不间断的艺术实践才能打破边界--胡向东

　　The artist Hu Xiangdong‘s new studio is located at the most popular village in Songzhuang， Xiaobao Village。 The two-storey white western-style building is self-designed by Hu Xiangdong。 Entering the large creative space， the first thing that comes into view is Hu Xiangdong’s new work in 2018。

胡向东工作室

　　《大西红柿》 油彩   200x120cm   2016

　　“LargeTomato”， oil paint 200×120cm 2016

　　《我也要打一针》 油彩  200x120cm  2018

　　“I want a shot too” oil paint， 200×120cm 2018

　　画面中如糖果般艳丽的色彩，体积超大的蔬菜瓜果，如早期年画般的人物形象和浮夸的面部表情，都让作品弥漫着一种荒诞的味道和浓郁的讽刺意味。

　　The colorful colors like candy in the picture， the oversized vegetables and fruits， and the characters like those in the New Year paintings and the exaggerated facial expressions in his early works make the work filled with an absurd style and a strong irony。

　　《你能给我想要的生活吗？》油彩  200x120cm  2018

　　“Can you give me the kind of life I want？” oil paint 200×120cm 2018

　　众所周知，胡向东是国内“艳俗艺术”的代表人物，他对社会变迁和生存问题一直有着敏锐的思考，他希望艺术不仅仅是自我表现，还应该跟这个社会联系。他的早期装置作品《理想种植》中“白菜”就是“艳俗艺术”的重要成果之一，留给了世人深刻的印象。胡向东多年来一直不间断的进行艺术的实践，不断寻找能够准确表达自我观念的媒材，他对新技术材料很感兴趣，作品形式有架上、雕塑、装置等等，在过去的几年中，胡向东的艺术实践一直受到艺术界的重视。最近，作为油画家出身的胡向东有着浓重的油画情结，新的艺术探索又重新回归架上。

　　As is known， Hu Xiangdong is a representative of the domestic “Gaudy Art”。 He always has a keen thinking about social changes and human existence。 He hopes that art can not only achieve self-expression， but also be connected with this society。 In his early installation work “Ideal Planting”， the “cabbage” is one of the important achievements of “Gaudy Art”， which left a deep impression on the public。 Hu Xiangdong has been making artistic practice for many years and constantly searching for media that can accurately express his own ideas。 He is very interested in new technology materials， and has work forms such as shelves， sculptures， installations， etc。。 His 。 artistic practice has always been valued by the art circle in the past few years。 Recently， Hu Xiangdong， who has been an oil painter， has a strong complex of oil painting， and a new artistic exploration has returned to the shelf。

　　《土豆高尔夫》 油彩  200x120cm  2016

　　“Potato Golf” oil paint  200×120cm 2016

　　《这个怎么吃？》 油彩  200x120cm  2018

　　“How do I eat this？” oil paint 200×120cm 2018

　　《肥水不流外人田》 油彩  200x120cm  2018

　　“Rich water should not be let out of one’s own fields” oil paint， 200×120cm 2018

　　艺术家胡向东接受新浪当代和雕塑频道记者郑晓曦的采访：

　　Artist Hu Xiangdong accepted an interview with Zheng Xiaotong， the reporter of Sina Contemporary and Sculpture Channel：

　　新浪当代：您是国内艳俗艺术的代表人物，然后您一直不断的尝试可以表达您创作的各种观念的媒材，您的作品有架上、有雕塑、有装置等等，您最近有哪些新的艺术项目呢？

　　Sina Contemporary： You are a representative of the domestic Kitsch Art。 Then， you have kept on trying different media which can express your various concepts。 Your works include those presented on shelves， sculptures， installations。 Do you have any new art projects recently？

　　胡向东：我是1995年开始做关于艳俗为主题的作品，第一个展览叫“艳妆生活”是1996年，当时的圆明园艺术家几个朋友在一起讨论了一个主题叫庸俗艺术，后来改为艳俗艺术。正式定位是1999年，在天津泰达艺术博物馆。当时我们选择艳俗这个主题，考虑到在一个特点的社会背景下，改革开放以后，人对物质需求的快速发展，对精神层面的追求，对审美意识上的追求的增多，像审美趣味的这种东西，我们艳俗艺术家觉得很有意思。把握这样的题材，做了一系列作品。主要是针对社会的大众审美的趣味，针对这种比较俗的趣味进行模仿和讽刺。这种类型的作品一开始是以架上为主，后来随着作品的深入，架上表达觉得还不够，所以我开始考虑材料。我是学油画专业出身，作为油画这种材料、技术，是比较熟悉的，所以通常来说我当时就是用自己比较熟悉的手段、材料去做作品。后来觉得不够，有些题材是架上绘画比较局限的，就存在一个转换的问题。开始尝试新的表现形式，新的材料，但是这种新的材料和新的表现形式毕竟是一个新的尝试，对于过去熟悉的技术必须敢于摒弃，在题材上把那种不容易进入画面的东西进入画面。也就是说俗的东西，把这种不入流的这种，比如说白菜、萝卜，把它放大。从题材上做了一个扩展，从艺术上脱离精英，直面大众。作品不是按照自己熟悉的方法去制作，是按照我要表达的观念，是适合什么什么材料、什么手段，这个就不是传统意义上的绘画了，这就是现在所说的观念绘画。

　　Hu Xiangdong： I started creating kitsch works in 1995。 My first exhibition was called “Kitsch Life。” It was organized in 1996。 At that time， several “Old Summer Palace” artists discussed together and came up with a theme called “Vulgar Art。” Later， it was changed to “Kitsch Life。” Its formal positioning was in 1999 at the Tianjin Taida Art Museum。 We chose the theme “Kitsch，” considering the social background at that time。 After China’s adoption of the reform and opening-up policy， Chinese had a higher pursuit of material and spiritual enjoyment。 Their aesthetic taste was also upgraded。 We Kitsch artists all thought it was very interesting。 Based on the theme， a series of works was created by us。 In response to the public aesthetic taste， we imitated and satirized about the vulgar taste。 Most of these works were presented on shelves in the very beginning。 Later， with deepening of our art creations， we found artworks on shelves alone were inadequate。 Therefore， I started to think about new materials。 I have the oil painting learning background， so I am very familiar with materials and techniques of oil painting。 At that time， I was accustomed to using methods and materials which I was familiar with to create artworks。 Later， I found this was inadequate。 Some themes might be limited after putting on paintings。 Then， we had to make conversions。 In the very beginning， we tried new expression forms and new materials， but these new materials and expression forms were after all new tries。 I must abandon techniques which I was familiar with in the past， and introduce things that were seldom found in paintings。 The “things” here actually refer to vulgar things， which are out of the mainstream。 For example， I introduced carrots and Chinese cabbages to my paintings， and enlarged them。 After this expansion of themes， our art was deviated from the confinement to elites to be accessible to the public。 I created these works not according to methods familiar to me， but according to concepts I attempted to express。 Such paintings are not paintings in the traditional sense。 They are the so-called conceptual paintings。

　　“ 艳俗艺术”浮出水面后，引起了各种反向和争议，它的影响力一直到今天，它属于90年代当代艺术重要现象。

　　After the emergence of “Kitsch Art，” there have been many opponents and controversies。 However， its influence has been lasted to this date， though it was an important phenomenon of contemporary art in the 1990s。

　　当然绘画仍然是我钟爱的表达方式，回到绘画已不是过去的架上了，它是和其它材料一样的载体，它要表达的想法最重要，技术服从于内容，不炫耀技术，所以这也是有些保守的观众对当代艺术的架上绘画有所误解的原因，他们想看到的是深入的、厚重的、有机理的，或者是栩栩如生的，当代艺术的魅力不在这里，它是直击心灵的，它有独特的个体语言，是先锋的。