Benoît Vermander

Exhibit at ICICLE Space, Shanghai
November – December 2022

“There is an art of observing water”, says Mencius. We need to observe the undulations of water, and then understand how water shapes landscapes, as the way shapes the world. The Chinese painting is a privileged medium for showing the wondrous work of water around us and within us.

I have been practicing Chinese painting for the last thirty years. To me, it has been a journey of inner discovery and spiritual meditation. Chinese painters have always known that the spirit tends to the flesh and the flesh to the spirit. They have sensed that the meeting between flesh and spirit animates the movement of the universe and of history, and that Humankind is both the witness and the focal point of such movement. Such inspiration continuously triggers new ways of suggesting the mystery hidden within the outer and the inner world.

孟子说：“观水有术”。我们需要观察水的起伏，然后才能更好地了解水是如何塑造景观的，就像塑造这个世界的方式一样。中国绘画就是以水来创作我们周围和内心的奇妙作品的特殊媒介。

在过去的三十年里我一直不断在研习中国画。对我而言，这是一次内在发现和精神冥想的旅程。中国画家都知道何谓性灵现于形体，形体彰显性灵，在灵与体交会处涌流着宇宙与历史的律动。在这样的律动里，人类居中，扮演着见证者的角色，这个道理中国哲人、神秘主义人士及中医师也都认同。中国画的艺术准则不拘法度，对形式的探索只问能否转化，这是一件很有意思的事。形象赋流动，性灵寓形体……岩石、林木、浮云、走兽、溪流的呈现，以及画的构图，难道还有别的事物能够予以启迪吗？当代中国画可以找到新的表达方式。性灵与形象的灵妙遇合，才暗示外在和内在世界的奥秘。”