羅一｜纽约，2020，“无家可归”纪

作者：艺术中国时间： 2021-01-23 11:10:31

孤傲的人旁观孤苦的人

Lonely people watch lonely people

“人们冒着冬夜之雨，甚至不夸张地说冒着生命危险前来观摩，伶仃的人旁观孤傲的人，游吟者在游吟者画像前纵声歌舞。”12月初，在纽约暗潮画廊并不“豪华”的展厅里，羅一个展“无家可归”系列画作被放置在地板上，仿佛天桥下那些随意躺卧在路边的流离者，静等着观众的到来。

"People braved the winter rain and literally risked their lives to come, lonely people watched lonely people, a troubadour sang and danced in front of paintings of troubadours.”At the beginning of December 2020, in the not-so-luxurious room of Undercurrent Gallery in New York, Loy Luo's"homeless" series of paintings were laid out on the floor, like homeless people lying on the roadside under an overpass, waiting for the audience to arrive.

暗潮画廊前廊 Undercurrent Gallery Front porch

暗潮画廊展厅 Undercurrent Gallery showroom

2020年1月，一个赴美观光转换表情的一时决意成为羅一一段特别履历的起头。从纽约肯尼迪机场下飞机后，羅一租了一辆汽车，驶向东岸几座城市，开启了参观画廊、博物馆的旅程。原本她筹算一路游到西海岸，但随之传来国内疫情的动静，使她以尝鼎一之心境预见世界之大不安，于是逃到到纽约以北的山区，借居在美国度庭的House里悚惶恐忧半月有余。

In January 2020, Loy Luo made a decision to temporarily travel to the United States, seeking a change of scenery. This was the beginning of a unique experience for the artist. After landing at New York's Kennedy Airport, she rented a car and drove to several cities on the east coast, where she began her avid tour of galleries and museums. Originally, Loy planned to drive all the way to the west coast, but then came the news of the pandemic. Foreseeing the coming of an increasingly anxious world, she escaped to the mountains not far north of New York City, where she“sheltered” in the homes of several American families for a couple of weeks, feeling terrified.

揭幕现场，戴口罩的羅一Loy Luo wearing a mask at the opening

2月下旬，尽管惊骇，羅一照样带着对艺术交流的盼望回到纽约城。各类测验和思索后，她起头实施百人肖像行为企图，即在疫情发急的纽约陌头给各类戴面具和不戴面具的人画素描肖像。7月15日，名为《另一个我》的百人肖像行为展在纽约白盒子艺术中心揭幕，展期延续了两个月。在这时代，羅一起头了《无家可归》展的筹备与创作。

In late February, in spite of her worries, Loy Luo returned to New York City with a desire for artistic exchange. After a lot of trial and thought, she embarked on the 100 Portraits Project, a project to sketch people who wore or didn’t wear a mask on the streets of New York in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. On July 15,"The Other I," a performance exhibition of 100 portraits, opened at the White Box Art Center in New York for two months. During this period, Loy Luo started the preparation and creation of her next project - an expression of the concept of“homeless”.

《无家可归》展览现场 "Homeless" exhibition

羅一起头无家可归系列绘画的创作同时以疫情中无家可归者身份实施无家可归之行为，进行到第四个月时，纽约暗潮画廊的合伙人过程了《无家可归》的个展方案，并列入画廊12月展览企图。暗潮画廊的撰稿人阿德里亚娜·弗隆认为，跟着纽约这座城市所进行的无情的变化，它的居民在懦弱的微散栖身状况中疲于保存。那些栖身在公共空间和私家空间裂隙中的人，浮现出了一种不确定性，往好了说，这种不确定性是对“配合选择”的挑战，往坏了说，是政治失败的证实。但羅一从小我经验的角度认为，艺术家是生成的流落者，他们也有各类心理问题，他们对本身所处时代的问题比通俗人更敏感。

Luo began creating a series of homeless paintings while illegally living in her studio as a homeless person during the time of COVID-19. In the fourth month, the partners of New York's Undercurrent Gallery approved the solo exhibition plan of"Homeless" and included it in the gallery's exhibition plan for December 2020.Undercurrent Gallery contributor Adriana Furlong wrote:As the city performs relentless alterations, its inhabitants strain to survive inside fragile micro-diasporas. Those who inhabit the chasm between public and private space embody an indeterminacy that, at best, defies co-option and, at worst, is testament to political failure. However, Luo believes from the perspective of personal experience that artists are born wanderers with their own psychological struggles, and because of that are more sensitive to the problems of their time than ordinary people.

孤傲看客 Lonely looking

在《无家可归》者中尽兴歌舞的“游吟”歌手 A"minstrel" singer who sings and dances in The Homeless

显然，在“无家可归”作品中，“无脸”特征吻合了大时代下身份缺失带来的疑惑感触感染，也双关着落空庄严的隐喻。但当羅一“目睹’卡西莫多(Quasimodo)’驼背的身体披发出雕塑般的肃静、‘游吟诗人（Troubadour）’孤立于汗青废墟上的身影令人唏嘘时，这些世俗社会界说的无用者的存在让我关系到倡始无用之用的中国古典哲学。”是的，这些“无家可归”者作品中的那种支离混沌感并不表现绝望的孤苦，而是羅一式伶仃：带着一点坚韧的孤苦，还带着一点面临这个动荡不安的世界时，永远连结乐观的或许微弱却平坦的伶仃。

Obviously, Loy Luo's faceless figures suggest a loss of both identity and dignity in the modern world, but when the artist saw a kind of sculptural majesty in“Quasimodo”’s hunchbacked body, and the'Troubadour' standing lonely among the ruins of history, Loy was reminded of the meaningfulness of those whose existence is labeled as otiosity, which is discussed in classical Chinese philosophy. The intention of the works is not so much to emphasize the despair of those who are homeless. Instead it is loneliness tempered with a bit of resilience; not overly strong, perhaps, but somehow always warm and optimistic in the face of this turbulent world.

羅一在纽约陌头 Loy Luo is on the streets of New York

艺术后头：灭亡、存在、表达

The back of the art: death, existence, expression

在异国亲历疫情让羅一对灭亡和存在有了与以往分歧的认知。经由对疫情时代人道的窥察她感触感染到，真的直逼死境轻易使人忽然间精神溃散、执迷肉身。她是以获得对将死之人最后的心理挣扎、阴晦、扭曲等的懂得及对生命懦弱的同情。也是以更果断认知，无论任何托言，对战争和暴力的怂恿推崇都是人类最大的罪行，是逼工资兽罪的罪行。

Living through a pandemic in a foreign country has given Luo a different perspective on death and existence. Through observing human nature during this hard time, she felt that a person's spirit could suddenly break down and become obsessed with the body. She gained an understanding of the last psychological struggles, shadows, distortions of the dying, and a a sympathy for the fragility of life. It also makes us more determined to recognize that all the promotion of war and violence is man’s greatest evil - an evil that leads human beings to lose the connection to their spiritual selves and instead act like animals.

羅一在展厅 Loy Luo is in the exhibition hall

新的认知也能够用来注释她在分歧阶段创作面貌的改变，羅一说，因为担忧灾难中个别性被群体潜匿，所以她以极大热情启动了初志为器重个别性的百人肖像企图。在最初的可骇气氛里她并没有意识到把表象细节的非凡性等同于个别性有什么问题，反而是怀着朴拙的对生命的敬畏之心死力描绘每一张举世无双的面孔；或许是特准时节某种强迫症般的精神执拗以及过度卖力，使羅一阿谁阶段的肖像素描形成了另一种精神气场，一种雷同于肉身在场感带来的简朴的打动。

The new cognition can also be used to explain the change of her creative appearance in different stages. Loy Luo said she started the"100 People Portrait Project" with great enthusiasm because she feared that individuality would be lost to the community during the disaster. In the initial atmosphere of horror, she did not realize that there is a problem with equating a person’s individuality only with their appearance. However, she tried to depict each unique face with a sincere reverence for life. Perhaps it was her obsessive-compulsive stubbornness and excessive earnestness which also formed another kind of spiritual characteristic, a kind of simple emotion similar to the presence of the body.

5月24日纽约时报 The NewYork Times of May 24th

《另一个我》个展肖像作品"The Other I" solo exhibition portrait works

羅一猜测，人对精神的感知和对灭亡的惧怕紧密亲密相关，越惧怕越轻易陷落于表象世界，而越平安，反而更加亲近更纯粹之精神，这时表象真实反而不那么主要。她说，当突如其来的存亡威胁就在面前时，人可能会依靠对表象肉身的执着来转移驱散心里惊恐；而当威胁削弱或顺应可骇后，才有能力去体验真实本身的真实情绪，并试图表达；又只能在感触感染到更大的平安后，才再次苏醒对生命恒常面临的价值问题的思虑，这时刻艺术表达起头趋势沉着、抽象、或真正的深刻。

Luo conjectured that people's perception of the spirit is closely related to the fear of death. The more afraid people are, the more likely they are to fall into the world of appearances. The safer they are, the closer they are to the purer spirit, the reality of appearances is not so important. She said that when the sudden threat of life and death is at hand, people may rely on the attachment to the physical appearance to divert and disperse the inner fear; And when the threat is reduced or people have adapted to the terror, they are able to experience their true emotions and try to express them. Only when they feel more secure can they revive their thinking on the value problems that life always faces. At this time, artistic expression begins to become calm, abstract, or really profound.

《另一个我》展的大幅素描 A large sketch in the"The Other I" exhibition

艺术家在布鲁克林DUMBO艺术区工作室 The artist works at her studio in Dumbo, Brooklyn

不是画展的画展

A painting exhibition that is not a painting exhibition

2020年的履历际遇，导致了羅一创作理念、状况和形式的改变。我们能够看到，她来纽约后延续举办的三个个展(个中一个是在线展)都不像以前那样是抽象艺术。然而，羅一强调她的新作品并不是被多少人懂得的具象艺术，甚至也不是具象表示主义，她认为画廊展出的铅笔肖像和以无家可归者形象为主题的绘画其实是借壳绘画的观念甚至行为，这些画是一个完整系统中的元素或装配。

The experience in 2020 has led to the change of Loy Luo's creative concept, state and form. We can see that the three consecutive solo exhibitions she held after coming to New York (one of which is an online exhibition) are not abstract art as she did before. However, Luo stressed that her new works are not just pieces of Figural art that may be understood by many people, it is not even representational expressionism. She says, the pencil portraits and homeless-image-themed paintings, in the exhibition, are outside forms, behind which are some concept or performance art. These paintings are elements of a complete system.

她提醒人们留意她在《另一个我》展览中过程视频装配作品记录的一个疫情陌头的行为，以及同时展出的报纸现制品的时效提醒等。她透露《无家可归》展背后是一个持续了半年之久的无家可归的拟真生涯状况，与此同时，展览中的细节也反映出一种意图，即把绘画自己装配化，或身体化。

In“The Other I” show, she reminded us to pay attention to the video installation works which recorded a performance on the street in the outbreak as well as the newspaper ready-made works displayed in the show which remind us of the close connection between the works and the temporal context. She disclosed that behind the"Homeless" exhibition was the simulated life situation of her own illegal homelessness that had been going on already for half a year. At the same time, the details, in the exhibition, also reflect the intention that treats the paintings themselves as ready-mades, maybe bodies glimpsed in passing.

《另一个我》个展的视频装配 Video installation for the solo exhibition“The Other I”

《无家可归》展的书法元素 Calligraphic elements from the"Homeless" exhibition

“无家可归”之行为 The performance of being"homeless"

看展姿势：施展主义、大适意、符号学Exhibition postures: expressionism, freehand style, semiotics

羅一说此次展览最大的收成是她与来访的纽约艺术家们的交流。让羅一欣慰的是，她看到参观者们浏览作品时的专注、严峻和作品间呼应出的协调调性。除了Dumbo艺术区的艺术家邻人来列入揭幕式，Sergey Kir等艺术家朋侪说是看到媒体展讯特地赶来，他们分享给羅一那些她并不知情的媒体讯息。陆续前来观展的参观者们热情分享其观展感触感染：James Howard Collins，Markus.Nikol’a Mironovic认为画面情绪丰满，Vytenis Jankunas、John Ensor Parker说画面构想布满寄意；Mark Crawford, John Mazlish说这些画面让人联想到戈雅、蒙克；Paul Chepolis谈到画面抽象具象元素的跟尾巧妙；Michael Ser, Philip Rothenberg浏览分歧材料间的冲突协调；Queenie Wang问艺术家是否有中国泼墨大适意的配景履历，等等。

Loy Luo said the biggest gain of the exhibition was her communication with visiting artists from New York. To Luo's delight, she saw the attention, seriousness, which is harmony with the atmosphere of the show. In addition to the artist neighbors from Dumbo Art District who attended the opening ceremony, Sergey Kir and other visitors said that they came to the show because they saw some art media posts, and they shared with Loy Luo some media information that she did not know. Artists also shared their feeling about Loy’s art: James Howard Collins, Markus, Nikol'a Mironovic thought the paintings full of emotion; Vytenis Jankunas, John Ensor Parker said the images were full of meaning; Mark Crawford, John Mazlish said the images were reminiscent of Goya and Munch; Paul Chepolis talked about the ingenious convergence of abstract and representational elements in the picture; Michael Ser, Philip Rothenberg appreciates the conflict and harmony between different materials; Queenie Wang asked if the artist had a background in Chinese splash-ink brushwork, etc.

《无家可归》作品局部细节partial details of the works from“Homeless”

梁楷、范宽、牧溪Liang Kai, Fan Kuan, Mu Xi

《无家可归》系列作品“Homeless” Series

参观者对展览格局很敏感，感觉把放在地板上的画很吻合“无家可归”的主题;还有画下的木块，用毛笔在地上写下的画名，以及其他不惹人注目但随处可见的中国书法元素等，它们被观者识别和说起为具有特别意义的符号。似乎有意识地利用符号学的解读方式在纽约艺术界很遍及。例如，“红墙”左边的黑色弯曲条被Steve West看作是一根庞大的手杖，以至于角落里的流落汉够不到它。又如《青铜睡佛》中的恍惚蓝色身影被Scott Endsley解读为一个护卫者，尽管这种解读可能与艺术家的原意恰恰相悖。

Visitors were sensitive to the style of the exhibition and felt that resting the paintings essentially on the floor was appropriate to the theme of"homeless"; There are also the wooden blocks under the paintings, the names of the paintings written on the ground with a ink brush, and other unobtrusive but ubiquitous Chinese calligraphy elements, which were identified and mentioned by the viewers as symbols with special meanings. It seems that the conscious use of semiotic methods of interpretation is common in New York art circles. For example, the black curving strip on the left of"Red Wall" was seen by Steve West as a crutch so large that the homeless man in the corner could not reach it. Or the fuzzy blue figure in"The Bronze Sleeping Buddha" is read by Scott Endsley as a protector, even though this interpretation may be contrary to the artist’s original intention.

《无家可归》展放置地面的作品 works of”Homeless" on the floor

《无家可归》展书法涂鸦 the calligraphy graffiti in”Homeless" exhibition

《无家可归》展陈细节 the details of works of”Homeless”

羅一说，每当她路过墙壁有涂鸦印记的街角，看到那张摆放地面的展览海报时，就想起阿德里亚娜展览媒介里的开篇：一个生命在我们栖身的建筑几何图形上留下印记，要多久，要到什么水平，才能给我们留下暖和的躯体的印象?

Whenever she passed the street corner near the gallery with a graffiti on the wall and the poster of the exhibition below it on the ground, Loy was reminded of Adriana’s opening line of the exhibition preface:“How long, and to what degree, must a being imprint itself upon the geometries of our lived architecture before imparting suggestions of a warm body?”.

街角海报 The poster on the street corner

她说，在现代艺术的语境中，要捕获到源于艺术家小我生涯经验，同时又与外部世界发生共识的能指，需要艺术家对本身诚笃，同时对时事敏感。在她看来，“面具”和“无家可归”是当下意义条理丰硕的能指。

She says that in the context of contemporary art, to capture the signifier which originated from the individual life experience of the artist but also resonates with the external world requires the artist to be honest with him- or herself and sensitive to the time."Mask" and"homeless" are the signifiers with rich levels of meaning in the current time, in her eyes.

春天有多远

How far is spring

“昔我往矣杨柳依依”，虽说羅一刚去美国的一月还谈不上杨柳依依，总还算世界宁靖。可到2020年7月签证到期，连绵近蒲月的疫情却正值岑岭，无法回国的羅一只好将签证延期半年，但当她筹算在《无家可归》展竣事后回国时，新一波的疫情却使她提前3个月订购的航班被打消了。一月的纽约似乎离春天还很遥远，只不外羅一的收成照样令人颇感暖意。

Some lines from The Book of Songs, a collection of classical Chinese poems, say,“When I left there were budding willows by the road; when I returned, rain and snow”. Although in January when Loy Luo left China, it was far from willow to bud, the world was still peaceful. But when her visa expired here in July 2020, the pandemic was at its peak after nearly five months from its start in the U.S., so she could not go back to China and had to extend her visa for six months. And then, although she had planned to return after the Homeless exhibition, she discovered the flight she had booked three months in advance was cancelled because of the renewed pandemic. Spring seems far away in New York in January, but Loy's harvest is still very warm.

在画廊和艺术家均无等候的情形下，《无家可归》展惊喜地获得了诸如：Artforum, Artcard.cc, Artindumbo, allevent.in, larryqualls.blogspot.com, twocoatsofpaint.com, expoartist.org, inoox.com等美国专业艺术媒体的展讯推送，以及不少艺术自媒体的转发。而中国艺术谈论家夏可君和艺术家董鹤、李振中则在苇草智酷段永朝师长的组织下和羅一进行了线上艺术交流运动。

Both Luo and the gallery owners were happily surprised by the art media’s coverage of the“homeless" exhibition opening: Artforum, Artcard. Cc, Artindumbo, allevent. In, larryqualls.blogspot.com, twocoatsofpaint.com, expoartist.org, inoox.com, etc., as well as pushed forward by some social media. Chinese art critic Xia Kejun and artists Dong He and Li Zhenzhong - hosted by Duan Yongchao - had an online art exchange with Loy Luo under the organization of the Chinese NGO CoolReeds.

在线艺术沙龙 Online Art Salon

令人鼓舞的是，大约在“无家可归”睁开幕的同时，暗潮画廊向感乐趣的艺术家发出了申请将来展览的通知，最终收到了近70份申请。值得指出的是，美国的非营利画廊为他们认为优异的艺术家供应展览——纷歧定,是众所周知的或受接待的——并且画廊的日常导览工作由自愿者担当,人们相信这种非盈利轨制能够更好地维护艺术的纯正。

It is very encouraging to note that Undercurrent had sent out a general notice for interested artists to apply for future shows there around the same time as Homeless opened and ended up receiving almost 70 returns. It could be noted that non-profit galleries in the United States offer exhibitions to artists they believe are excellent - not necessarily because they are well-known or popular - and also that the daily tours of the galleries are conducted by volunteers, which people believe can better maintain the purity of art.

暗潮画廊自媒体 Undercurrent Gallery social media

尽管整个纽约城都因疫情处于大萧条中，画廊照样在展览初期就收到艺术赞助人Christopher Pelham师长的热心捐赠，临近展览竣事，画廊陆续收到作品保藏意向。撤展当天，纽约上州一位艺术帮助人开车到画廊，将羅一的作品及行李接到为其供应的工作室。

Although New York City is certainly suffering under the effects of the pandemic, the gallery received a generous donation from art patron Christopher Pelham at the beginning of the exhibition, and continued to receive requests of pieces from the show for collections up to the end of the exhibition. On the day of the show's departure, a patron friend from upstate New York drove to the gallery to help take Ms. Luo's work and luggage to a new studio temporarily provided for her to embark on the next phase of her creativity.