在現代社會，我們經常著重能看得見的事物。當眼花撩亂的圖像和資訊成爲我們生活的一部分時，我們難免會對事物和情況產生幻覺或誤解。傑若米諾沃提尼 (Jaromír Novotný) 在維伍德畫廊展示的作品此則邀請觀眾感受既寧靜又貌似單色的創作，透過顏色和物料的運用來展示的記憶和回憶的力量。

In the modern days, there’s a strong tendency to rely only on what is seen. In a world full of screens with oversaturated colours and overwhelming information, it is easy for us to rely on our sight, which may result in an illusion or misconception of things and situations. However, Jaromír Novotný’s work in Axel Vervoordt Gallery invites visitors to experience the silent and seemingly monochrome creations, which, through the use of colour and materiality, enable the power of memory and remembrance.

諾沃提尼的作品及創作過程提醒了我們人類的直覺是很有潛能的。「觸覺」（tactile）一詞源自於拉丁文中「能觸摸、實在」的意思。它意指感覺的形體行為及觸摸的感受。諾沃提尼的作品承載着他的手跡，呈現出如包圍着框架的一層皮的視覺效果。

Novotný’s works and his creative process gently reminds viewers that human intuition has great potential, perhaps more than may be realised. The word “tactile” was derived from Latin for “that may be touched, tangible”. It refers to the physical act of feeling; the experience of touching – for example, the skin. Novotný’s work bears the traces of the human hand and presents itself as a skin around the frame, or a membrane that blocks certain aspects or sensations of vision while allowing others.

諾沃提尼將聚酯硬紗裱於木框上，並用亞克力顏料創作。他將紙和畫布從畫作背面插入縫起，凝造出多種立體觀感。這樣的純粹的存在表達了諾沃提尼以繪畫為媒介來重整他的藝術視野。作品的觸感邀請觀眾去「感受」，而非「看」。故此，諾沃提尼的創作過程容許觀眾發掘繪畫的不同視角及固有的純粹。觀眾與作品的體驗呈現出畫作的本質。

Novotný creates his works using acrylic on polyester organza, stretched on a wooden frame. The paper and canvas inserts and threads on the reverse of the painting lead to a great sensitivity. This notion of bare presence conveys that Novotný uses painting as a medium to solidify his artistic vision. The work’s tactility invites viewers to “feel” rather than “see” them. As a result, Novotný’s creative process allows the exploration of the painting’s perception and inherent purity. The experience with the work reveals the essence of painting.

於諾沃提尼的作品中，藝術家的手及創作過程都是可看見的。諾沃提尼以他的繪畫作為媒介，而他的媒介則作為主題。他將主題和物體合併，拒絕概念性及常規的理解。美國抽象表現主義者和極簡主義者，例如威廉德庫寧及唐納德賈德，將油彩大膽的添加於畫布上或消除藝術家的手作痕跡來表達自我，而諾沃提尼則以去除作品某方面的元素來展示一種空虛感。他的作品最終呈現出一種既動人又神秘的透明感。

Because the artist’s hand is visible, so is the process of creation. Novotný presents his painting as a medium; his medium as a subject. Thus, subject and object are merged. As a result, he rejects conceptual and formal interpretations. Rather than American Abstract Expressionists and Minimalists, and artists such as Willem de Kooning and Donald Judd, Novotný creates emptiness by omitting certain aspects from the work, such as adding an excess of paint on canvas or removing the human touch from painting completely. The result of Novotný’s work is an eloquent but enigmatic form of transparency.

美國二十世紀的藝術作品和諾沃提尼的作品有着十分有趣的關連，而與中國同時期的作品則更甚。道教和禪宗哲學中所推崇的「空」於二十世紀逐漸受觸目。而多個世紀前，老子就在道德經中寫道：「致虛極，守靜篤。萬物並作，吾以觀復。」空間其實是實在的。「知其白，守其黑，為天下式。」

Although the connections with American twentieth-century art and Novotný’s works are interesting; those with the art that was created in China at the time are perhaps even more so. In the twentieth century, in line with Taoism and the Chan (Zen) school of Buddhism, increasing attention was paid to the philosophical concept of emptiness and the void in a painting. “I do my utmost to attain emptiness; I hold firmly to stillness. The myriad creatures all rise together, and I watch their return,” Lao Tzu wrote centuries ago. Empty space is treated as solid space: “Knowing the white, retaining the black, it is the form of the world.”

那就是諾沃提尼對空的取向。他曾說：「黑是基礎，白是最淺色的黑。」當諾沃提尼在尋找透明的紡織品來代替畫布時他便找到了透明硬紗。硬紗使白色顯得更白，而背後的元素亦會某程度上更擴散。

Novotný’s approach to empty and solid space leans towards this. About his work, Novotný once said: “Black as the foundation, white as the lightest shade of black”. Synthetic organza came into his oeuvre when he was looking for transparent textiles that could replace the canvas; it transcends the material and makes it a degree whiter. The elements behind it become more diffuse in a certain way; faded by the washed-out contours.

很多在中國山水畫中被視為空的元素其實也是大自然現象，如霧、天空、雲，有限能見度的元素為移動進去和分散注意力及想像力的人清空視覺。但在中國山水畫中，真正的空是源於「氣」的概念。沒有氣的話，作品就沒有生命。氣能定斷作品是靜態還是動態的。它源於藝術家的內心，並透過他與物料和運用技巧的互動而呈現出來。那是重整他那純粹的藝術視野的媒介。

The things considered in emptiness in Chinese landscape painting are the same as those associated with phenomena of nature – fog, sky, clouds – elements of limited visibility clear up for those who physically move in it; those who spread their attention and imagination.

諾沃提尼指出，觀眾欣賞作品時做出的假設是由記憶和（再）呈現的潜在意義所决定的。他們對於作品的理解是基於重覆性的概念，即使作品創作也有一定的限制。

Novotný points out that the assumptions with which viewers look at a painting, as being determined by memory and the underlying meanings of the (re-)presentation. The perception of the work is based on the notion of reappearance, although the creation of the work itself is also limited to certain constraints.

對於諾沃提尼的作品來說，重複是有利於創意的解決方案。他重複的動作如留白，能令他在局限中發掘無限的可能。觀眾繼而可以感受到他對繪畫的感覺和見證他有重複性的進展。他的探索過程圍繞着一個在巨大宇宙中的固定圓形轉動，而那宇宙的氣是神秘的。

For Novotný’s works, recurrence can be conducive to creative solutions. With the act of recurrences – with which Novotný experiments a repetition of making units, leaving empty fields, and creating a trace of execution – he can aspire or eventually reach out to boundless limitations. Viewers then may feel his perception towards the paintings and witness his progressions appeared as recurrences. His ongoing quest orbits like a constant circle within the world. The world, in which qi is an enigmatic power.

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只是一小部分可能的事
Just a Narrow Range of Possible Things

Date:
2020.9.5-11.7

Time:
Thursday to Saturday 11:00-19:00

Venue:
維伍德畫廊香港空間
Axel Vervoordt Hong Kong

黃竹坑道62號, 科達設計中心21樓 , 入口於業發路（近Ovolo酒店）
21F, Coda Designer Centre, 62, Wong Chuk Hang Road, Entrance via Yip Fat Street (next to Ovolo Hotel), Hong Kong

Photos courtesy to the artist and Axel Vervoordt Gallery