Lu Xinjian is an artist on the vanguard of Chinese abstraction. His paintings reduce vast cityscapes into dynamic studies of color and line that explore the relationship between modernity and the natural world. The microscopic detail in his artworks draws viewers in, even as the huge size – many works are several meters wide – compels them to step away. This contrast creates a vitality that imposes itself on the viewer.
Lu’s work is elusive. “It’s always nice for me to see visitors discover the surprise behind my paintings. At first, it appears to be a pure abstraction but then they begin to understand the root of the work,” he says. Working with acrylic on canvas, he painstakingly crafts each hallucinogenic painting line by line, color by color, over months.
陆新建是来自中国的一名新锐抽象艺术家。在他的作品中，广阔的城市景观被演绎成活力四溢的色彩和繁复线条，探索着建筑环境与自然世界之间的关系。他的作品画幅巨大，很多都是几米宽的作品，观众不得不走远一点，才能看到完整的画面，但画中却又充满引人入胜的微观细节，这种对比形成一股动态的力量，吸引着观众的注视。
他的作品看似虽简单，实则暗藏玄机。“每当有观众发现我画中的惊喜，我都特别高兴。”陆新建说，“一开始，他们都只看到一幅纯粹的抽象画，然后才慢慢开始理解作品的本质。”陆新建以丙烯颜料创作，每幅画都需要一丝不苟地逐行、逐色描画，需耗时数月才最终形成充满迷幻风格的画作。
Lu’s recent paintings, currently on display in a solo show titled Eternal City at Art Labor Gallery in Shanghai, share urban subjects and a vibrant, abstract style. Yet Lu divides them into three distinct series: City DNA, City Stream, and Reflections. The first uses satellite views, the second presents aerial views similar to that of a drone, while the third shows architectural views seen from the ground.
City DNA condenses the dynamic rhythm of the city and places abstraction at the heart of real places in the world. It deconstructs what we see and then reconstructs it in a way that urges the viewer to notice more than just differently hued geometric lines. In Xujiahui, for example, there’s a visceral essence behind the beauty. “It’s very fascinating to play between real and abstract,” says Lu.
近期，陆新建在上海 Art Labor 画廊举办的个展《永恒之城》（Eternal City）中展出了一些最新的作品。这些作品风格统一，将城市场景重塑为活力线条构成的抽象画。陆新建将它们分为三个不同的系列，分别为“城市基因”、“城市经纬”和“倒影”。“城市基因”的灵感是卫星图像、“城市经纬”展现的是无人机上看到的鸟瞰图，而“倒影”则重塑了从地面上看到的建筑视图。
作为第一部分，“城市基因”凝聚了城市的动态节奏，以抽象风格演绎世界各地的真实景观。这些抽象画解构了我们日常所见的景观，然后以颜色各异的几何线条重构，迫使观众深入挖掘更多内容。在其中的《徐家汇》这幅作品中，美丽线条之下的本质正是现实的城市景象。“游走于真实和抽象之间是一件非常有趣的事情。”陆新建表示道。
City Stream evolves out of the previous series and adds a sense of motion. “City Stream focuses on the perspective of the city and its systems,” explains Lu. “I want to show the movement and energy through dynamic highways and modern buildings.” To capture the personality of the city, he often uses municipal or national colors to imply an identity.
“城市经纬”则自之前的系列作品演变而来，给作品增添了更强烈的动感。陆新建解释说：“‘城市经纬’系列着眼于城市及其体系的视角，我想通过高速公路和现代建筑来展示城市的动感和能量。”为了呈现出不同城市的个性，他常常会使用城市或国家的标志性色彩来暗示其身份。
Reflections began as a commission based on pictures of the US Capitol in Washington, DC. The project inspired Lu to take his abstraction in a new direction. “I was very moved by those images. It’s so peaceful when the building is reflected in the water with the moon behind it.” Like the other two, this series explores modernity, globalization, and human consciousness.
而“倒影”则是陆新建最新的作品系列，最初起源于客户委托他按照一些美国国会大厦的照片创作的一幅画。这个项目启发了陆新建从新的角度创作抽象画。“那些图片让我备受触动。建筑楼倒映在水中，背景是一轮月亮，看上去如此宁静。”和之前两个系列一样，这个系列也是对全球化、现代性和意识的思考。
Lu studied at the Frank Mohr Institute at Hanze University in the Netherlands, and the influence of the ZERO and De Stijl movements is evident in his work. However, his aesthetic has roots dating back to his childhood in the countryside in Yixing, in Jiangsu province.
In elementary school, a visiting teacher lit the spark for his artistic career. Seeing that Lu had a keen interest in painting, she asked if he’d like to go to art school one day. “It was the first time anyone had asked me that question,” says Lu. “I didn’t know there were universities in the world where you could study art.” The idea of a life of art lingered with the precocious Lu, and he dreamed of becoming an artist. “My parents thought I was crazy!” he recalls.
Given Lu’s childhood surrounded by nature, one might not expect his art to encompass urban forms. Yet his intricate works show the simple ways a child imagines complex systems such as global cities. What Lu does is to reduce these complexities to meticulous geometric shapes and sharp blocks of color, at once visually stimulating and tantalizingly simple.
曾就读于荷兰汉斯大学 Frank Mohr 学院的陆新建，其作品中受 ZERO 艺术运动和荷兰风格派运动（De Stijl）的影响非常明显。但是，乡村生活也对他的美学风格有很大的影响，因为他的童年正是在江苏宜兴农村度过的。
小学的时候，一位家访老师点燃了他对艺术的热情。这位老师看到陆新建对绘画很感兴趣后，问他以后想不想去美术学校学习。他说：“那是第一次有人问我这个问题。我那时候都不知道世界上原来还有教艺术的大学。”关于艺术人生的念头就这样扎根于年轻的陆新建心中，他一心只想成为一名艺术家。“我的父母都觉得我疯了！”他回忆道。
一个从农村大自然中成长出来的“城市艺术家”，或许多少会让人有些意外，但是他丰富多彩的作品其实展示的正是孩童对复杂系统（例如全球化城市）的简单化构想。陆新建其实就是将复杂景观简化为繁复细致的几何形状和鲜明色块，既有抢眼的视觉效果，又简单得让人想要深入探究。
Today, Lu puts on solo exhibitions all over the world, and his work is in collections from Europe to Asia to Australia. His paintings have a certain stillness, a challenge to the ritualized abstract expressionism prevalent in contemporary art. His work pushes at the very edges of abstract art in China and points to pure possibilities for a new beginning.
Exhibition:
Eternal City
Dates:
April 18th, 2020 ~ May 31st, 2020
Address:
ART LABOR Gallery
101 Haifang Road
Jing’an District, Shanghai
Hours:
Appointment only by phone or e-mail
Tel:
+86 21 6245 6963
E-mail:
info@artlaborgallery.com
如今，陆新建在世界各地举办个展，他的作品被欧洲、亚洲和澳大利亚各地机构收藏。他所创作的这些带有静止性的抽象画，其实也是对当代艺术中盛行的仪式化抽象表现主义的一种挑战。他的作品推动着中国抽象艺术的发展，并开启了新的创作可能。
展览:
永恒之城
展期:
2020 年 5 月 23 日至 2020 年 6 月 7 日
地址:
ART LABOR 画廊
上海市静安区
海防路 101 号
营业时间：
预约参观，请提前邮件或电话
Tel:
+86 21 6245 6963
E-mail:
info@artlaborgallery.com
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Contributor: Misha Maruma
Chinese Translation: Olivia Li
Images Courtesy of ART LABOR Gallery & Lu Xinjian
Like our stories? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
供稿人: Misha Maruma
英译中: Olivia Li
图片由 ART LABOR画廊与陆新建提供
