展期 Period：
2024.6.8—2024.8.18
艺术家 Artist：
地点 Venue：
前言 Introduction：
上海——藝術⾨荣幸呈现展览《究极：张汲个展》，此次展览以个案研究的⽅式，梳理了艺术家张汲最新的艺术创作《真理之⽪》和《Ultima(究极)》。艺术家借由宗教修⾏式的⾏为到达艺术创作的临界点，在重复与精准的创作过程中，完成⼀次次以⾁⾝铸就的精神冥想。
艺术创作于张汲⽽⾔，被视为⼀种与⾃我调解的过程，类似于个⼈修⾏式的“格物正⼼”。艺术家注重于将古代宗教建筑⾥的图案，提取为指向绘画抽象性的⼀个媒介物，⽤颜料浮雕的反绘画语⾔替代笔触，以物理实验的⽅式提炼出⼀种不是绘画的绘画。
如此，艺术家必须在绘画过程中竭⼒压制“我”的主观意志对画⾯的控制，进⽽追求⼀种“忘我”的状态，但是⼜不能完全没有控制⽽使画⾯成为⽆意识的涂鸦；在此过程中，既不能将物象和材料仅仅当作陈述⾃⼰观念的⼯具，极端地把作品视为⾃我精神的投射，也不能将其看成纯粹的物质客体，⽽修⾏式的精神冥想则是平衡两者，以到达临界点的关键。
张汲在艺术创作中使⽤⼤量的油画颜料，以特制的⽓动式注射器，在画布上塑造出如浅浮雕般的厚重感。选定的图案作为最⼩图像单元，重复排列为⼤幅⼿绘图案，再经扫描后被投射于画布；随后他⼿持灌满颜料的⽓动式注射器，将画⾯中的线条加以勾勒和填充，直⾄完成整个画⾯的覆盖。在整个严苛的创作过程中，艺术家秉持近乎苦⾏僧的匠⼈精神，坚持对亲⾝实践的⾝体性的极端追求。
此次展览的《真理之⽪》系列始于2011年，源⾃艺术家⼉时在教堂写⽣时，对其繁复装饰浮雕图案的记忆，后来⼜延伸到世界各地古⽼的宗教艺术，如清真寺、天主教堂、印度寺庙和佛教寺庙等，艺术家通过提取这些建筑⾥的图案作为指向绘画抽象性的⼀个媒介物。张汲曾亲⾝⾛访诸多宗教建筑，以实地的⾁⾝感受来完善⾃⼰的艺术创作，在本次展览中，多件作品都基于他在⻄班⽛实地拍摄或现场素描的装饰图案。张汲曾⾛访的建筑包括科尔多⽡的⼤清真寺、格拉纳达的阿尔罕布拉宫和⼤教堂、塞维利亚的阿尔卡萨尔宫以及阿尔巴公爵皇宫等。
展览展出的另⼀个系列作品是《Ultima(究极)》，此系列是从《真理之⽪》系列向绝对抽象的⼀次⾃我进化，是从对绘画性的执着，转向绘画性背后动因机制逻辑的蜕变。画⾯所提供的图型是⼀个假象，艺术家在⽇常创作过程中所得到的⾃由状态和冥想的境界，⽐眼睛所直观看到的图像样式更为重要。艺术家在此系列作品的创作过程中，尽可能捕捉绘画背后的动机逻辑，⽽这个逻辑不是靠推理和论证，⽽是从⼈的亲⾝感受出发，凭借直观的体验和领悟，对世界万物的整体性把握。
Shanghai—Pearl Lam is delighted to announce Ultima, an upcoming solo exhibition by Zhang Ji that showcases the artist’s latest series of works, titled The Skin of Truth and Ultima, with a case study approach. The artist has arrived at the threshold of art creation through the act of religious practice; in the repetitive and precise creation processes, he accomplishes a spiritual meditation forged by the flesh.
For Zhang, art creation is a process of self-meditation, akin to a personal practice of “investigating natures and principles and rectifying the mind”. He focuses on extracting motifs from ancient religious architecture and references them through abstract painting, replacing brushstrokes with an antipainting language of paint relief. Through experimentation, he distils a form of painting that defies conventional painting practices.
In this way, the artist must strive to suppress his subjective will over the picture in the painting process to pursue a state of “selflessness”. Yet, he cannotrelinquish control entirely so as notto risk the painting becoming unconscious scribbling. Throughout this process, he neither treats objects and materials solely as tools for expressing personal ideas nor views his works as merely projections of one’s own spirit. Nor does he regard them as pure material objects. Hence, spiritual meditation serves to balance these aspects, becoming a crucial factor in reaching the “threshold”.
Zhang largely employs oil paint and uses a specially designed pneumatic injector to create a sense of thickness that is akin to low reliefs in his paintings. Selected motifs as the smallest image units are repetitively arranged into larger hand-drawn subjects, which are then scanned and projected onto the canvas. Zhang then holds the pneumatic injector filled with paint and outlines and fills the lines in the picture until the entire canvas is covered. Throughout the rigorous creation process, the artist upholds an almost ascetic craftsmanship, persistently pursuing hands-on embodiment.
The series The Skin of Truth on show in this exhibition began in 2011. It originated from the artist’s early memories of intricate decorative reliefs in churches that he drew as a child. This inspiration was later expanded to encompass ancient religious art from around the world, such as mosques, Catholic churches, Hindu temples, and Buddhist temples. The artist extracts motifs from these architectural sites,referencing them through abstract painting.Zhang visited numerous religious architectural places of interest to enhance his art creation through firsthand sensory experiences. Many of the works showcased in this exhibition are derived from decorative motifs he photographed or sketched on-site in Spain. Some of the architecture Zhang visited include the Great Mosque of Córdoba, the Alhambra palace and cathedral in Granada, the Alcázar and Palacio de las Dueñas in Seville.
Ultima, the other series of works in the exhibition, reflects the artist’s self-evolution from The Skin of Truth towards absolute abstraction. It signifies a transition from an emphasis on pictoriality to an exploration of the underlying motivational logic behind painting. Nonetheless, the imagery depicted in the paintings serves as an illusion; the free state and meditative realm attained by the artist in the everyday creation processes are more significantthan the images perceived by the eye. Throughoutthe creation of this series, the artist strives to capture the logic of motivation behind painting to the largest extent possible. This logic is not derived from reasoning or argumentation, but rather emanates from personal experiences, intuitive insights, and a holistic understanding of the world.
