I ntricately textured with refined and tender brushwork, Liang Yuanwei’s 2016.06 is a finely wrought exemplar of the artist’s mature floral paintings, displaying the extraordinary technical dexterity and conceptual rigour that defines the artist’s oeuvre. The enrapturing all-over composition of exquisite petals and leaves recalls patterns in household fabrics and textiles, merging high art with design and spurring discussions on formalism and aesthetics. Her meticulous process is anchored by monastic discipline, restraint and will that conquers passion and emotion – one that sets her apart from the previous generation of Chinese painters who permeated their art with restless social discontent. Born in 1977 in Xian, Liang graduated from the School of Design at the Central Academy of Replica Handbags s (CAFA) and was a founding member of N12, a young art collects ive that exhibited together in the early 2000s. Coming of age in the heyday of conceptual art, Liang experimented with various mediums such as installation and photography before settling on painting. In 2008, Liang’s solo exhibition at the Boers-Li Gallery garnered her widespread acclaim, unveiling to the art world her signature floral patterned paintings which she had begun working on in 2003. In their simulation of fabric and textile designs, Liang’s art rethinks ancient Chinese techniques of painting and contains traces of the 1970s Pattern and Decoration movement in the United States. At the same t.mes , Liang's paintings recall Sigmar Polke's paintings following his photography series in the 1970s.

While Liang's works may be reminiscent of the Minimalism movement in their quiet stillness, the artist deliberately avoids using geometric shapes in her painting; for her, these shapes are too 'pretty' and 'bourgeois'. The meticulously rendered representative detail, on the other hand, recall ancient literati painting of the Yuan dynasty – exquisite, sensorial, immersed in a refined, rational and logical order. For Liang, beauty is intrinsic not just to the end product but to the entire process of creation. Liang works arduously from top to bottom of each canvas, constructing each painting not flower by flower but part by part, building up narrow horizontal sections strip by strip without knowing what the final composition would be. Each strip takes no less than 12 hours to complete, with Liang completing each section before the background paint of each part had dried, and the smallest mistake forfeits the entire painting. The spirit of her process is reminiscent of the fresco painting technique, inspiring her to take up research on the genre later on in her career. What is thus powerfully asserted in her visual vocabulary, alongside her technical proficiency, is her quiet persistence, tireless focus and daily devotion, as well as the purity of her vision and her humble attitude towards creation itself. The artist once commented: “In my own creative practice I imitate the world, thereby understanding the world, in order to create the world” (Liang Yuanwei, quoted in exhibition press release, London, Pace Gallery, Liang Yuanwei: The Tension between a Bow and an Elephant, March – April 2014).

Wholly unique in style, concept and execution, Liang’s elegant humble floral patterns reflects meditatively on labour, process, repetition and contingency in creation, establishing a new artistic paradigm not just in China but in the entire world. In 2017, Liang was featured in a solo exhibition in Venice presented by the K11 Art Foundation that coincided with the 57th Venice Biennale. In an interview, Liang reflected that it was “a great challenge to exhibit [her] paintings in the context of the ancient Palazzo Pisani, under its beautiful frescos […] the grey-blue I used in my last paintings comes from my study on the Italian Renaissance master Angelico; yet, the work imitates patterns of old Chinese silk […] I am particularly glad to have had the opportunity of this project in Venice because I hope people may find such connections too” (Liang Yuanwei, quoted in exh. cat. Venice, Palazzo Pisani, Liang Yuanwei: Behind the Curtain, K11 Art Foundation, 2017). Curator Loïc Le Gall from the Centre Pompidou writes of Liang’s practice as one that is “penetrated by feelings, combining conceptual rigour with an expression of intimacy” (Ibid.).

「我一直覺得，真正偉大的作品，應如風景般安寧靜謐。神遊其中，就能領會到它的深意。」

梁遠葦

《2016.06》畫面質感細膩，展現精緻柔和的筆觸，是梁遠葦成熟時期花紋圖案作品的精美典例，體現她精湛純熟的繪畫技巧與堅定的創作概念，藝術精神躍然畫上。梁氏精心描繪的花瓣和葉片鋪滿整個畫面，令人聯想到家居布料和織品；作品糅合高雅藝術和設計概念，引起有關形式主義和美感的討論。梁遠葦的創作過程一絲不苟，畫者如修行僧般自律和克制，克服激情和情緒；而上一代中國畫家則透過藝術創作，表達對社會境況的忐忑與不滿。

梁遠葦於1997年在西安出生，畢業於中央美術學院設計學院，是N12小組的創辦成員，該年輕藝術家群體在2000年代初曾多次合辦展覽。梁遠葦成年之際，正值概念藝術的全盛期，因此她試驗過各類媒材，包括裝置藝術和攝影，其後投身繪畫。2008年，博而勵畫廊為她舉行的個展使她獲得廣泛關注；在當年面世後成為其風格標誌的花紋圖案繪畫，實質上肇基於2003年。梁遠葦的花紋圖案源自家居布料和織品設計，同時沿襲了中國傳統繪畫技法，隱約可見七十年代美國圖案及裝飾運動的遺風。事實上，梁筆下的圖案亦受到德國當代藝術家Sigmar Polke七十年代的攝影作品所啟發。

與此同時，畫面上靜謐寧和的氣氛，亦令人聯想起極簡主義風潮，唯藝術家一直警惕自己，避免使用幾何圖案，以免落入「漂亮」及「小資情調」的俗套。另一方面，畫面中一筆一劃皆可見用心雕琢，細節絲絲入扣，有條不紊，與元代文人畫氣韻靈逸、筆法有度的精神情趣頗有相通之處。梁遠葦相信，美不止存在於成果，而是在於整個創作過程。創作時，她將畫面分為多個部分，從上而下建構畫面，逐步繪製一行行狹長的橫條，期間無法預料最後的成果。繪製每行橫條需時不少於十二小時，各部份均需在背景顏料乾透前完成，期間只要犯下極小的失誤，便足以令作品前功盡棄。這個作畫手法與繪製壁畫有著異曲同工之妙，促使梁遠葦隨後埋頭研究後者。她的視覺語言令人最深刻之處，不止她那流暢熟練的畫工，更是那沉靜的堅毅精神、刻不懈怠的專注、日復一日的虔誠投入，以及對創作本身的赤誠之心和謙卑態度。梁遠葦曾言：「在創作過程中，我臨摹世界，從而理解世界、創造世界」（引自梁遠葦，摘錄自展覽新聞稿，倫敦， 佩斯畫廊，《梁遠葦：一把弓與一頭象之間的張力》，2014年4月至3月）。

梁遠葦的花紋圖案優美而樸實，風格、概念和繪畫方式獨一無二，透過靜觀手法展示藝術家在創作中投入的心力、循序漸進的過程、重複不紊的功夫及偶然性，在中國以至全世界創立了一套全新的藝術範式。2017年，K11藝術基金會為梁遠葦於威尼斯舉行個人展覽，與第五十七屆威尼斯雙年展同期舉行。在一場訪問中，梁遠葦自言：「在古老的披撒尼宮裡的壁畫之間展示（我的）作品是個大挑戰（……）我在最近的作品中採用的灰藍色，來自我對意大利文藝復興時期大師安傑利克的研究；然而，這幅作品參照了中國古代絲織品的圖案（……）對於能參與這次在威尼斯的項目，我感到特別高興，因為我希望大家也能發現這些關聯」（引自梁遠葦，錄於披撒尼宮展覽圖錄《梁遠葦：勘玉釧》，K11 Art Foundation，2017年）。巴黎龐比度藝術中心策展人Loïc Le Gall曾撰文指梁氏的藝術創作「感情澎湃，結合堅定的概念與細膩動人的表達」（同上）。