理查德·路易斯·圖克收藏的傅文俊《幻化》No.1作品

    大學畢業后，在現代藝術博物館（MoMA）工作時，我在隱形眼鏡佩戴上出了一些問題。眼科醫生告訴我，根據矯正需要，我的一只眼睛要佩戴近視鏡，另一只佩戴遠視鏡，他還告訴我人不是用眼睛看東西，而是用大腦看東西。我很難相信他，自行開始佩戴中等距離的隱形眼鏡，效果還相當好。一個周末我去工作，想到不會有電話的煩擾、同事的打斷，我感到心滿意足。突然一支隱形眼鏡從眼睛里彈了出來，到處都找不到。我沒有帶眼鏡，要回家拿上它再返回博物館，得一個半小時。沒有隱形眼鏡的一只眼睛看近處非常清楚，而隱形眼鏡還在的一支看遠處非常清晰。我留下來工作，完成了自己設定的工作內容。之后我去了眼科醫生那里，為每一支眼睛配上了不同的鏡片。從那時起我明白，大腦會過濾眼鏡發送來的圖像，是大腦讓你看到大腦想要看到的事物。
    我為冗長的引言感到抱歉，但我有意引述這樣一段經歷。在文俊的自述里，他說道最早學習的是油畫。后來，“紀實攝影”成為他的工作，即記錄歷史事件或日常生活，再之后，從事觀念攝影。觀念攝影為他開啟了一種將現實圖像與其腦中的圖像呼應起來的創作方式。許多攝影師在最初都是記錄相機看到的世界。他們很快發現，他們看到的和相機記錄的不是一回事。這就促使文俊使用觀念攝影記錄其大腦內的影像。觀看他從早期到現在的作品，你能發現他的發展：最初主要是相機的視角，而如今的作品更多地反映出其大腦內的影像。
    曾經所有的照片都使用膠片，有一些“純粹主義者”認為膠片捕捉到的圖像應該未經任何處理地打印出來。有些人甚至打印出底片的邊緣以證明打印來源于底片，非常純粹，絕無剪裁或處理。隨著數碼影像的發展，藝術家能夠改變圖像以展示他們的思考，而不僅僅是相機所記錄的。當然，這在以前也可以通過膠片來完成，但是非常漫長而復雜的過程，讓許多藝術家感到麻煩。
    我第一次觀看文俊的觀念攝影作品使我從我西方式的感情中產生了許多圖像。文俊關于作品的陳述，卻不是我或其他人所看到的。我看到的來源于我頭腦中存儲的圖像和我的西方歷史觀。他想要表現的和我所“看到”有時是不一致的。細讀他的藝術感染力和過往將會為觀看他創作的作品增加一個維度。任何人觀看如同文俊這樣擁有豐富學識和想象力的藝術家的作品時，都會在智力和視覺上感到獲得了豐富和充實。
    最初讓我感到驚嘆的是，他的圖像和埃及圣甲蟲宗教符號間的聯系。我并不了解大足石刻，但它們的高雅和精致穿越時空在向我訴說。另一個在我腦子浮現的圖像是蝴蝶或飛蛾的繭。當然，當我讀到作品的題目：《幻化》，我明白了自己的反應。
    作為一名藝術家，我習慣于觀看一幅作品而先不去看它的題目，甚至藝術家的名字。我覺得這樣使我不受固有觀念和圖像的干擾。文俊運用古代和當代藝術創建了他的圖像。我看到了希臘/羅馬雕塑的圖像，這讓我感到驚奇。人體骨骼X光片的使用是源自20世紀的驚人想象力，同時和古代藝術品完美的融合在一起。他讓它們存在于同一時代，而非相差幾百年。宗教與世俗的融合為他的作品再增加了一個維度。將迥然不同的圖像并置，構成一個和諧的整體，這讓人驚嘆不已。
    我親眼看過一幅文俊的作品，但我可以說，他將圖像內容所獨有的特質賦予到圖像中，這種技藝是令人驚嘆的。石像的堅硬是真實的，雕塑周圍抽象的形狀憑借其生命力讓人感覺是活生生的。夏布不像夏布的照片，而是實實在在的。
    我希望以裝置的形式看到更多文俊的攝影作品。我不喜歡在書上或網上觀看作品，因為我認為藝術作品的比例和大小是完全體驗作品無法割裂的一部分。他是一位成熟的藝術家，不斷向外擴張其藝術創作的邊緣。他下一次的冒險在哪里，讓我們拭目以待。
    理查德·路易斯·圖克，藝術碩士  2014年5月

    理查德·路易斯·圖克簡介：
    曾為在那不勒斯藝術博物館舉辦的美國柯爾百貨公司總裁夫婦帕蒂·貝克和杰·貝克的募捐展覽擔任策展人，藝術之友協會的活躍會員，曾任紐約現代藝術博物館（MoMA）版權與復制部主任，在攝影領域擁有三十多年的經驗。

2014棕櫚灘藝術展（ArtPalm Beach）現場圖片

邁克爾·肯尼迪收藏的《幻化》No.8

    Fu Wenjun essay
    I had graduated fromcollege and was working at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, when I washaving difficulty being fitted for contact lens. My eye doctor tried toconvince me that because of the corrections needed that I should have one eyefitted for close up viewing and one for distance informing me that one does notsee with one’s eyes but with your brain. I found that difficult to believe and proceeded to have contacts for amedium distance which worked fairly well. One weekend I went into work, knowing that I could get much accomplishedwith the telephone not ringing and interruptions by colleagues.  Almost immediately I inadvertently flickedone of my contacts out of one eye.  Icould not find it anywhere.  I did nothave my glasses me and to go home and retrieve them and get back to the Museumwould take an hour and a half.  The eyewithout a contact lens gave excellent vision up close and the one with thecontact lens made distance vision clear. I stayed at work and was able to complete the tasks that I have set formyself.I subsequently went back to myeye doctor and was fitted with different lens for each eye.  From that time on I realized that the brainfilters the images that your eyes send to it and that it is the mind that letsyou see what it wants to.
    I apologize for thislengthy introduction, but I relate my story for a specific reason.  In Mr. Wenjun’s statements about his work hetalks about beginning as a traditional painter of oil on canvas.  Then “documentary photograph”, i.e. therecording of historical or daily events was his métier, then on to conceptualphotography..  When he discoveredconceptual photography this opened up a way for him to create images of realityin concert with images from his mind. Many photographers, began by recording what the camera saw.  They soon realized that what they saw andwhat the camera recorded were not the same. This is what led Wenjun to use conceptual photography to record hismind’s images. In looking through Wenjun’s first photographs and those oftoday, you can see his progression initially it was the camera’s viewpoint thatwas primary. His images today reflect more of the images in his mind.
    When all photographs weremade on film there were “purists” who thought that the images captured on filmshould be printed with no manipulation. Some even printed the edges ofnegatives to show that the prints made from the negatives were pure, with nocropping or manipulation. With the advent of digital images the artist couldchange the imagery to show what was in their minds and not just what the camerarecorded. This of course was possible with film, but it was a long andcomplicated process, which many artists found too cumbersome.  
    My first viewing of his conceptual photography brought forthmany images from my Western sensibility. What Wenjun says about these images are not what I or someone else wouldsee.  What I saw came from the storedimages in my mind and my historical Western perspective.. What Mr. Wenjunintended and what I “saw” was sometimes at odds. Reading about his influencesand history adds another dimension to viewing what he produced. When an artist,like Wenjun, has such a pletherer of knowledge and imagery, anyone who viewsthem will be enriched, both intellectually and visually.
    I was initially struck bythe relationship between his images and the sacred Egyptian Scarab with itsreligious symbols. I was not familiar with the Dazu Rock Carvings, but theirsophistication and refinement certainly spoke to me from across time. My nextvision brought to mind a chrysalis of the butterfly or moth. Of course, when Iread his title: Illusory Metamorphoses, I could understand my reactions.
    As an artist myself, Itend to look at a work of art without reading its title, or even the name ofthe artist. I feel that frees me of preconceived ideas and images. Wenjun hasbuilt his images using ancient and contemporary art. I was surprised by seeingsome images of Greco/Roman sculpture. The incorporation of xrays of skulls andskeletons was a brilliant layer of imagery from the 20th century,but melded perfectly with the ancient works of art. He has made them to existin the same time period and not hundreds of years apart. His combination of thereligious and secular also adds another dimension to his photographs.  Putting these disparate images together as acohesive whole is amazing.
    I have seen only one ofMr. Wenjun’s photographs in person, but I can tell you that his technical skillin endowing the images with reality of their individual qualities isastonishing. The hardness of the stone sculptures is real, the abstract shapesaround the sculpture seem alive with their own beings. The grass cloth does notseem to be a photograph of grass clothe, but is grass cloth itself.
    Iam looking forward to seeing many of Wenjun’s photographs in a installationsetting. Lookingat images in a book, or on line, is very frustrating to me, as I believe thatscale and size of works of art are integral part of experiencing their fullimpact.  This is a mature artist whocontinues to push the boundaries of his art. Where he ventures next is something that we should all look forward towith anticipation.
    Richard L. Tooke, MFA -May 2014