席华：笃步前行 Steadfastly Moving Forward

桂林艺术家席华的创作和生存状态给我的感觉一直是与主流艺术保持着疏离的关系，主动于边缘、另类的处境。这里所谓的主流艺术既包括官方强调艺术具有宣喻教化功能的主旋律，也指涉“桂林水墨甲天下”的单一主流位置。之所以有这种印象或做出这样的判断，是因为席华在从事新闻媒体工作之余，始终执着地游离于其中之外，坚守着艺术创作的自主与独立，保持着个人天马行空般的想象与建造。仿佛于他在桂林美术界的“一个人之战”，以及与其他桂林画家相比较的殊异之处。因此，也就显得尤为难能可贵了。

The creative and living conditions of Guilin artist Xi Hua has always given me the impression of maintaining a distant relationship with mainstream art, actively choosing to be on the periphery and in an alternative position. Here, the so-called mainstream art includes not only the official emphasis on the educational and propagandistic function of art, but also the single mainstream position of "Guilin's ink painting is the best in the world". The reason for this impression or judgment is that, in addition to his work in the news media, Xi Hua has always been resolutely detached from it, adhering to the autonomy and independence of artistic creation, and maintaining his own unrestrained imagination and construction. It seems like a "One Man's Battle" in the Guilin art circle, and the distinctiveness compared with other Guilin painters. Therefore, it is particularly commendable.

席华的工作室位于桂林南郊一座废弃的纺织厂里的红砖水塔里，也是这片工厂废墟中唯一的一位当代艺术家。在二十多米高的圆形水塔内，席华营造了一个奇异、魔幻的世界。他收集了许多废旧的机器、铝板、瓦片、家具等等乱七八糟的旧器物，并将这些支离破碎的现成品进行切割、拼接、融化，重置为一件件光怪陆离的装置和综合材料绘画等等多媒介作品。器物装置的类型不仅导致了席华对过往和他生存时代痕迹的追忆，也塑造了“随物赋形”——他桂林城市的人生，亦如一座坚冷、厚重的围城，折射了他与所在环境之间的孤独，甚至隔膜的境遇

Xi Hua's studio is located in a red brick water tower in an abandoned textile factory in the southern suburbs of Guilin. He is the only contemporary artist in this factory ruin. Inside the 20-meter-high circular water tower, Xi Hua has created a strange and magical world. He has collected a wide range of discarded machines, aluminum plates, tiles, furniture and other miscellaneous old objects, and then cut, spliced, melted and reconfigured these fragmented ready-mades into a series of bizarre installations and mixed-media paintings. The types of object installations not only lead Xi Hua to recall the traces of the past and his own era, but also shape "following the form of the object" - his life in Guilin is like a cold and heavy fortress, reflecting his loneliness and even estrangement from the environment.

而有些如《城市·呼吸》、《人类星球·巢》等系列作品，夸张、扭曲的形态，又都被他巧妙地加以利用，营造出混杂、斑驳的超现实的视觉语言，或者可以说是偏离现存的实在物件，一边漂浮、破碎而无所归宿，另一边又指向星球未来的污染。生活在拆与建夹缝的都市人，是很难觉得一丝精神绿地抑或价值深度的，于是“无家可归”与“漂浮”，与“逃离”便成为席华城市作品文本中一道奇特的肌理景观。

Some works such as "City • Breath" and "Human Planet • Nest" have exaggerated and distorted forms, which he skillfully uses to create a mixed and mottled surreal visual language, or one could say they deviate from the existing real objects, floating, breaking and having no place to belong on one side, while on the other side pointing to the pollution of the future planet. Urbanites living in the gap between demolition and construction find it difficult to feel a bit of spiritual green space or value depth. Thus, "homelessness" and "drifting" and "escape" become a peculiar texture landscape in Xi Hua's urban works.

左：《人类星球系列·蜂巢星球之一》高180cm钢铁、水表、石头等 2011
Left: Human Planet Series · Honeycomb Planets No.1,180cm high. Steel, water meter, stone, etc. 2011

右：《人类星球系列之三》直径70cm不锈钢、酒瓶、石头等 2022
Right: "Human Planet Series No.3" diameter 70cmstainless steel, wine bottle, stone, etc. 2022

城市·呼吸系列 装置作品

Urban Breathing Series Installation works

如《巴别塔》、《啮齿箱·通天塔》等作品，实际上反映了一种传统的“现代人”一旦离开精神故园，陷入一个日益物化的都市现实所处的尴尬境地，以及由这些器物符号所隐喻、象征出都市物欲的喧嚣、浮华、奢靡的时代特征。所以席华一直强调“我的创作关注的是人类城市，而不限于我居住的城市。”这当然包含有质疑、反思、批判的意味，也许对一位敏锐的观者来说，在与这样的质疑、反思、 批判反复相遇之后，他就不能不认真思考现实文化针对性的具体内容，不能不把这种超验形象和这些年城市化过程中的畸形事实联系起来。

Works such as "Tower of Babel" and "Rodent Box • Tower of Babel" actually reflect the awkward situation of a traditional "modern person" once they leave their spiritual homeland and fall into an increasingly materialized urban reality, as well as the characteristics of the era symbolized and represented by these object symbols - the noise, extravagance and decadence of urban materialism. Therefore, Xi Hua always emphasizes, "My creation focuses on human cities, not just the city I live in." This of course contains a sense of questioning, reflection and criticism. Perhaps for a sensitive viewer, after repeatedly encountering such questioning, reflection and criticism, they cannot help but seriously consider the specific content of the cultural criticism of reality, and cannot help but link this transcendent image with the abnormal facts of urbanization in recent years.

大骷髅 2018 大铝板、丙烯颜料 180×320×25cm

Big Skull 2018 Aluminum Plate, Acrylic Paint

地球脑 2009 粗帆布、铅笔丙烯油彩、机器零部件等
Earth Brain 2009 canvas, pencil acrylic paint, machine parts, etc

同时，席华对超现实主义的可能性和荒诞性或许更感兴趣，他使那些带有时间痕迹的，支离破碎的器物、人物形象与形形色色的荒诞纠缠在一起，如《面具》、《乱码》、《着陆器》等。或者说，席华是以具象的变态与虚幻的表现方式构造了一个彼此不分的情景，似真似幻地呈现了都市生活的妖魔化戏剧舞台，并无言地告诉我们，都市生活中的一切似乎都不在我们的把握之中，我们总是被一只看不见的隐形之手控制着，而我们又显的多么的无奈与脆弱。这也无情地粉碎了关于“现代化”的种种神话，以及在人们意识当中对乌托邦的向往。

At the same time, Xi Hua may be more interested in the possibilities and absurdity of surrealism. He entangles those objects and figures with traces of time and fragmentation with all kinds of absurdities, such as "Mask", "Garbled Code", "Lander", etc. Or one could say that Xi Hua constructs a situation where the real and the illusory are indistinguishable through the distorted and illusory representation of the concrete, presenting a demonicized stage of urban life in a way that is both real and illusory, and silently telling us that everything in urban life seems to be beyond our control, and we are always controlled by an invisible hand, and we are so helpless and vulnerable. This also ruthlessly shatters the various myths of "modernization" and the yearning for utopia in people's consciousness.

有沙发的风景 2012-2020 粗帆布、丙烯水墨 130×390cm

Landscape with sofa 2012-2020 Thick canvas, acrylic ink

2018年“并·置” 席华作品展在桂林创立文化空间展出

In 2018, the exhibition of Xi Hua's works,"Parallel · Place", was exhibited in Guilin's cultural space

需要特别强调的是，席华在把都市生活的场景加以夸张、歪曲、变形的时候，并没有把它变成完全脱离我们日常都市生活经验的一个可怕的梦魇，或者是一个脱离了我们从90年代延续至今的具体的都市时空的荒诞世界，而是借此来强调他所营造的画面来达到警世与反省现代化过程中的种种弊端的作用之上，从而在批判的背后表达出对适宜人类栖居地的美好想往，以及人类决不是在物质极度发达之后，裹挟的是精神的堕落和道德的普遍沦丧。

It is particularly important to note that when Xi Hua exaggerates, distorts and deforms the scenes of urban life, he does not turn them into a terrifying nightmare completely detached from our daily urban life experience, or an absurd world detached from the specific urban time and space that has continued from the 1990s to the present. Instead, he uses this to emphasize the warning and reflection on the various drawbacks of the modernization process in the pictures he creates, thereby expressing behind the criticism a beautiful longing for a suitable human habitat, and the idea that human beings are not in a state of moral and spiritual decline after the extreme development of material civilization.

瓦片系列，使用城市拆迁老瓦片等材料创作

Tile Series, created using materials such as old tiles from urban demolition

瓦片系列 入选第十届全国美术作品展，上海美术馆

Tile Series selected for the 10th National Art Exhibition, Shanghai Museum of Art

席华的绘画类作品所针对的魔幻的现实，揭示的却是魔幻都市虚妄的一面，这是艺术表现的力量，与此相关的是席华绘画表现的语言力量。他所描绘的题材内容大多是将黑暗、痛苦、呐喊、深渊、支离破碎的景象充盈在画面之上，在《迷城》系列、《后花园》系列、《碎片》等作品中，席华将在前后不连贯的混乱破碎，统一在结构的色彩中，有一种沉郁蕴藏着悲剧的气氛，同时又表现出强烈的忿懑和鄙夷。他对都市现实生活的认知，乃至觉知，最终导致了其塑造形象的变形，他把笔触深入到了梦游般的人的灵魂深处，揭示出社会转型期在人性、心理以及潜意识层面的影响，尤其是物欲腐蚀下扭曲的人性。

The magical reality targeted by Xi Hua's painting works reveals the illusory side of the magical city. This is the power of artistic expression, and related to this is the power of the language of his painting expression. The subjects he depicts are mostly filled with darkness, pain, cries, abysses, and fragmented scenes on the canvas. In the "Mystic City" series, "Back Garden" series, "Fragments", and other works, Xi Hua unifies the incoherent chaos and fragmentation in the structure of colors, creating an atmosphere of melancholy and tragedy, while also expressing intense indignation and contempt. His understanding and awareness of urban real life eventually led to the distortion of the images he created. He delved into the souls of people who were like sleepwalkers, revealing the influence of the social transformation period on human nature, psychology, and the subconscious, especially the distorted human nature under the corrosion of material desires.

异形人系列，纸本生宣水墨作品

Alien Series, paper-based ink and wash works by Sheng Xuan

也许，正是对现代化城市、现代文明所造成种种弊端和丑陋的反拨与批判，才显示出作品本身的几分狰狞，如《异形人系列》、《山》、《树》、《有地图的风景》等，似乎只有在这些怪诞的、扭曲的变形的形象里，才能抵达都市生活状态中，以及心灵的真实与慰籍。这与其说是席华内心深处的强烈的人文关怀和道德关怀，不如说是他一份难以遣怀的知识分子“情结”。因而，在解读这些作品的过程中，可被我们真实感知到作为艺术创作者——席华对现实、对艺术的基本立场态度和破碎的激情。这不仅值得关注和尊敬，或许也是每一位当代艺术家一种不可或缺的艺术品格和社会责任。

Perhaps, it is precisely the reaction and criticism of the various drawbacks and ugliness caused by modern cities and modern civilization that make his works seem somewhat grotesque, such as "Alien Series", "Mountain", "Tree", "Landscape with Map", etc. It seems that only in these bizarre and distorted deformed images can one reach the true state of urban life and the soul's solace. This is not so much a strong humanistic and moral concern from the depth of Xi Hua's heart as it is a lingering intellectual "complex" of his. Therefore, in the process of interpreting these works, we can truly perceive the basic stance and attitude towards reality and art, as well as the fragmented passion of the artist Xi Hua. This is not only worthy of attention and respect, but perhaps also an indispensable artistic quality and social responsibility for every contemporary artist.

左：《太空人》310×136cm 粗帆布、丙烯水墨 2013
Left: "Astronaut" 310 × 136cm canvas, acrylic ink wash, 2013

右：《象人》，380×133cm粗帆布、丙烯水墨 2013
Right: "Elephant Man", 380 × 133cm canvas, acrylic ink wash, 2013

这是席华艺术的特征，也是他艺术的魅力所在。艺术有主流与边缘之分，其间的共生与对话需要边缘的声音。因此，有主流就有边缘，边缘不断地干预和挑战中心，这才不会使社会只有一种独白的声音，甚至作为复调的自身对话，在社会中才能构成众生的喧哗，构成艺术的多元化表达，从而包容思想的共生性歧义与文化内部的复杂运动。同时，艺术又具有虚置的本质，艺术更像是梦境，与现实隔着一层。而这种艺术想象的转化与虚构，使观者获得了一种非具体的现实关系。

This is the characteristic of Xi Hua's art and also the charm of his art. Art can be divided into mainstream and marginal, and the symbiosis and dialogue between them require the voice of the margin. Therefore, there is always a margin when there is a mainstream. The margin constantly intervenes and challenges the center, so that society does not have only one monologue voice. Even as a polyphonic self-dialogue, in society, it can constitute the clamor of all beings and the diversified expression of art, thereby accommodating the symbiotic ambiguity of thought and the complex movement within culture. At the same time, art has an essential quality of being virtual. Art is more like a dream, separated from reality by a layer. And this transformation and fiction of artistic imagination give the viewer a non-specific relationship with reality.

“榴莲房——席华专题作品展”，桂林美术馆展览现场

“Durian House - Xi Hua Special Exhibition ", Guilin Art Museum exhibition site

席华的装置作品《金枕之屋》内部场景

Interior Scene of Xi Hua's Installation Work "House of Golden Pillows"

席华《金枕之屋》参加2023年“榴莲·榴莲”首届泛东西南亚三年展，广州美术学院美术馆。

Xi Hua's "House of the Golden Pillow" participated in the first Pan-East Asian Triennial of "Durian · Durian" in 2023, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum.

艺术正是通过艺术家、观者与作品中虚拟的人物、景观发生关系，在“我”与“他”和“它”的关系中寻求到灵感与释放。由于这个“他者”是实在的，因此，创作者能够关注生存环境，发挥自己的感悟与内心隐秘，无需在与他人的真实关系中掩饰自己。观者正是通过艺术家的作品，进入虚构的装置、图像世界而得以疏离现实的沉重。艺术成为社会现实之外的一块飞地，一片人类可以栖息的乐园。尤如席华在疏离、边缘的另类中，在他高耸的塔形工作室里乐此不疲一样。

冯博一
中国著名独立策展人
美术评论家

Art is precisely through the relationship between the artist, the viewer, and the virtual characters and landscapes in the work, seeking inspiration and release in the relationship between "I" and "he" and "it". Because this "other" is real, the creator can pay attention to the living environment, exert their own perception and inner secrets, without having to disguise themselves in real relationships with others. The viewer enters the fictional installation and image world through the artist's works and thus distances themselves from the weight of reality. Art becomes a piece of land outside of social reality, a paradise where humans can rest. Just like Xi Hua, who is in the alienated, marginal alternative, in his tall tower-shaped studio.

Feng Boyi

Famous Independent Chinese Curator

Art Critic

大果系列·榴莲飘香之三 110×200cm 布面油画 2019

Big Fruit Series: Fragrant Durian Part No.3 110 × 200cm Oil on Canvas 2019

大果系列·榴莲 150×150cm 布面油画 2018

Big Fruit Series: Durian 150 × 150cm Oil on Canvas 2018

席华

1989 出生于广西桂林

现居桂林，中国美术家协会会员，中国雕塑学会会员，当代艺术家

主要个展

2024“榴莲 流连 榴莲”席华个展，海莱艺术空间，新加坡

2024 榴莲房——席华专题作品展，桂林美术馆，桂林，中国

2018“并•置”席华作品展，创立艺术空间，桂林，中国

2017 一席之地•席华作品展，桂林市花桥美术馆，桂林，中国

2011 重金属•席华个展，视空间，北京798艺术区，北京， 中国

2007 席华的艺术世界个展，世纪翰墨画廊，北京798艺术区，北京，中国

主要联展

2024 转折点：艺术与科技在新加坡的交汇，海莱艺术+数字青年，新加坡

2024 融合——中国•马来西亚艺术作品联展，桂林美术馆，桂林，中国

2023“榴莲•榴莲”首届泛东南亚三年展，广州美术学院美术馆，广州，中国

2020 北京第三届国际水墨设计双年展并获优秀奖，北京，中国

2019“时代新象”——中国•景德镇公共雕塑国际大展，陶溪川美术馆，江西，中国

2018 东莞雕塑装置艺术节，东莞，中国

2018 艺术北京•公共艺术展，全国农业展览馆，北京，中国

2017 隆里国际新媒体艺术季，隆里，贵州，中国

2016 莎阿南国际当代艺术双年展，马来西亚

2016 连州国际摄影年展“个体准则”，连州，广东，中国

2015“民间的力量”当代艺术展，北京民生现代美术馆，北京，中国

2012 首届中国当代陶瓷艺术大展，中华世纪坛世界艺术馆，北京，中国

2009 第十一届全国美展，世界雕塑公园，长春，中国

2009 重庆青年美术双年展，国际会展中心，重庆，中国

2008“金属之声”学术邀请展，798创意广场金属库，北京，中国

2008 2007中国当代艺术文献展，歌华美术馆，北京，中国

2007 和而不同•中国当代雕塑提名展，炎黄艺术馆，北京，中国

2004 第十届全国美术作品展，上海美术馆，上海，中国

2003 第一届桂林愚自乐园国际雕塑展，桂林愚自乐园艺术中心，桂林，中国

2002 第十六次全国新人新作展，炎黄艺术馆，北京，中国

Xi Hua

1989 Born in Guilin, Guangxi

Currently living in Guilin, member of China Artists Association, member of China Sculpture Society, Contemporary Artist

Solo Exhibitions

2024 "Durian Lingering Durian" Solo Exhibition by Xi Hua, HIGHLIGHT Art Space, Singapore

2024 Durian House - Xi Hua Special Exhibition, Guilin Art Museum, Guilin, China

2018 "Parallel • Placement" Exhibition of Xi Hua's Works, Creation of Art Space, Guilin, China

2017 One Place • Xi Hua Exhibition, Huaqiao Art Museum, Guilin, China

2011 Heavy Metal • Xi Hua Solo Exhibition, Visual Space, Beijing 798 Art District, Beijing, China

2007 “Xi Hua's Art World” Solo Exhibition, Hanmo Art Gallery, Beijing 798 Art District, Beijing, China

Joint Exhibitions

2024 Turning Point: The Intersection of Art and Technology in Singapore, HIGHLIGHT Art+Digital Youth, Singapore

2024 Integration - China•Malaysia Art Exhibition, Guilin Art Museum, Guilin, China

2023 The First Pan Southeast Asia Triennial of "Durian • Durian" , Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum, Guangzhou, China

2020 Beijing 3rd International Ink Design Biennial and won the Excellence Award, Beijing, China

2019 "The New Landscape of The Times" - International Exhibition of Public Sculpture in Jingdezhen, Taoxichuan Art Museum, Jiangxi, China

2018 Dongguan Sculpture Installation Art Festival, Dongguan, China

2018 Art Beijing • Public Art Exhibition, National Agricultural Exhibition Hall, Beijing, China

2017 Longli International New Media Art Season, Longli, Guizhou, China

2016 Shah Alam International Contemporary Art Biennial, Malaysia

2016 Lianzhou International Photography Exhibition "Individual Guidelines", Lianzhou, Guangdong, China

2015 "Folk Force" Contemporary Art Exhibition, Beijing Minsheng Modern Art Museum, Beijing, China

2012 The First China Contemporary Ceramic Art Exhibition, China Century Altar World Art Museum, Beijing, China

2009 The 11th National Art Exhibition, World Sculpture Park, Changchun, China

2009 Chongqing Youth Art Biennial, International Convention and Exhibition Center, Chongqing, China

2008 "Voice of Metal" Academic Invitation Exhibition, 798 Originality Square·Metal Warehouse, Beijing, China

2008 2007 China Contemporary Art Literature Exhibition, Gehua Art Museum, Beijing, China

2007 Harmony in Diversity • Nomination Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Sculpture, Yanhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China

2004 The 10th National Art Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2003 The 1st Guilin Yuzi Paradise International Sculpture Exhibition, Guilin Yuzi Paradise Art Center, Guilin, China

2002 The 16th National New Talent and New Works Exhibition, Yanhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China

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