- 朱建林 / Zhu Jianlin
作为刘明鉴的同学，他读本科这些年所作的画在我看来，是平静而清澈的。因为在他的绘画面前，文字只会像一位不合格的导游，成了多余的叨唠。2010年我曾为他写过一篇短文，里面对他有这样的描述：“他把事情分得很清楚，单向而不拐弯抹角。加之其带有强迫性质的敏感与偏执，使他显得易喜易悲。我也常常惊叹于他对喜爱之物毫不掩饰的疯狂，对不顺之事无病呻吟般的哀怨。他游走于两极之间，反复的斗争，以至于他内心与外表的决裂。他的画就是在紧张的矛盾中进行的”。所以在我看来，他的作品里充满了他的个人倾诉，这种倾诉经过画面的折射，成了一种说不清却引人入胜的绘画。
在画布上，颜色、笔触有意或无意的配合，点、线、面明显或微妙的安排，一个日常生活无法触及的世界经过他精准细腻的刻画，即使看来是毫无写实的意味，却又如此真实的唤起了我的想象。这种想象里，没有激烈的情节，没有纠结的猜测，像一只不曾见过的蝴蝶忽然停在眼前，你只能静悄悄的观摩，生怕把它惊动。因此，看他的这些绘画，并不需要一种特定的情境去解读，里面没有蓄意去象征，更没有打算叙事。他自己也不喜欢在绘画中做过多的理性推敲，无论在作画或是在观看一幅画，他只跟着自己的感觉，而这些感觉会以一种非言语的方式呈现出来。他这种对自己直觉的信任一直以来让我颇为惊讶，以至于他的绘画显得如此准确，这种准确是一种处理各种元素的方式，他总能毫无障碍地将它们混揉在一起。
我尤其喜欢他的用色。在一幅画中，他可能会用一个深沉的色调覆盖主要区域，但是这个色调绝对不甘于死板，他总会让其中能闪现出奇异的光。他对神秘似乎有一种执着的迷恋，甚至，他的绘画很早就放弃了对自然的直接描摹，这份来自想象的具有神圣光芒的神秘，在他看来，是一个颓败却华贵的舞会：里面人物，树枝，空间，光线，都在一种凋零，骚动，敏感的节奏下缓缓登场。
自然，这样的色彩，这样的笔触，刘明鉴向我们描绘了一个鬼魅的地带：这里面，我们可以放下一种把一切对象纳入到自己认知系统之中的努力，稍作休憩，然后展开充满奇幻的挣扎和瑰丽的梦。
2012年12月11日于南亭
As a classmate of Mingjian Liu, I feel the paintings he has created during his undergraduate years are calm and clear. Because in front of his paintings, the words only look like an unqualified tour guide, and become unnecessary nagging. In 2010, I wrote a short essay for him in which I described him: "He divides things very clearly, one-way and not oblivious. Combined with his compulsive sensitivity and paranoia, he seems easy to become happy and sad. I often marvel at his unconcealed madness for the things he loves, and his moaning complaints about the things that are unsatisfactory. He wanders between the two poles and the repeated struggles split his heart and appearance. His paintings are carried out in a tense contradiction." Therefore, in my opinion his works are full of his personal confession, and this confession has become a kind of inexplicable but fascinating painting through the refraction of the picture.
On the canvas, the colors and brushstrokes are intentionally or unintentionally coordinated, and the points, lines, and areas are clearly or delicately arranged. A world that cannot be touched in daily life is accurately and delicately portrayed by him. Even if it seems to have no realistic meaning, it is so real that it aroused my imagination. In this kind of imagination, there are no fierce plots, no tangled guesses. It is like an unseen butterfly suddenly stopped in front of you. You can only observe it quietly, for fear of alarming it. Therefore, to appreciate his paintings, there is no need for a specific situation to interpret because there is no deliberate symbolism and no narrative. He himself does not like to do too much rational scrutiny in painting. Whether he is painting or watching a painting, he only follows his own feelings, and these feelings will be presented in a nonverbal way. His trust in his instincts has always surprised me as his paintings always appear so accurate. This accuracy is a way of dealing with various elements. He can always mix them together without any obstacles.
I especially like his use of colors. In a painting, he may use a deep tone to cover the main area, but this tone is definitely not willing to be rigid. He will always let a strange light flash in it. He seems to have a persistent fascination with mystery, and even his paintings gave up the direct depiction of nature at early stage. This imaginary mystery with sacred light, in his view, is a decadent but luxurious ball: the characters, branches, space, and light inside it all slowly appear on the stage under a rhythm of withering, turmoil, and sensitivity.
Naturally, with such colors and brushstrokes, Mingjian Liu depicts a ghostly zone to us: inside, we can put aside the effort to incorporate all objects into our own cognitive system. We can take a rest, and then expand fantastic struggles and magnificent dreams.
December 11, 2012 in Nanting