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2020 JONATHAN STRAUSS
ART ALIKE
01 · 策展人语 Curator's words
▬ 唐新宇 Tang Xinyu
“我的画作根本不是源于我而是通过我创作出来的。我相信，作为一个艺术家，他的作用更像是一个导管。” ——佐昆
"...my paintings do not come from me entirely, but rather come through me. I believe as an artist, one acts as a conduit." - Jonathan Strauss
很多艺术家都无法解释自己的创作动机和创作方式，甚至于在创作的过程中偏离自己的预设、不断地否定自己的预设，那么这个创作的过程，简直就是一个兴奋的、充满冒险的、不可未知的过程。画面最终呈现的结果往往是艺术家不断选择留下的思考轨迹和挣扎现场，也是艺术家在这次冒险之旅中探寻艺术真相的答案，充分体现了艺术家的潜意识、对艺术的理解和艺术家达到的水准。
Artists are often unable to explain the exact impetus of their work or the nature of their creative process. It is common that their process or route deviates from what they had presupposed or planned. This adds excitement and adventure to the creative endeavor - a sort of charting of the unknown. What emerges in the final work is the result of the artist's continuous choosing, eliminating, the mark of the trajectory of his thought and the ensuing struggle. And the final result stands as the response he has received from his questioning, from his exploration into artistic truth. And it stands as an adequate embodiment of his subconscious, as well as a reflection of his artistic understanding and attainments.
佐昆的艺术创作就是在呈现与选择之间徘徊往复的果实。在不断重复、探索和锤炼自己的语言过程中，佐昆习惯于把自我对外部的反应去放大、质疑、权衡、甚至消解，他用这种方式来表达对世界万物探索、追问的自我反馈的过程。因此，左坤的作品总是用智慧化解矛盾、秩序平衡冲突，呈现的是一个敏感而理性的世界。在抽象艺术中找到的自我于佐昆来说就像一根天赐的导管，从自身出发跨越政治、经济、文化直指自然，将世间万事万物吸收转化成他的艺术符号，从而凝聚在画布上。
Jonathan Strauss's art is the fruit of his many contemplative choices. In the process of constant iterations, exploring and refining his own language, Jonathan Strauss magnifies, questions, weighs and even dissolves his reaction to his external world. In this way, he uses the feedback system of art making to give voice to his experience of the world. Jonathan Strauss's works use wisdom to resolve contradiction, to order and balance conflict, in the end presenting a world that is both sensitive and rational. For Jonathan Strauss, the self he has discovered through his abstract art is like an open channel - an original nature. From this position he is able to transcend politics, economy and culture and point directly to nature. He absorbs and transforms the things of this world into his own artistic symbols, bringing them together on the canvas.
佐昆的创作既有源自康定斯基的纯真而热烈的浪漫气息又有蒙德里安的冷静而理智的框架结构，同时又糅合了抽象表现主义的丰富元素，运用现成物的拼贴、主观色彩的涂抹建立起值得推敲和细品的平和又极具精神指向的艺术面貌，他的艺术可以定义为综合抽象表现主义。佐昆的这种综合抽象表现主义不是个人的偶发，而是站在抽象表现主义的基础上发展而来的成果，属于后抽象表现主义的一个分支。抽象艺术自从康定斯基1910年所创作的第一张抽象作品算来已经有110年的历史了，抽象艺术经历了起伏跌宕之后非但没有走向衰落，反而更加繁荣，从主流文化的不接受到已经成为当下的时尚符号，其实也是文明发展的必然趋势。如何在抽象艺术中呈现自己独特的面貌，以及在抽象艺术中不断的去探寻有质量有高度有突破的表达方式已成为当代抽象艺术家思考的方向。
Jonathan Strauss's works combine the unaffected and romantic feel of Kandinsky with the calm and rational structure of Mondrian. They combine the rich elements of abstract expressionism, using ready-made materials and collage. His use of color is worthy of scrutiny and reflects both fine taste and a spiritual and peaceful disposition. I place his art in the category of 'integrative abstract expressionism', a branch of post-abstract expressionism. Jonathan Strauss's appearance as an integrative abstract expressionist is not a product of chance, but the result of his continuous development that takes as its starting point the sensibilities articulated by the abstract expressionists. Abstract art has a history of 110 years since Kandinsky created his first abstract work in 1910. After experiencing ups and downs, abstract art has not declined but thrived. Since its initial rejection of mainstream culture, it has become a fashion symbol and finally an inevitable trend in civilization's development. The contemporary abstract artist must wrestle with his or her own process of search, how to make breakthroughs in their domain and present works of originality.
佐昆作为一位西方抽象艺术家，在东西方文化交融际会的大时代背景下以非主流的方式游走在不同的地域文化当中，这种亲身历验和不确定性成就了他的平衡能力，也强化了他的主观表达。他的创作是对他所处时代的反映，他无从逃脱也无需刻意为之，事实上，置身于此，所反映出来的东西才是最真实的。
As a western abstract artist, Jonathan Strauss walks among different regional cultures in an unconventional way, amidst the backdrop of ongoing East-West cultural integration. Such personal experience and its attending uncertainties contribute to his ability to balance and strengthen his subjective expression. His creations are a reflection of the times in which he lives. There is no escaping this and, in this regard, there is no need for him to make forced efforts. That which his art reflects is honest and true.
02 · 艺术家简历 Artist's resume
▬ 佐昆 Jonathan Strauss
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03 · 展览作品 Artworks
佐昆，显现18号，2018，布面综合材料，80 x 80 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Emergence No. 18, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 80 x 80 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，显现6号，2019，布面综合材料，30 x 40 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Emergence No. 6, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 30 x 40 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，显现10号，2018，布面综合材料，30 x 40 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Emergence No. 10, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 30 x 40 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，显现9号，2018，布面综合材料，30 x 40 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Emergence No. 9, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 30 x 40 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
画家必须要给观众留有空间，使他们能够参与进来。如果将画作描述地过于明确、过多地借助工具，那观众就失去了欣赏的空间，画作也就失去了生命力。我尝试了各种方法让自己在画作中不占据主导，能让观众有独自欣赏的空间。一直以来我也不断让自己脱离出作品。
The artist must leave room for the viewer to participate. If he is too explicit in his description, too overbearing with the tools at his disposal, then there is no space for the viewer to live, and the work dies. I try to dispense with any and all methods that tend to rob the viewer of this space - methods that make my own role in the painting too dominant. I am constantly painting myself out of the painting.
在我画抽象画的早期，我一直在寻求平衡。平衡、平衡、还是平衡。可如今我却做着完全相反的事。毕竟，一个纯白色的表面也是平衡的。而谁会在乎这个呢？我要做的就是打破平衡！
In the early days of my abstract painting, I was always seeking balance. Balance, balance, balance. But now I find myself doing the opposite. Aferall, a completely white surface is balanced. Who cares about that? Often what I need is to do is knock the thing out of balance!
佐昆，无止3号，2018，布面综合材料，50 x 60 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Don't Hold Back No. 3, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 50 x 60 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，无止1号，2019，布面综合材料，40 x 50 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Don't Hold Back No. 1, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 40 x 50 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
Jonathan Strauss, Morning News, 2020, mixed media on canvas, 60 x 50 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
通常人们第一次看到我的画时都会看不懂，但没关系，即便是我本人，在刚完成一个阶段的创作后，我都会在视觉上对我刚画完的画产生一些错误的理解。想得到更为准确的理解仍需要花上几天时间。
People often don't understand my work at first sight. But that's ok. Even myself, when I have just finished a painting session, may have some misunderstandings, visually speaking, about what I have done. Some days may need to pass before a more accurate reading settles in.
所以如果你在观赏抽象画时感到困惑，请耐心一点，慢慢体会。画家注入于画作中的东西正等着你去发现。
So if non-representational artwork confuses you, be patient, and take your time to view it. I think you can trust that the artist has infused something into that work that's waiting for your discovery.
佐昆，矩形简画2号，2019，布面综合材料，40 x 30 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Rectangle Sketch No.2, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 40 x 30 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
不平凡的画注定只能诞生在最平凡的日子里。
Extraordinary paintings can only be painted on the most ordinary of days.
有时我确实想修改润色一幅画的粗糙或不精致之处。但如果你在这个方向上走得太远，你会让这副画走入死胡同。你见过专业设计师创作的毕加索风格的画吗?所有的元素似乎都在那里，它甚至有比毕加索的画更完善或精致的外观。但它与任何真正毕加索的作品相比，都毫无生气。
Sometimes I do want to smooth over the rough or coarse aspects of a painting. But if you go too far in that direction, you will kill it. Have you ever seen a professional designer create a picture in the style of Picasso? All the elements will seem to be there, and the painting will have a much more finished or refined look than a Picasso. But side by side with any real Picasso you see the designer's work is lifeless in comparison.
我尽量不过多纠结于一幅画的细枝末节是否都完美。就让它呼吸吧。
I try not to worry too much about tying up all the loose ends in a painting. Let it live.
佐昆，红色堆积，2018，布面综合材料，40 x 30 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Mound with Red, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 40 x 30 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，相对平静2号，2018，布面综合材料，50 x 50 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Relative Calm No. 2, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 50 x 50 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，相对平静4号，2018，布面综合材料，50 x 50 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Relative Calm No. 4, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 50 x 50 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
画家就应该认真对待作画。否则怎么能长期坚持呢？尤其于很多画家而言，他们并没有得到为当前社会价值所认可的回报承诺。
但是于创作本身，他最好不要“认真”对待作画。只有这样，他才能自由地创造出有灵魂和创意的作品。听起来有点晦涩对吧? 但还真是这样！
An artist ought to take what he does seriously. Otherwise how could he stick with his project over the long term, which, in many artists' cases, presents no clear promise of returns in terms of what our present society appears to value?
And yet, it's critical that he not take his art seriously at all. Only in this way, is he free to produce something that has spirit and originality.
Sounds a little tricky, doesn't it? It can be!
佐昆，武汉笔记5号，2009，布面综合材料，20 x 14 cm @ 佐昆
佐昆，武汉笔记31号，2018，布面综合材料，22 x 27 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Wuhan Notebook Series No. 31, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 22 x 27 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，武汉笔记33号，2011，布面综合材料，24 x 19 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Wuhan Notebook Series No. 33, 2011, mixed media on canvas, 24 x 19 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，武汉笔记25号，2010，布面综合材料，19 x 22 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Wuhan Notebook Series No. 25, 2010, mixed media on canvas, 19 x 22 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
我曾读到过抽象表现主义的先驱杰克逊·波洛克(Jackson Pollock)有时会问他的妻子——画家李·克拉斯纳(Lee Krasner)，问的不是这幅画好不好，而是问它是否是一幅画。
“这是一幅画吗”，这似乎是一个很低的标准，对吧？但实际上我认为这是一个最有用的标准。“绘画”必须创造一个连贯的视觉环境，在这种环境下，必须要有值得观赏者注意的东西产生。如果这一切都有了，那么我想你就有一幅自己的画作了。我认为这挺不错的!
话虽如此，我想波洛克先生并不会轻易地在他的家庭圈之外分享这类有关他工作的问题。
I read that Jackson Pollock, the pioneering abstract expressionist, would sometimes ask his wife, the artist, Lee Krasner, not whether a work was good or not, but simply if it was a painting or not.
It seems like a low bar, doesn't it, to ask 'is this even a painting'? But actually I think it's a pretty useful standard. A 'painting' has to create a coherent visual context, and in that context some things have to be happening worthy of a viewer's attention. If all that is going on, then I suppose you have a painting. Not bad, I think!
That said, I would be willing to bet that Mr. Pollock didn't easily share this type of question about his work outside his family circle.
佐昆，市郊，2019，布面综合材料，60 x 60 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Outskirts of the City, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 60 x 60 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
我的一位好朋友想要一幅我的作品，于是他来我工作室看看，也许会买一幅。我领着他去看了几幅我认为还不错的画，可他说它们看起来像还没画完的。他看中了另一幅看起来更完整的画。但是我对那幅画并不满意，并决定修改它。我不愿意让这幅所谓“完成了”的画带着我的名字走向世界。
A good friend wanted to have one of my paintings, so he came to my studio to have a look and perhaps buy one. I steered him to a couple of paintings that I thought were good ones. But he said he felt they looked unfinished. He liked another one that had a more finished look. But I was not happy with that one, and planned to change it. I wasn't comfortable letting that 'finished' painting go out into the world bearing my name.
佐昆，柏坚岛的回忆，2019，布面综合材料，30 x 40 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Memories of Brigantine, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 30 x 40 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，宾州拼缝(2)，2019，布面综合材料，40 x 50 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Pennsylvania Quilt (2), 2019, mixed media on canvas, 40 x 50 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
什么都不说是最好，如人言道，让艺术为自己说话。不过讽刺的是，越想这样做的人，越无法承受这样去做。
It is tempting to want to say nothing and allow the art, as they say, to speak for itself. Ironically, it may be those of us who are most inclined towards this position who can least afford it.
佐昆，踪迹，2018，布面综合材料，40 x 50 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Trails and Traces, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 40 x 50 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，云南沉思录12号，2020，纸本彩墨，30 x 30 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Yunnan Meditations No. 12, 2020, Chinese paint on rice paper, 30 x 30 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，云南沉思录10号，2020，纸本彩墨，34 x 34 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Yunnan Meditations No. 10, 2020, Chinese paint on rice paper, 34 x 34 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，云南沉思录14号，2020，纸本彩墨，29.5 x 29.5 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Yunnan Meditations No. 14, 2020, Chinese paint on rice paper, 29.5 x 29.5 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，云南沉思录19号，2020，纸本彩墨，30 x 30 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Yunnan Meditations No. 19, 2020, Chinese paint on rice paper, 30 x 30 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，云南沉思录15号，2020，纸本彩墨，30 x 30 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Yunnan Meditations No. 15, 2020, Chinese paint on rice paper, 30 x 30 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
佐昆，云南沉思录21号，2020，纸本彩墨，39 x 38 cm @ 佐昆
Jonathan Strauss, Yunnan Meditations No. 21, 2020, Chinese paint on rice paper, 39 x 38 cm @ Jonathan Strauss
监制：戴剑
审稿：王伟
校稿：王峰
编辑：项潇雨（实习） 万琴
