打開城市 劉漢澄的死硬派寫生
梁寶山
《火炭廣角全景（城門上河圖）》Fotan Panorama (Shing Mun River)
先見其畫，再見其人──這位八十後藝術家筆下的風景，的確為狹迫的香港環境，帶來陌生又開闊的城市想像。
第一次遇見劉漢澄的畫，是在一個大型聯展上。長共兩米的橫幅diptych，把一河兩岸的樓海與山巒、以至近在咫尺的天台階磚盡現眼前，似曾相識的風景， 怎也道不出個所以然來。在火炭大廈的樓頂，畫家竟能見山是山，為觀者重新打開一度依山傍水的城市風景。連同同時展出的《沙田(二)》，高彩度但刻意壓縮色 溫的畫法，雖明顯仍在摸索階段，但在同類相吸的油畫展上脫穎而出。
都說近年香港藝術市場蓬勃，催生出專事「乖畫」的年青藝術家。劉漢澄這種大器的就地寫生，簡直反其道而行。更令我出乎意料的是，畫家不單沒有工作室，畫作全部都在實地完成，而且還是個二十出頭的女孩。
能夠以這種與別不同的視角回看我們熟悉的城市，原來正與Claire的成長背境有關。爸媽留學巴黎，Claire 是在異地所生的第一個孩子。後來二人回港，但 Claire 卻選擇獨自遠赴美國東部小鎮 Amherst 一所著名的 liberal arts college 就讀。不斷易遷與獨立自理的成長經驗，生活環境裡矚目的高山平原，養成她對樹木情有獨鍾，亦造就了她無論在技法與視野上都與其同代人與別不同的視覺。
又或者，都只是因為我們忽略了在講求每回都石破天驚的當代藝術底下，仍有一種細水長流的物種，叫做繪畫。它不一定日新月異、不屑撲捉眼球，卻又不一定賞心 悅目，頑固地繼續在古老的媒界裡發掘未知的可能性。透過Claire，我更認識到一批對我來說相當陌生的名字：Rackstraw Downes、Stanley Lewis、Gideon Bok、Sangram Majumdar、Sébastien Mahon。這些畫家要麼就是堅持戶外寫生的老頭，要麼就是窩在工作室內以微觀或壓縮的視角展現日常之中視而不見的細節。他們的共通點除了清一色是男性 外，還有就是都在抽象以外，卻又不能簡單被歸類為寫實主義之內。
Claire畫齡雖短，但這次展出的作品都是對留美時期畫風的刻意突破。從近於表現主義、筆觸短快的 sketchy 風格，到講求以面塊與用色組合構成整體畫面，Claire 筆下的油彩世界，其實近更於 dead-pan photography 那種身在其中，卻又算當抽離的觀察和詭異的呈現。
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梁寶山：殖民地最後一代大學生。唸藝術，卻以記者身份見證回歸。曾為「Para/Site藝術空間」、「獨立媒體(香港)」成員。現為香港中文大學文化研究博士生，以及「香港文化監察」創會成員。評論文章見於《信報》、《獨立媒體》、《號外》、《藝術界》等。
第一次遇見劉漢澄的畫，是在一個大型聯展上。長共兩米的橫幅diptych，把一河兩岸的樓海與山巒、以至近在咫尺的天台階磚盡現眼前，似曾相識的風景， 怎也道不出個所以然來。在火炭大廈的樓頂，畫家竟能見山是山，為觀者重新打開一度依山傍水的城市風景。連同同時展出的《沙田(二)》，高彩度但刻意壓縮色 溫的畫法，雖明顯仍在摸索階段，但在同類相吸的油畫展上脫穎而出。
都說近年香港藝術市場蓬勃，催生出專事「乖畫」的年青藝術家。劉漢澄這種大器的就地寫生，簡直反其道而行。更令我出乎意料的是，畫家不單沒有工作室，畫作全部都在實地完成，而且還是個二十出頭的女孩。
能夠以這種與別不同的視角回看我們熟悉的城市，原來正與Claire的成長背境有關。爸媽留學巴黎，Claire 是在異地所生的第一個孩子。後來二人回港，但 Claire 卻選擇獨自遠赴美國東部小鎮 Amherst 一所著名的 liberal arts college 就讀。不斷易遷與獨立自理的成長經驗，生活環境裡矚目的高山平原，養成她對樹木情有獨鍾，亦造就了她無論在技法與視野上都與其同代人與別不同的視覺。
又或者，都只是因為我們忽略了在講求每回都石破天驚的當代藝術底下，仍有一種細水長流的物種，叫做繪畫。它不一定日新月異、不屑撲捉眼球，卻又不一定賞心 悅目，頑固地繼續在古老的媒界裡發掘未知的可能性。透過Claire，我更認識到一批對我來說相當陌生的名字：Rackstraw Downes、Stanley Lewis、Gideon Bok、Sangram Majumdar、Sébastien Mahon。這些畫家要麼就是堅持戶外寫生的老頭，要麼就是窩在工作室內以微觀或壓縮的視角展現日常之中視而不見的細節。他們的共通點除了清一色是男性 外，還有就是都在抽象以外，卻又不能簡單被歸類為寫實主義之內。
Claire畫齡雖短，但這次展出的作品都是對留美時期畫風的刻意突破。從近於表現主義、筆觸短快的 sketchy 風格，到講求以面塊與用色組合構成整體畫面，Claire 筆下的油彩世界，其實近更於 dead-pan photography 那種身在其中，卻又算當抽離的觀察和詭異的呈現。
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梁寶山：殖民地最後一代大學生。唸藝術，卻以記者身份見證回歸。曾為「Para/Site藝術空間」、「獨立媒體(香港)」成員。現為香港中文大學文化研究博士生，以及「香港文化監察」創會成員。評論文章見於《信報》、《獨立媒體》、《號外》、《藝術界》等。
Opening the City: ‘Dead-pan’ Vision of Claire Lau’s Oil Painting
By Leung Po Shan, Anthony
I first saw the paintings, then met the artist. Under the brushworks of this 80s-born artist, the cramped surroundings of Hong Kong become wide and unfamiliar urban spaces of imagination.
The first time I saw Lau’s paintings was at a large scale group exhibition. In the 2-meter-wide diptych, a river is banked by a sea of buildings and mountain ranges. The tiled railings in the foreground give way to an outlook from a rooftop. The scene is familiar, yet somehow difficult to pinpoint. It turns out that from the top of a skyscraper in Fotan, the artist reveals to us the unexpected but ordinary presence of mountains and water to support a refreshing cityscape. Exhibiting together was Shatin II (p. 49), painted with a color pallet of high-saturation but deliberately compressed hue. These different uses of color seemed to indicate an exploratory phase, but among the paintings of the exhibition, these works stood out.
Everyone says that Hong Kong’s art market is flourishing, with young artists specialized in producing “nice” works. Lau’s skilled way of painting en plein air is the exact opposite of this trend. What really surprised me was that the artist not only completes all paintings on site without a studio, but is also a 20-something-year-old girl.
upbringing. Her parents studied in Paris, and so she was born abroad as their first child. The family eventually returned to Hong Kong, but Claire then decided to go off on her own to the East Coast of the United States, studying at a renowned liberal arts college in the small town of Amherst. Through her mobile and independent life experiences, she became drawn to mountains and fields, became passionate about trees, and developed skills and visions that are different from those of her contemporaries.
Or perhaps, among our constant search for breakthroughs in the contemporary art scene, we have forgotten the existence of a small but steady stream called painting. It may not be radical or attention grabbing, yet not necessarily delightful to the eyes and the mind. Instead it is a stubborn continuation of a historic medium in which new discoveries can still be made. Through Claire, I was introduced to a series of very unfamiliar names: Rackstraw Downes, Stanley Lewis, Gideon Bok, Sangram Majumdar, Sébastien Mahon. They are either old heads who insist on plein air painting, or individuals that hide in their studios to micro-observe the introspective interior and insignificant details of everyday life. What they have in common, apart from being all male, is that none are abstract painters, yet also cannot simplistically be classified as ‘realists’.
Although Claire’s is still young in her painting career, the works exhibited this time are a great breakthrough since her return from the U.S. From a style that was somewhat akin to expressionism in her former stage, with quick and sketchy brushwork, she has now progressed into a more analytical approach, using planes and color to structure the pictorial space. The painted world under Claire’s brush resembles that of dead-pan photography (in which the viewer is right in the middle of everything), and yet there remains an emotional distance and strangeness that lurks about.
(Translated from Chinese)
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About Leung Po Shan, Antony:
Belonging to the last generation of university students under the colonial rule, Leung studied Fine Arts but witnessed the Handover of Hong Kong as a reporter. She was a member of Para/Site Art Space and In-Media (Hong Kong), and is currently a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the founding member of Hong Kong Culture Monitor. Her essays and commentaries have been published in the Hong Kong Economic Journal, InMedia (Hong Kong), City Magazine, Leap, etc.
I first saw the paintings, then met the artist. Under the brushworks of this 80s-born artist, the cramped surroundings of Hong Kong become wide and unfamiliar urban spaces of imagination.
The first time I saw Lau’s paintings was at a large scale group exhibition. In the 2-meter-wide diptych, a river is banked by a sea of buildings and mountain ranges. The tiled railings in the foreground give way to an outlook from a rooftop. The scene is familiar, yet somehow difficult to pinpoint. It turns out that from the top of a skyscraper in Fotan, the artist reveals to us the unexpected but ordinary presence of mountains and water to support a refreshing cityscape. Exhibiting together was Shatin II (p. 49), painted with a color pallet of high-saturation but deliberately compressed hue. These different uses of color seemed to indicate an exploratory phase, but among the paintings of the exhibition, these works stood out.
Everyone says that Hong Kong’s art market is flourishing, with young artists specialized in producing “nice” works. Lau’s skilled way of painting en plein air is the exact opposite of this trend. What really surprised me was that the artist not only completes all paintings on site without a studio, but is also a 20-something-year-old girl.
upbringing. Her parents studied in Paris, and so she was born abroad as their first child. The family eventually returned to Hong Kong, but Claire then decided to go off on her own to the East Coast of the United States, studying at a renowned liberal arts college in the small town of Amherst. Through her mobile and independent life experiences, she became drawn to mountains and fields, became passionate about trees, and developed skills and visions that are different from those of her contemporaries.
Or perhaps, among our constant search for breakthroughs in the contemporary art scene, we have forgotten the existence of a small but steady stream called painting. It may not be radical or attention grabbing, yet not necessarily delightful to the eyes and the mind. Instead it is a stubborn continuation of a historic medium in which new discoveries can still be made. Through Claire, I was introduced to a series of very unfamiliar names: Rackstraw Downes, Stanley Lewis, Gideon Bok, Sangram Majumdar, Sébastien Mahon. They are either old heads who insist on plein air painting, or individuals that hide in their studios to micro-observe the introspective interior and insignificant details of everyday life. What they have in common, apart from being all male, is that none are abstract painters, yet also cannot simplistically be classified as ‘realists’.
Although Claire’s is still young in her painting career, the works exhibited this time are a great breakthrough since her return from the U.S. From a style that was somewhat akin to expressionism in her former stage, with quick and sketchy brushwork, she has now progressed into a more analytical approach, using planes and color to structure the pictorial space. The painted world under Claire’s brush resembles that of dead-pan photography (in which the viewer is right in the middle of everything), and yet there remains an emotional distance and strangeness that lurks about.
(Translated from Chinese)
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About Leung Po Shan, Antony:
Belonging to the last generation of university students under the colonial rule, Leung studied Fine Arts but witnessed the Handover of Hong Kong as a reporter. She was a member of Para/Site Art Space and In-Media (Hong Kong), and is currently a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the founding member of Hong Kong Culture Monitor. Her essays and commentaries have been published in the Hong Kong Economic Journal, InMedia (Hong Kong), City Magazine, Leap, etc.