绿色杂草 2020

Curator: Well, I am immediately drawn to the texture here! This impasto technique creates a relief-like surface. It's practically sculptural. Editor: Agreed. There's a real sense of energy there. And it certainly grabs your attention, doesn’t it? I’d call this quite an immersive expressionistic landscape. Before we delve in too deep though, let’s give our listeners some context. This piece is "\u7eff\u8272\u6742\u8349", or "Green Weeds," created by the artist \u738b\u65b0\u798f in 2020, using acrylic paint. Curator: Acrylics lend themselves nicely to this kind of thickly applied impasto; allowing the artist to build up substantial layers quite quickly, something we would not find in oil based matter-painting for instance. It challenges the traditional smooth surfaces we often see and elevates the inherent materiality of painting itself. Editor: I see it fitting within a larger trajectory, where painting departs from simply representing the world to becoming an event in itself. The deliberate build-up of paint acts, in effect, as an historical document of its creation; it is now, as much as a field is itself, something happening in a very specific moment in space and time. Curator: The social context comes into play too. It challenges traditional notions of art consumption by placing value on the labor and physical presence of the artist. Viewers are forced to engage with the tactile nature of paint, thus acknowledging the skill and craft involved. Editor: Absolutely, the physicality here, and its prominent presentation within a gallery space challenges our preconceived notions. It moves matter-painting from the edges of contemporary art to becoming its very subject matter, while simultaneously nodding to a familiar history of mark-making. Curator: It's this conscious engagement with material, pushing against boundaries, that makes it a fascinating piece. I am interested to know what direction the artist may head towards. Editor: Indeed, seeing "Green Weeds" in the gallery causes me to really reassess those material dialogues you brought up. It pushes matter-painting somewhere that both the artist and I did not initially intend, in the very best sense.