《演變中的自治》當代繪畫的媒介、思想與方法敦煌特展

Autonomy in Evolution: Media, Thought, and Method in Contemporary Painting — A Special Exhibition at Dunhuang

策 展 張 濤

General Director Zhang Tao

學術(shù)主持 尤 洋

Academic Chair You Yang

參展藝術(shù)家

Participating Artists

段建偉 （忻東旺） 鐘飆 王興杰

秦琦 熊莉鈞 黃宇興 張春華 楊悅 彭斯

宋元元 李芃澎 雷波 趙趙 馬文婷 賀勛

張觀鹿 但文杰 冷廣敏 楊揚 郭隆耀 魯桔誦 張愷童

李雙強 劉溪子 羅然 劉陽 卜實 陳國寶

王一帆 張仁杰 方賢晨 魯魯

朱釔名 王珊 郭兆霖

Duan Jianwei (Xin Dongwang) Zhong Biao Wang Xingjie

Qin Qi Xiong Lijun Huang Yuxing Zhang Chunhua Yang Yue Peng Si

Song Yuanyuan Li Pengpeng Lei Bo Zhao Zhao Ma Wenting He Xun

Zhang Guanlu Dan Wenjie Leng Guangmin Yang Yang Guo Longyao Lu Jusong Zhang Kaitong

Li Shuangqiang Liu Xizi Luo Ran Liu Yang Bu Shi Chen Guobao

Wang Yifan Zhang Renjie Fang Xianchen Lu Lu

Zhu Yiming Wang Shan Guo Zhaolin

開 幕 2026.6.16 10:30

Opening 2026.6.16 10:30

展 期 2026.6.16 - 2026.7.28

Duration 2026.6.16 - 2026.7.28

主 辦 藝術(shù)糧倉

Organizer Art Granary

聯(lián)合主辦 南京藝術(shù)學院美術(shù)館

Co-organizer Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts

支持單位 Support Units

X 美術(shù)館

X Museum

敦煌市文博會展事務(wù)中心

Dunhuang Cultural Expo Exhibition Affairs Center

敦煌文博投資有限公司

Dunhuang Cultural Expo Investment Co., Ltd.

展覽總監(jiān) 董鋼

Exhibition Director Dong Gang

策展助理 劉坤 張綾綺

Curatorial Assistant Liu Kun Zhang Lingqi

展覽統(tǒng)籌 何雨潔 孫崇宇

Exhibition Coordinator He Yujie Sun Chongyu

海報設(shè)計 劉陽

Poster Designer Liu Yang

地址 Address

敦煌國際會展中心c館2層

Dunhuang International Convention and Exhibition Center, Hall C, 2nd Floor

前言

文/張濤

在當下的藝術(shù)展覽，我們似乎已經(jīng)習慣了一種敘事：裝置占據(jù)著展廳的中心，影像在暗室中循環(huán)播放，行為成為開幕式的焦點，新媒體藝術(shù)不斷宣告著技術(shù)與觀念的最新突破。與之相比，架上繪畫——這一曾經(jīng)貫穿古典與現(xiàn)代主義時期的“核心媒介”——顯得安靜，甚至有些“不合時宜”。

本展覽無意對這一聲音做出簡單的反駁，而是希望提出另一種觀察：繪畫非但沒有缺席，反而在一場深刻的自我更新中，找到了屬于自己的位置。它不再試圖爭奪敘事的中心，而是構(gòu)建了一套自足的語言體系，以其不可替代的質(zhì)感、溫度與在場感，參與著當代藝術(shù)的多元對話。

這并非一種懷舊的姿態(tài)，也不是對“傳統(tǒng)媒介”的保守捍衛(wèi)。恰恰相反，當代繪畫正在多個方向上同時展開著充滿活力的探索，呈現(xiàn)出幾種相互交織的路徑。

在圖像泛濫的時代重新定義觀看。我們生活在一個圖像過量的時代。屏幕中的影像不斷生成、流動、消失，視覺經(jīng)驗被前所未有的速度所塑造。在這樣的語境下，繪畫與圖像的關(guān)系變得尤為復雜。

一些藝術(shù)家選擇擁抱圖像，將攝影、廣告、網(wǎng)絡(luò)截圖轉(zhuǎn)化為繪畫的語言。但他們的工作并非簡單的復制，而是通過繪畫特有的“時間性”——一筆一劃的緩慢構(gòu)建、色彩的反復推敲、質(zhì)感的層層疊加——為快速流轉(zhuǎn)的圖像賦予了一種不同的存在方式。當一幅畫作在畫布上被反復涂抹、刮擦、重繪，它所承載的便不再是一則“信息”，而是一段時間的沉積。

另一些藝術(shù)家則選擇與圖像保持距離，回歸到更為直接的視覺經(jīng)驗之中。他們畫眼前的事物、記憶中的風景、身體與空間的關(guān)系，試圖在圖像泛濫的時代，重建一種更為樸素、更為真誠的觀看方式。這些作品提醒我們：在算法生成圖像的今天，人的眼睛依然擁有不可替代的溫度。

在多元文化中尋找坐標。繪畫從來不是孤立的技術(shù)實踐，它總是與特定的文化土壤、歷史記憶、精神傳統(tǒng)緊密相連。在今天這個高度流動的世界里，藝術(shù)家們對自身的文化坐標變得更加自覺。這種自覺，并非簡單的“回歸傳統(tǒng)”。當代藝術(shù)家面對傳統(tǒng)的方式，往往是充滿張力與創(chuàng)造性的——他們從古老的東方精神中汲取養(yǎng)分，卻以當代的語言重新表達；他們關(guān)注地域性的材料與技藝，卻將其置于全球性的視野之中；他們回望歷史，卻始終保持著與現(xiàn)實對話的敏感。

在短視頻、信息碎片化潮涌的時代，繪畫成為了一種連接地方與世界、傳統(tǒng)與當下的媒介。它以其與具體文化土壤的深度關(guān)聯(lián)，提供了一種在趨同壓力下依然保持差異性的可能。每一幅畫作背后，都隱約可見一條文化脈絡(luò)的延續(xù)與演變。

物質(zhì)性的回歸與身體經(jīng)驗。在虛擬現(xiàn)實的日益擴張、數(shù)字界面成為主要觀看方式的今天，繪畫的物質(zhì)性獲得了前所未有的意義。它正在經(jīng)歷一場深刻的演變。它的語言在擴展，它的邊界在移動，它的可能性在增加。然而，在這演變之中，繪畫始終保持著某種“自治”——它不是被動的接受者，而是主動的轉(zhuǎn)化者。

繪畫吸收互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的圖像資源，卻賦予它們物質(zhì)性的錨點；繪畫面對AI的挑戰(zhàn)，卻更加清晰地確認了人的價值；繪畫借鑒游戲的空間敘事，卻發(fā)展出屬于自己的觀看方式；繪畫對話動漫的平面美學，卻堅持著物質(zhì)與時間的沉積。這種“自治”，不是封閉與保守，而是在開放中保持自身。它意味著繪畫能夠在與其他媒介的對話中，不斷重新發(fā)現(xiàn)自己，不斷確認那些不可替代的部分。就像敦煌的壁畫，千年來經(jīng)歷了自然的侵蝕、人為的破壞、技術(shù)的介入，卻依然以其獨特的方式存在著，訴說著繪畫這一古老媒介的堅韌與可能。

在敦煌，我們或許能夠以更長的尺度來思考繪畫的命運。那些畫工沒有名字留下，他們的工具早已消失，他們生活的世界也已遠去。但他們留下的筆觸依然在訴說，那些色彩依然在呼吸，那些形象依然在感動著千年之后的觀看者。

媒介會演變，技術(shù)會更新，但有些東西是持久的——人對表達的渴望，手與物質(zhì)的對話，目光在畫面上的停留。繪畫之所以能夠穿越千年，不是因為它的技術(shù)多么先進，而是因為它承載著這些最樸素、最持久的人類經(jīng)驗。

今天的繪畫，正在經(jīng)歷新的演變?；ヂ?lián)網(wǎng)、AI、游戲、動漫，這些新興的媒介與語言，正在豐富著繪畫的可能性，也在促使繪畫重新思考自身的本質(zhì)。這不是一場危機，而是一次機遇——一次重新發(fā)現(xiàn)自己、重新定義自己。演變中的繪畫，依然保持著它的自治。不是因為它與世隔絕，而是因為它知道：在一切變化之中，有些價值是值得守護的——那些關(guān)于手的記憶、關(guān)于時間的沉積、關(guān)于目光的停留、關(guān)于人的存在。

在敦煌，面對千年壁畫，我們看到的不僅是過去，也是未來。繪畫的故事還在繼續(xù)，而我們有幸成為這個故事的見證者。

本展覽試圖呈現(xiàn)的，正是這種演變中的自治。它不是對過去的懷舊，也不是對未來的預(yù)言，而是對當下的凝視——在媒介交匯的時代，繪畫如何保持自身，又如何在演變中生長。

今天，當我們將“當代繪畫”置于敦煌這一特殊的場域，當我們面對一個被互聯(lián)網(wǎng)、人工智能、游戲與動漫深刻重塑的視覺世界，繪畫正在經(jīng)歷一場前所未有的演變。它不再是封閉的、自足的語言系統(tǒng)，而是在與新興媒介的碰撞中，不斷重新定義自身的邊界與可能。

這，正是“演變中的自治”所要探討的命題。

Foreword

By Zhang Tao

In contemporary art exhibitions today, we seem to have grown accustomed to a particular narrative: installations occupy the center of the exhibition hall, videos loop endlessly in darkened rooms, performance art becomes the focal point of opening ceremonies, and new media art continually announces the latest breakthroughs in technology and concept. By comparison, easel painting—the "core medium" that once spanned the classical and modernist periods—appears subdued, even somewhat "out of step with the times."

This exhibition does not seek to offer a simple rebuttal to such perceptions. Rather, it aims to propose an alternative observation: painting has not receded into absence; instead, through a profound process of self-renewal, it has found its own distinctive place. It no longer vies for the center of the narrative but has constructed a self-sufficient linguistic system, participating in the pluralistic dialogues of contemporary art through its irreplaceable texture, warmth, and sense of presence.

This is neither a posture of nostalgia nor a conservative defense of a "traditional medium." On the contrary, contemporary painting is simultaneously unfolding dynamic explorations across multiple trajectories, revealing several interwoven paths.

Redefining Vision in an Age of Image Saturation. We inhabit an era of image excess. Visuals on screens ceaselessly generate, circulate, and vanish, shaping visual experience at an unprecedented velocity. In this context, the relationship between painting and the image becomes particularly complex.

Some artists choose to embrace the image, translating photography, advertising, and internet screenshots into the language of painting. Yet their work is far from mere replication. Through painting's inherent "temporality"—the slow accumulation of each brushstroke, the repeated deliberation over color, the layering of textures—they endow swiftly circulating images with a different mode of existence. When a painting is repeatedly applied, scraped, and reworked on canvas, what it carries is no longer mere "information" but the sedimentation of time.

Other artists choose to maintain a distance from the image, returning to a more direct visual experience. They paint the objects before their eyes, landscapes held in memory, the relationship between body and space—striving, in this age of image saturation, to reconstruct a more grounded and sincere mode of seeing. These works remind us: in an era of algorithmically generated images, the human eye still possesses an irreplaceable warmth.

Seeking Coordinates within a Plurality of Cultures. Painting has never been an isolated technical practice; it is always intimately bound to specific cultural soil, historical memory, and spiritual traditions. In today's highly fluid world, artists have become increasingly self-aware regarding their own cultural coordinates. This awareness is not a simplistic "return to tradition." The way contemporary artists engage with tradition is often charged with tension and creativity—they draw nourishment from ancient Eastern sensibilities yet re-articulate them in a contemporary idiom; they attend to regional materials and techniques while situating them within a global perspective; they look back upon history while remaining acutely attuned to dialogues with the present.

In an era overwhelmed by short videos and fragmented information, painting has become a medium connecting the local and the global, tradition and the present. Through its deep entanglement with specific cultural contexts, it offers the possibility of maintaining difference amidst the pressures of homogenization. Behind each painting, the continuation and evolution of a cultural lineage can be faintly discerned.

The Return of Materiality and Corporeal Experience. As virtual reality expands and digital interfaces become the primary mode of seeing, the materiality of painting acquires unprecedented significance. It is undergoing a profound transformation. Its language expands, its boundaries shift, its possibilities multiply. Yet throughout this evolution, painting has maintained a certain "autonomy"—it is not a passive recipient but an active agent of transformation.

Painting absorbs the image resources of the internet but anchors them with materiality. Painting confronts the challenge of AI, yet in doing so, it affirms the value of the human with greater clarity. Painting borrows from the spatial narratives of gaming but develops its own modes of viewing. Painting engages in dialogue with the planar aesthetics of anime and manga while insisting upon the sedimentation of material and time. This "autonomy" is not closure or conservatism but the preservation of selfhood within openness. It means that painting, through its dialogues with other media, can continually rediscover itself and reaffirm those irreplaceable dimensions. Like the murals of Dunhuang, which over a millennium have endured natural erosion, human defacement, and technological intervention, yet persist in their singular manner, testifying to the resilience and potential of this ancient medium.

In Dunhuang, perhaps we are afforded a longer scale by which to contemplate the fate of painting. Those artisans left no names behind; their tools have long vanished; the world they inhabited has receded into the distance. Yet the brushstrokes they left continue to speak, the colors still breathe, the figures still move viewers a thousand years hence.

Media evolve, technologies are renewed, but certain things endure—the human desire for expression, the dialogue between hand and matter, the gaze that lingers upon a surface. Painting's capacity to traverse millennia stems not from technological sophistication but from its embodiment of these most elemental and enduring human experiences.

Today, painting is undergoing a new evolution. The internet, AI, gaming, anime and manga—these emerging media and languages are enriching painting's possibilities while also prompting it to reconsider its own essence. This is not a crisis but an opportunity—a chance to rediscover and redefine itself. Painting in evolution retains its autonomy. Not because it isolates itself from the world, but because it knows: amidst all change, certain values are worth safeguarding—the memory of the hand, the sedimentation of time, the lingering of the gaze, the presence of the human.

At Dunhuang, facing the millennia-old murals, what we see is not only the past but also the future. The story of painting continues, and we are privileged to be witnesses to this story.

What this exhibition endeavors to present is precisely this autonomy in evolution. It is neither nostalgia for the past nor prophecy for the future, but a sustained contemplation of the present—how painting, at the intersection of media, maintains its integrity while growing through transformation.

Today, as we situate "contemporary painting" within the singular context of Dunhuang, and as we confront a visual world profoundly reshaped by the internet, artificial intelligence, gaming, anime, and manga, painting is undergoing an unprecedented evolution. It is no longer a closed, self-sufficient linguistic system but, through its encounters with emerging media, continually redefines its own boundaries and possibilities.

This, precisely, is the proposition that "Autonomy in Evolution" seeks to explore.