去绍兴文理学院美术学院拜访吕国钢先生，是因为他创作的反映中国轻纺城的巨幅工笔画作《丝路新语》已于6月底完成。

　　车至校区门口，与其联系。很快，他便出现在我的视野里。远远望去，还是那般模样，一张典型的国字脸上依然留着浓黑的络腮胡子，走路的步子不疾不徐。双手紧握一起，细细打量，发觉岁月还是在这位画家脸上铺上了些许沧桑——毕竟，作为朋友，我们已经多年未见了。

　　他的工作室在二楼，有近200平方米，乍一看多少有些杂乱，但如果联想到这是画家的工作室，一切也就显得有些秩序和规范了。最吸引我眼球的，当然就是长条桌上那幅正在创作的巨幅工笔画作《丝路新语》了。未等我落座，我们的话题就由此契入……

　　说及《丝路新语》的创作，吕国钢不免如数家珍、娓娓道来。他要通过画作来承载古代丝绸之路曾经的鼎盛与辉煌，来凸显新时代赓续丝绸之路传统而不断开拓升华的新气象、新气派、新魅力。看得出，对于这幅作品的创作，吕国钢是充满激情且信心满满的。

　　用巨幅工笔画的表现手法反映中国丝绸城，《丝路新语》开了先河。“作品如果能被大家认可，最可能的原因是我的创作主题紧扣时代。”吕国钢不无谦虚地回应我。其实，除了上述原因，在我看来，更为重要的还是因为他具有真正的艺术底气、创作实力。因为这些年来，他先后有10多件作品获得省级、全国级荣誉，其中人物画作品《清夏》《小镇姑娘》分别入选第11届、第12届全国美展，《长者》参加第7届“西部大地情”全国美展……

　　是啊，绍兴丝绸一直述说着光荣与梦想，是中国丝绸之路的发祥地之一。据《越绝书》《吴越春秋》等典籍记载，当时越国的丝织品有帛、丝、纱毂等多种。随着永嘉南渡和宋室南渡，大量移民的涌入亦刺激了越地的蚕桑与丝绸的发展。到唐代后期，“越罗”“缭绫”更是成为名动朝野的品牌。越地丝绸也随海上丝绸之路为域外所知。明清以降，越地的丝绸生产逐步形成区域性分工。中华人民共和国成立后，尤其是改革开放以来，绍兴丝绸业获得了空前的发展，重新成为浙江省最重要的丝绸生产基地之一。让人们记忆犹新的是，1986年秉承筚路蓝缕以启山林传统的绍兴人，在柯桥创办了中国轻纺城。经过30多年奋斗，目前经营面料5万余种，日客流量20万人次，年成交额从1988年的0.76亿元跃升到目前的800多亿元。而今，中国轻纺城已是全球最大的轻纺批发市场，被称为中国市场经济的标志，也当仁不让地成为“21世纪海上丝绸之路”的重要节点。

　　“作为一个绍兴的画家，拿起画笔把自己所见所闻、所感所想真实地记录下来，我感到责无旁贷。”画作接近完成，吕国钢一边展卷让我欣赏，一边款款向我介绍。《丝路新语》属于大型主题性中国人物画，它以群像的方式，取广角视野，全方位表现中国轻纺城市场火热的交易场景。画面人物有70个之多，其身份涉及丝绸、纺织产业链各个环节的从业者，主角为当下的中国人和行走在21世纪海上丝绸之路的各国旅客、商人。

　　众所周知，主题性绘画的一个主要特点就是将绘画的触角直接指向社会现实，直面人生、正视历史，追求真善美。因此，创作此类作品，不仅要有能触动其心灵的社会事件，也需要创作者本身具有丰富的生活经验。将画作冠以“新语”之名，这是因为新时代跟古丝绸之路在时间、地点、人物、交易方式上都不尽相同，包括交易的内容如今也已由丝绸而渐渐延伸扩大到其他面料的纺织品，何况，目的也有差异，如今出除了商业上的交往，还有基于传达文化、加强交流、合作共赢的考量。

　　确定创作内容后，吕国钢并没有停止完善立意、积累题材、精心构思的脚步。这两年多来，他是在边积累边构思的交互中推进创作的。他先后多次完成了草稿创作，并将每一次的草稿创作作为了向“完美”逼近的阶梯。上海每年都有春季、秋季“中国国际纺织面料、家用纺织品及辅料博览会”，于是，他就成了博览会的必到客。他不仅像商人一样跟人家去谈，去深入了解交易的情况，而且也像摄影家那样去选取不同的角度拍摄，有时更是拿起铅笔速写一个个触动人心的场景、细节。柯桥有一个“新丝路模特大赛”，已经举办了好几年，他也前往参观。模特穿着近似丝绸的棉质印花面料制成的服饰，通过T型舞台流溢出五光十色的美，他分明觉得这就是走向世界的美，这就是中国的影响力。

　　于是想及，在《丝路新语》中就有一组人物以“顶天立地”的方阵张扬着中国丝绸的特有魅力，盖源于柯桥“新丝路模特大赛”的启迪。除了模特走秀，画面中还有贸易洽谈的场景。吕国钢告诉我：“这是两个时空，为了防止由此削弱画面的美感，就必须尽力打破这一相对孤寂的时空感。几经反复比较，采用了十字形的构图设想。十字形构图可以充分调动画面中的各个人物，并进行巧妙的穿插。‘竖’的是模特走秀的场面，运用旋转式、S形的构图。因模特只有10多个人，人物就要画得大一点，以提升场面的视觉冲击力；‘横’的则是贸易场景，有五六十人，所以人物就小一点。自我感觉，这幅画打破了固定的时间、空间连接的场景，给人一种立体式的大场面叙事方式。”笔者对此深以为然。因为大尺寸的画作，最怕的就是平铺直叙，笔笔都安稳，笔笔都没有毛病，这种平稳是可怕的魔怔。好画必须有跳脱画面的画眼——突破常规，化平常为奇崛。也恰恰是这种舒张与酣畅，无羁的放浪，才能拨动欣赏者的兴奋点。吕国钢正是凭着上述的特殊构图方式，将那些看似无关的独立的片段，深深镶嵌进牵魂夺魄的艺术逻辑内。细细观瞻，其“大取其形，小取其神；远取其势，近取其质”，乍看似工笔，其实却是兼工带写的艺术创作特点，的确得到了最为充沛的表达。

　　而更让吕国钢感到欣慰的是，这些场景都是从现场参观考察获得的，包括其中涉及到的56个人物，都可以从生活中找到原型，因而其更好地呈现了艺术的真实性和感染力。“我相信这是一个生动的纪实的画面，也是一个抒情的历史篇章。难怪在创作这幅画的过程中，自己内心时常涌起作为炎黄子孙的自豪感。”吕国钢的脸上绽出了会心的笑。

　　吕国钢有理由高兴，有理由为自己鼓掌。这两年中，除了完成正常的教学任务，他几乎将自己的业余时间都投入到了这幅画作的创作中。创作室里的灯光可以为他作证：想画而没有灵感时，他基本是冥思苦想；灵感来了，他就夜以继日地创作。即便是节假日，创作室也是他唯一的目的地。不为别的，他只是为了在恰好的光影里，捕捉住艺术生命里的刹那芳华。

　　想起了大仲马曾经说过的一段话：“当你拼命想完成一件事的时候，你就不再是别人的对手，或者说得更确切一些，别人就不再是你的对手了。不管是谁，只要下了这个决心，他就会立刻觉得增添了无穷的力量，而他的视野也随之开阔了。”对于吕国钢，《丝路新语》是他艺术生涯中最大尺幅的创作，也是难度最大、最为辛苦或许也是最为成功的一次艺术创作。有了这一次难忘的创作经历，他觉得自己才真正懂得了先前不曾悟彻的诸多艺术真谛，比如什么叫真正的责任担当，比如怎样的生活积累才利于艺术创作，比如创新探索如何突出重围来表达自我个性，比如积淀文化修养主要的依靠路径有哪些，等等。我想，这些感悟是他的一番大实话。自然，我也更有理由期待他创作出更多更好的艺术作品。

　　Stories of Silk Road Retold

　　  A Chat with Shaoxing-based Artist Lyu Guogang

Lyu Guogang, a Shaoxing-based artist currently teaching at Shaoxing University, came into view when my car was pulling over at the entrance to the campus. We have been friends for many years, but haven’t met for quite a while.

Seated in his studio on the second floor of the building, I couldn’t wait to start our chat regarding the artist’s new painting, titled Stories of Silk Road Retold, which has receiving support from China National Art Fund since August 2016.

The finished painting spread out on a long table instantly caught my eye. “It makes me feel good and lucky to be chosen by the national art fund. It is also a reminder of my responsibility as an artist.” The theme of Lyu’s artwork embraces China’s “Belt-and-Road” initiative. Born in 1973, he has been working as an art teacher at his alma mater since his graduation in 1995. He has won more than ten top honors at the most prestigious national and provincial art exhibitions.

The unassuming man is fascinating to talk to. “What I want to achieve through this project is to display the glory of the Silk Road at its apex in ancient China and to express the Silk Road spirituality sublimated into a new form of glamour in the social and economic climate of today’s world. So it is essentially reinterpretation of my understanding of the Silk Road,” explained the artist.

Lyu’s fascination with the Silk Road is straightforward. He is a native of Shaoxing. A city of history and culture in eastern Zhejiang, Shaoxing has been a proud seedbed of China’s silk glory, and is one of the birthplaces of the Silk Road. Shaoxing is. The reputation of silk produced in Shaoxing reached its peak during the later years of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and harnessed a hard-core following overseas. Present-day Shaoxing is still a silk production powerhouse in Zhejiang Province, with Keqiao serving as the world’s largest textile wholesale market.

“It is my responsibility as an artist from Shaoxing to record what I see and feel through my paintbrushes,” Lyu Guogang said, spreading the scroll for me to see the details of his new work. Falling into the figure painting category and using a wide-angle perspective and depicting a group of 70 characters, Stories of Silk Road Retold strives to portray the hustle-and-bustle scene of traders and tourists at the Keqiao Textile Market. The message is the Silk Road being revisited by merchants and tourists from all over the globe in the 21st Century.

Lyu is happy to talk about the realism of the project he just finished in June 2019. For the past few years, he has been closely observing the textile market in Shaoxing for as much inspiration as possible, noticing that the fine fabric invented by ancient Chinese people has not only blossomed into a flourishing industry that has been branching out and making a great variety of other textile materials but also continuously enriched the trading and cultural communication.

Over the past three years since his project was officially approved, the artist has never stopped thinking regarding the motif and presentation of the painting. “Perfection” is what he aims at. The past years has seen the artist appear at every INTERTEXTILE fair held biannually in Shanghai. He has also been a frequenter at the annual New Silk Road Model Contest held in Keqiao, taking every opportunity to sketch the moments that touched him. “The rising power of China and its open-up vision became tangible when I was watching the glitzy light and color flowing on the runway,” remarked Lyu Guogang.

As I was surveying the scroll, I noticed how the man was inspired by what he saw at the model contest.

“The ‘十’ composition of the work sets off the incompatibility of the models on the runway and the busy trading scene at the Keqiao textile market. Such composition also allows for maximized narrative freedom when it comes to the layout of different characters and thematic scenes. The last thing I want to see in this project is ‘impeccable boredom’, the kind of correctness that reflects the artist’s lack of imagination and innovation. The key is to figure out a new way of composition, and to find the ‘eye’ of the work.”

“All the 56 characters portrayed in the in the trade section come from real life,” the artist announced proudly. “It is like a documentary that records a historical chapter in a lyrical way. Every time when I worked on it, I felt proud to be a Chinese.”

Lyu Guogang surely has many reasons to feel happy and proud. For the past two years, he devoted almost all his free time to the project. Stories of Silk Road Retold is by far the largest, the most demanding, and probably the most successful creation in his artistic life. “For me, it is an unforgettable experience that has opened my eyes to the truth of painting art, making me understand what it really takes to make an artist.”