王長明生於無錫長於無錫，看慣了太湖的煙波浩渺和楊柳堤岸。他出生於1964年，在他懂得世事的時候，江南，這個代表中國文人雅文化的地方，雖然經歷了大躍進和文革的破壞，但青山依舊，綠水尚清；寄暢園雖遊人如織，但曲徑還能通幽…只是到了九十年代，瘋狂和快速的城市化進程，把整個中國徹底的翻了個新：盜版的曼哈頓景象觸目皆是，世俗的快樂閃耀著五光十色…就如同王長明畫裡的景象—太湖石裝上霓虹燈，這是一個比喻，雖然滑稽，但恰當、直白。既表達了作者對傳統文化遭到破壞的那種無奈；也傳遞了作者對燈紅酒綠的一點興奮的感覺，而這種矛盾和糾結，也恰恰是現實生活和文化本身衝突、滑稽和混雜的折射。

　　王長明早期即1985年至2000年的畫，是用古典主義油畫技法畫的一些舊物。與風起雲湧的八五現代藝術新潮同時，中國油畫的發展一直存在著另外一條線索，即擺脫五十年代以來蘇俄風格的影響，而向歐洲文藝復興至十九世紀“正宗”油畫風格逐一溯源。以舊物入畫也曾幾何時成為油畫界流行的題材和畫風，我想其中原因，一是在陳丹青的西藏組畫回溯到十九世紀現實主義之後，探討古典主義時期的精湛技法，也許被提到議事日程；二是滿足在現代主義風起雲湧之時的懷舊情緒。但王長明這個系列的畫有超現實主義的味道，那時八五新潮中也正興起超現實主義畫風之時，王長明在古典主義畫風和現實主義畫風中各取所需，一方面，他畫裡的舊書，舊畫，舊瓷器，舊傢俱這些江南老式生活遺存的物件，飽含著他記憶中的江南舊景，那時，王長明的畫室，就在一個有著一百五十年歷史的近千米自家舊宅裡，他記憶中的舊宅裡還有太湖石。另一方面，文化批判正成為社會的熱流，城市化進程也剛剛開始，眼見的他心目中的江南舊景日益改變，心裡不免有種失落和荒唐的感覺。所以那時的畫中，或者是舊箱子打開裡面滿是落葉；或者是舊水盂裡不堪重負承載著一片舊宅；或者是傳統的拱橋上，象室內傢俱放置靜物似的擺放著舊瓷器…，畫面中對舊物的處理，有種心理難於承受的感覺，是這批畫的語言特徵。

　　2003年，他把舊物題材時期的畫集中起來，作了個展，陳丹青為他的展覽寫了序。王長明說他辦展覽是為了向自己的這種風格告別，他說：“一是畫膩了，情緒越來越假。二是隨著江南遺存不斷的被拆，自己的大腦也像被動了手術一樣。”告別過古典主義技藝之後，也許唯有舊宅裡那些被拆掉的太湖石，反而在王長明的心裡愈加凸顯出來了，此後太湖石就成了王長明畫裡的主角。太湖石就產於太湖周邊，太湖石作為江南文人文化的象徵物，尤其廣泛運用于中國古代園林的建造中，古籍中有米芾拜石的記載，米芾迷戀太湖石，曾以漏、透、瘦、皺的標準來判定太湖石的優劣，我們可以用一大堆類似婉約、陰柔、曲折、幽然、玲瓏剔透等詞彙來形容太湖石的曲線美感，它幾乎集中地體現了江南秀美環境的形式感覺。俗話說，一方水土養一方人，對於生長於斯的王長明來說，耿耿於懷的不是幾塊普通的石頭，而是和太湖石緊緊相連的一種江南文化的認知和感情，以及由大量的太湖石假山被拆所象徵的江南雅文化消失的無奈、悲情和留戀。所以他把畫中的太湖石，抽掉現實背景，讓它有種孤零零和冷幽幽的感覺，因為太湖石就是他孤魂般的心理意象。所以，王長明的太湖石系列作品具有“文人氣”的品質，其實，古代文人在乎太湖石，也因為它那種皺巴巴緊巴巴的形象感覺，與文人“鬱結”的心理有種通感吧，所以，東坡先生才有著名的枯木怪石圖，被歷代文人所津津樂道。

　　與早期作品中那種以摹寫物象的古典主義技巧相比，王長明的太湖石時期的畫，在油畫技巧上有種“兼工帶寫”的水墨味道，大形象很具象，技巧有古典主義氣息，但畫面局部開始出現“小寫意”味道的筆觸，不是大刀闊斧的表現性，卻在筆的走動和顏色流淌中體現出情緒的微妙波動。

　　2007年，王長明在北京費家村藝術區租了工作室，他的作品也發生了第二次轉變，有兩類作品，一是把太湖石切割成立方體的外形，讓太湖石天然的凹凸曲線和粗糲石材痕跡，與現代刀具切割的直線和光潔面形成一種強烈的對比。也許，太湖石所代表的文人文化，只是王長明一種記憶和內心情感，而他面對的現實是，屬於太湖石的社會生態已經消亡，急劇的現代化，讓直線條的高樓大廈和快速的生活節奏，像現代刀具一樣快速切割著他內心的太湖石。那種由現代刀具的切割和打磨，在他這類作品中留下的快感痕跡，未必不是今天這個現實帶給他的“快樂”。

　　王長明對太湖石的懷念，雖然仍隱隱作痛，但現代生活也像霓虹燈的閃耀一樣，時不時敲擊著他“快樂”的神經，這種矛盾和糾結，使王長明在切割太湖石的同時，畫了近來《霓虹燈下的太湖石》的系列作品。王長明畫面中的太湖石依舊保持著原來的“兼工帶寫”方法，然後用霓虹燈編織出各種文化時期和類別的形象，如毛主席像，毛主席詩詞，佛像，夢露像，羅馬柱，朱耷的鳥…，然後這些不同時期和類別的形象，通過現代生活這個閃亮、豔俗、時尚、膚淺、快樂的霓虹燈形式，就被統統轉換成一種“盛世”景觀，並與王長明內心那個完全對立的雅文化—太湖石並置在一起。這種盛世生態是當下我們無法回避和需要思考的。

　　從畫面上這部分形象來說，王長明採用了類似九十年代豔俗類作品的畫風—鮮豔的色彩，無筆觸的平塗，以及一些特殊閃亮顏料的妙用，並與太湖石那種有文人氣兼工帶寫且具水墨意境的畫風，放在同一個畫面裡，無論是形象還是繪畫性，都努力在尋找一種豔俗與雅致，亮麗與陰鬱，詼諧與沉悶的既對立又協調的關係。儘管這個系列的作品有九十年代波普和豔俗語言的特點，但王長明這個系列的作品，並沒走波普的語言路線，無論是霓虹燈和太湖石也不屬於符號化的直接性路數，畫面努力追求的是與傳統文人畫類似的意境感覺，形象強調意味性和可讀性，以及繪製過程在乎情緒的表現以及新繪畫性的探索與嘗試。

栗憲庭2011-3-8

　　Wang Changming was born in Wuxi and grew up in Wuxi, He was used to the wide expanse of misty Taihu Lake with poplar and willow decorated banks. He was born in 1964. When he became sensible to the adult world, the China south of the Changjiang River, symbolic of the refined culture of the Chinese man of letters and scholars, was still laden with the old atmosphere having been damaged by the “great leap forward” and the cultural revolution, The blue mountains were still blue, the green waters were still green. Inside the Jichang Garden, although filled with tourists, the winding paths were still leading to the secluded spot…

　　Only in the nineties, the crazy and rapid urbanization changed China all over: we saw everywhere copies of Manhattan, secular pleasures with bright colours, exactly like the images in Wang Changming’s paintings. Taihu Lake Stones were shining with neon lights. This was a metaphor, funny but adequate and direct, conveying the painter’s dismayed feeling of having no choice and also the a little bit of excitement in the middle of red lanterns and green wine- scene of debauchery. This kind of conflict and entanglement is exactly the reflection of the conflict, ridicule and entanglement between the real life and the culture.

　　The early painting of Wang Changming (between 1985 and 2000) represented some old objects with classical painting techniques. Along with the surging eighty-five contemporary art tendency, there was another clue related to the development of Chinese paintings which was trying to get rid of the Russian influence since the fifties, tracing to the source of the European paintings of the Renaissance period and the “orthodox” paintings of the 19th century. Old object as painting theme and style was quite popular for a while in the painting world. I thought there were two  reasons for this: first reason, Chen Danqing’s Tibetan series tracked back to the 19th century realism, after this the searching for refined techniques of the classicism was perhaps put on the agenda; second reason, satisfying a kind of nostalgic feeling while surging forward with modernism. But Wang Changming's series tasted quite surrealist. At that time along with the eighty-five tendency also rose the surrealism. Wang Changming was taking what he needed both from the classical style and from the realist style as it suited him. On the one hand, the old paintings, old books, old porcelain and furniture and other attic objects typical of south China old life style were full of the old images in his memories. At that time, Wang Changming’s workshop was situated in an almost a thousand square meter old house of his ancestors with a hundred and fifty years of history, in his memory, there was still the Taihu Lake Stone in this old house. On the other hand, cultural criticism became a warm current of the society. The process of the urbanization had just begun. Seeing the old image of south China in his heart changing day by day, he felt lost and absurd. Therefore, in his paintings of that time, we found either opened up suitcases filled with leaves, or old cuspidor bearing an old house and almost collapsing; or on a traditional arch bridge a display of old porcelain like paintings of still life. The treatment of the old objects in the paintings was somewhat unbearable for the psychology, typical of the language characteristic of this group of paintings.

　　In the year 2000, he put all of his painting of old objects together and made a personal exhibition, Chen Danqing wrote a preface for him. He said that by doing this exhibition he wanted to say farewell to this style because :”He was fed up, he felt that his feeling was less and less sincere. At the same time, with all the south China relics demolished continuously, he felt as if his brain had gone through a surgery..” Having said goodbye to the classical techniques, however, the dismantled Taihu Lake Stones propped up in his heart. In the next ten years, they became the main characters of Wang Changming’s paintings. Taihu Lake Stones were produced around the Taihu Lake, symbolic of the South of the Changjiang River culture and man of letters. They were widely used in the building of ancient Chinese gardens and parks. In ancient books, there was the record and account of Mifu worshipping Stones. He was so infatuated with Taihu Lake Stones that he distinguished their quality by judging them as leaking, penetrating, sliming and wrinkling stones.  The curving line of Taihu Lake Stones could be described as graceful and restrained, feminine and soft, quiet and looming, naturally exquisitely carved. They almost centralize all the senses of the forms of beauty typical of South of the Changjiang River. As the saying goes:  one particular kind of water and soil nurtures one particular kind of people. For Wang Changming who was born and grew up in this environment, he was not only taking to heart several pieces of ordinary stones, he was mainly identifying with and deeply attached to the culture south of the Changjiang River, and also expressing the feeling of helplessness, sadness and nostalgia in the face of the disappearance of such a culture. This is why in his paintings all the Taihu Lake Stones were deprived of the real background thus giving an impression of being deep, remote, cold and lonely because these stones were the symbol of his psychology as a lonely ghost. Therefore his Taihu Lake Stone series were permeating with “the atmosphere of man of letters”. In fact the reason why the ancient scholars paid so much attention to these stones was because their wrinkling and tight and taut image was quite similar to the “smouldering gloomy” psychology of scholars. Therefore, Dongpo's famous painting of withered tree and strange stone has been talked about with appreciation by many generations of scholars over many centuries.

　　Compared to the early works of classical skills describing objects and images, the paintings in the Taihu Lake Stone period were characterized by “both techniques of traditional Chinese painting with a lot of attention to detail and the techniques of traditional Chinese painting with free hand brushwork and bold outline”. The overall image was quite concrete showing classical breath. But certain parts smelled of “little freehand brushwork” instead of drastic representation.  In the tracing of the painting brush and the flowing of the colours we feel the delicate fluctuating mood of the painter.

　　In 2007，Wang Changming rented a workshop in Fei Jia Village, his works underwent the second big change. Two categories of works : one category cutting Taihu Lake Stone into cubic shapes creating a strong contrast between the natural curving outline with crude material and the stiff direct line carved with modern knives with smooth surface. Perhaps the ancient scholarly culture represented by Taihu Lake Stone was only a memory and the innermost feeling of Wang Changming. The reality he had to face was that the social environment belonging to the Taihu Lake Stone had disappeared. The rapid urbanization with skyscrapers and quick life pace was cutting the Taihu Lake Stone inside his heart exactly like the modern knives. The cutting pleasure brought about by the modern knives  may not necessarily not be the pleasures brought about by the real life of today.

　　The nostalgic feeling for the Taihu Lake Stone was still aching but the modern life was also touching on his “happy” nerves like the neon lights. The kind of conflict and entanglement made him create a recent series of “Taihu Lake Stones under the Neon Lights” after the series of cutting Taihu Lake Stones. In the new series, the Taihu Lake Stones remained the same but he used neon lights to knit various images from various cultural periods- Chairman Mao’s portrait, Chairman Mao’s poems, Buddha, Marilyn Monroe, pillars in Rome, birds in red cage… All these were transformed into “prosperous” epoch images through the bright, dazzlingly gorgeous, fashionable, superficial and pleasant neon lights forms which coexisted with the exactly opposite image in his heart “Taihu Lake Stones” representing refined culture.
Certain parts of the paintings painted with the gaudy style popular in the nineties – bright colours, flat smearing, mixed with some extremely dazzling dyestuff, put together in the same frame with the Taihu Lake Stones tasting both tradition detailed brushwork style and freehand style. In terms of image and nature, he was trying to find a contrast and a harmony between gaudy and refined, bright and gloomy, humorous and boring. Although there were certain pop characteristics of the nineties and the gaudy painting language, actually he did not follow the pop language line in this series. Neon lights and Taihu Lake Stones did not belong to the direct symbol style neither. The frame of painting was seeking a kind of artistic conception similar to that of the traditional Chinese paintings: stressing the readability and the taste. And the process of creating the painting cared more about mood representation and the trial of new painting styles.
Li Xianting March 8th 2011