a similar traditional study, both artists who never met each other personally, developed comparable own artistic language and career. Karl-Heinz Adler dedicated himself to the abstract art associated with the Concrete Art movement, known for his geometric compositions and exploration of form, color, dynamic, optical effect and space in compositions emphasizing mathematical precision and formal experimentation. Li Di focused himself also to the representation of geometry, abstraction, and the relationship between form and the space evoking a sense of spirituality and harmony through the repetition of simple gestures. For both artists transitioning from Socialist Realism to Concrete Abstract Art represented a shift towards exploration of the formal elements of art using abstraction as a means of conveying complex ideas and sensations that transcend literal interpretation and representation. By restricting the range of colors - usually black and white followed by their nuances - as usual in abstract concrete art, both artists direct the viewer's attention to the geometric shapes, lines, and composition of the artwork. Without the distraction of a wide array of colors, the viewer is more likely to engage with the structural elements and spatial relationships within the piece.
Li Di moved at the end of the 80`ies to Germany to study with Walter Dahn, at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig. Since 2010 he has lived between Braunschweig and Beijing,having the chance to experience not just the reunification of Germany and its consequences, but also the cultural and artistic issues of German Contemporary Art. The exhibition Intercultural Systems - Karl-Heinz Adler and Li Di in Dialogue is an important milestone not just to review the oeuvre of both artists presented side by side for the first time but also as an unique opportunity to intensify the transcultural dialogue presenting works by Karl-Heinz Adler for the first time in China.
The curatorial research and selection of the works was guided by the visual impact of the artistic compositions developed in a non-linear path, but full of commitment and self-investigation due to the desire of both artists to expand their potential beyond their original universes and backgrounds. The focus here is on dialogues made up of different perspectives in a variety of paintings on canvas and paper, assemblages on wood and photographs. These images represent the realisation of art in public spaces through the facades of buildings in the former DDR designed by Karl-Heinz Adler and Friedrich Kracht. Moulded concrete block system punctuated the urban panorama on a monumental scale. They became enduring symbols of historical significance, cultural heritage, and architectural intervention composing the collective memory and now expanding its significance in this unique dialogue in Shanghai – a modern city composed of tradition, embodies a unique juxtaposition of historical heritage and contemporary innovation.
Tereza de Arruda, curator
Berlin, February 2024
