2013年，我着手创办《芭莎艺术》品牌下另外一本专注于传统美学的期刊《芭莎艺术·古典宝笈》，我希望这本刊物的内容扎根于传统而连接当代人的生活，从艺术史中留存的视觉遗产中窥测古代生活的片段，以此对我们的今天的生活与艺术产生某种启发。但事实上，在人类留存的历史证据中，艺术是最“不靠谱”的，很多时候我们所看到的艺术图像只不过是古人的一种想像。艺术走的是一条远离现实追溯精神的不归路，这在中国艺术中体现的尤为明显。所以我们最终追求的只能是一种古今精神的对照和贯通，于是我将《芭莎艺术·古典宝笈》中最重要的主题栏目起名“古醉今迷”。
看陈俊近一个时期的创作，“古醉今迷”的感觉跃然而出。中国古典艺术以中国画为集大成者，其中尤以山水画成就最高，最重要的一点是它综合的体现了中国人的自然观、宇宙观和创作者的人生观，在历代的传承中形成了一套自有的艺术哲学系统。而这套系统在面临当代更加强大的系统，即人的当代生活方式改变时，动摇了它存在的基础。中国画传统与当代性的碰撞与争论持续数十年，庞杂且悬而未决。然而传统中国画作为一笔巨大的知识和图像遗产，一直在影响着当代水墨的创作。
陈俊自四川美术学院国画系毕业十几年后，才又重新拾起画笔。他2012年以来的创作，大致有三个重要系列作品。一是，陈俊最初开始创作的时候白天还有工作，他对艺术的思考以及创作都集中在夜间，在这一时期创作了一批用他符号性的点彩墨创作的“都市夜景”系列。在此基础上，2014年前后他更进一步，以古典山水画的构图来表现都市景观，创作了“都市山水”系列。进入到最近的第三阶段，陈俊开始集合前两个阶段的探索，将古典山水名作的复制品裁切分割后，再用自己的创作进行“补型”，使复制的“古”与当代创作的“今”在并置融合中形成一张完整的带有古典图示特征的中国画，然而却又“古今”分明。
陈俊并不想造成一种古今不分的假相，他的创作是以一种“破局”的方式介入到古画之中。陈俊说：“我是想借用代表传统文人的古典山水画作为一种文化的对照，这里的山水画（复制品）只代表一种精神的躯壳”。古典山水画复制品作为一种古典精神的代表符号与陈俊的当下创作在构图上保持整体性，却又在精神趣味上产生对照和碰撞。传统在这里既可以是一种可被利用的资源，也可以是一个假想敌。在艺术史上，似乎每向前迈进的一小步都面临者这样的纠结。
但回过头来，如果我们单看陈俊的点染而成的水墨画也独自成趣。在陈俊一直以来的作品中，他经常加入一些日常可见的视觉符号，以此与我们所生活的环境相对应。而在最近的作品中可以看出一个明显的变化倾向，他以色彩斑斓的点墨所表现的日常视觉形象（如可口可乐logo、麦当劳logo等）变得越来越概念化，他希望从具体而微的物体图像当中抽离出一种整体的视觉印象。这种印象所对应的当代精神，能够与古典山水画所代表的抽象的古典精神具有可比性和对应性。精神并无绝对的高下，我们不要轻易的崇尚和摒弃任何时代的精神。我们静观、我们怀疑，因为我们只能从当下的经验中去理解其中的一二。古人沉醉在古意中，我们迷失在当代。
——孙国胜（《芭莎艺术》助理出版人兼主编）
2015年6月11日
Intoxicated by the Past， Disoriented in the Present
In 2003 I was responsible for a another periodical publication under the “Harper’s Bazaar Art” flag named “Bazaar Art-Ancient Masterpieces，” and I hoped that this magazine would be rooted in tradition while staying connected to modern-day people’s lives， and that through looking at the visual artifacts left to us from art’s earlier history we might be given a glimpse into the lives of those who lived during ancient times。 Furthermore， I hoped that this glimpse into the past might provide some inspiration for those living and creating art in the present。 However， from all artifacts that are left behind from ancient times， works of art are the most “unreliable” indicators of what their creators’ lives were like， since often art’s inspiration comes from imagination rather than reality。 Art is a road of no return that leads away from the material world and toward the spiritual realm， with this aspect particularly present in Chinese art。 Therefore， what we can search for in art is the spirit of those who created it and the times in which they lived， and compare that of the past with that of the present。 For this reason， I chose to name the most important column in Bazaar Art-Ancient Masterpieces “Intoxicated by the Past， Disoriented in the Present。”
While viewing Chen Jun’s most recent works， the feeling of being “Intoxicated by the past and disoriented in the present”is particularly strongly felt。 Ancient Chinese art’s greatest achievements were made in the field of paining， particularly in landscapes， which crucially displayed the Chinese view of nature and the universe as well as the artist’s outlook on life。 In the Chinese historical narrative passed down through the dynasties， a systematized philosophy of art emerges。 However， as this system collides with something stronger than itself， that being a modern approach that derives from a very different and thoroughly modern lifestyle， the ancient ordered system of artistic philosophy’s position becomes endangered。 This clash and competition between modernity and the ancient order has already gone on for several decades， a multi-faceted debate that is still undecided。 Nonetheless traditional Chinese painting， an enormous storehouse of visual relics， is continually influencing the development of modern watercolor painting。
Chen Jun didn’t resume painting until 10 years after his graduation from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts。 Since 2012， he has produced three important series of work。 First， while Chen Jun began creating art he still had a day job， leaving him with no choice but to do all of his artistic thinking and creative work at night。 It was during this time that he created a series of work employing his unique symbolism entitled “Nighttime Cityscapes。” Building on this foundation， he around 2014 went on to begin painting modern urban scenes employing the traditional watercolor landscape painting structure in the “Urban Landscape” series。 After entering his third creative period， Chen Jun has begun to combine elements from his explorations in the previous two， cutting apart reproductions of famous landscape paintings， and then re-assembling them in his own way。 Through this re-creation， Chen Jun allows the re-produced “ancient” and the self-produced “contemporary” to meld together on one complete canvas， carrying classical graphics while at the same time separating itself as “modern”。
Chen Jun does not aim to create the illusion of there being no separation between antiquity and modernity。 His approach is rather to make a “breakthrough” into classical painting。 As Chen Jun says： “I want to employ landscape paintings that are in a way representative of China’s traditional scholars， and to make a cultural comparison with people living in the present day。 These landscapes （the reproductions） only represent a shell of spirit。” By employing reproductions of classical landscape paintings， a symbol of the classical spirit is present in Chen Jun’s work， and this symbol structurally blends with his contemporary creation to form a complete artwork。 Yet in a spiritual sense the symbols drive comparison and collision with modernity。 Here， tradition becomes a resource to be drawn upon， but at the same time is also an opposing force。 In the history of art， just about every small step forward will lead to such entanglement with the past。
However， looking back， if we only consider Chen Jun’s ink brushed watercolor landscapes， they are very interesting in their own right。 Since Chen Jun began painting， he has often inserted visual symbols encountered in daily life， and through this has connected his work to the lives of its viewers。 In his latest work， though， we find a very clear change of direction， with his inked depictions of symbols from everyday life （such as Coca-Cola or McDonalds logos） becoming more and more conceptualized。 His hope is to out of a constellation of minute yet concrete physical graphics create a complete visual impression for the viewer。 This impression corresponds to the modern spirit， and is able to form a comparison with the abstract classical style of traditional watercolor landscapes。 Yet there is no “better or worse” comparison to be made between the spirit behind artistic works of one era or another， and for this reason we should not casually worship or discard the spirit of any era。 We observe and we question， because we can only interpret anything， including art， based upon our present experience。 Immersed in their traditions， the ancient scholars are forever drunk， while we are left today disoriented in our own world。
Sun Guosheng （Assistant publisher and Chief Editor of Bazaar Art ）
June 11， 2015
