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3 April 2009 by sinopop

王光乐的棺材－－多样多彩

wang guangle coffin series Wang Guangle @ Beijing Commune
until May 14

According to tradition in his hometown, elderly people will paint their coffins with one layer each year. Wang Guangle has adopted this to the canvas, in remarkably more colorful layers than we might see on anything to be buried underground. As always, his work reveals time, patience, and the somewhat unexpected results of turning concept into canvas.

The artist himself is extremely popular among Chinese collectors and has a great reputation among artists, but many “outsider” viewers (Laowai) fail to see the appeal. Unfortunately, this show does not reflect what I consider some of Wang’s best works, those (I’m judging by what I saw on the gallery website) which are now represented by Beijing Commune.

His early works, realist canvases featuring afternoon light hitting the terrazzo floor, reveal ideas essential to the artist’s development; they were not on show at the opening. Later works where he grinds thick layers of dried paint into what looks like actual terrazzo on the canvas were neither on display, nor were photographs of his legendary performance in his Suojiacun studio (read more below). The terrazzo pattern and coffin paint series are his trademarks. A more detailed description is below, in a short artist introduction written for “Looking for Me” (2008)

WANG Guangle
王光乐

比起实际年龄，王光乐谢顶的光头显得过于老成，但是这也带给他超脱于凡尘的气质，与“福建茶商”般的智慧相得益彰。

从2002年开始，王光乐一直在创作“水磨石”系列作品。水磨石地砖是一种在中国公共建筑中很常见的材料，王光乐通过繁琐的过程把水磨石上的细微纹理再现到画布上。在他的早期作品中，王光乐再现了有水磨石地砖的房间，以及光线在地面上的闪烁投影。在此之后，他放弃了三维空间，直接把画布转变为水磨石本身，这就从社会主义现实主义转向了观念艺术。

在2004年，王光乐花了3个月的时间把6×9米的工作室墙面画满水磨石纹理，然后用推土机摧毁。这个行为可以与和尚虔诚创作彩沙曼陀罗的过程相媲美。在此之后，王光乐开始把水磨石的花纹画在水泥实体上。现在，他的画面用很多层的白颜料打底，层叠上厚密的颜料，干燥后用角磨机打磨抛光，从而表达出更现实的效果。

在这样繁重的工作过程中，王光乐一直在考虑时间的流逝与生命的变迁。王光乐的整个艺术实践可以看作是毅力的呈现。这些水磨石作品初看起来也许只是沉闷乏味的画面，但是创作作品耗费了大量时间和精力，这些过程的积累便是艺术家观念的传达。