Recently, “Backlight: Shi Haitao’s Art Exhibition” opened at the Powerlong Art Museum in Shanghai. This exhibition features over 50 works, systematically presenting the ideological context of Shi Haitao’s artistic creation over the years. In his works, the artist integrates the contradictions and conflicts of theater and his perspective on social observation into his portrayal of social reality, reflecting global political, economic, and cultural conflicts. Below is an on-site report brought to you by Phoenix Art.
近日，“逆光：石海涛作品展”在上海宝龙美术馆开幕。本次展览共展出50余件作品，系统呈现了石海涛多年来艺术创作的思想脉络。艺术家在作品中使剧场的矛盾冲突和对社会观察的视角呈现在他对于社会现实的展现之中，是对全球政治、经济、文化冲突的呈现。以下是凤凰艺术为您带来的现场报道。
There is a saying online: “Life is inherently a circle; after going around in circles, you will eventually return to the starting point.” This fatalistic statement is filled with a sense of helplessness toward fate. However, Chinese people have a special fondness for circles, as they symbolize completeness and carry the meaning of “never forgetting one’s original aspiration.” Therefore, in the effort to return to the starting point after twists and turns, one’s life experience is greatly enriched, and new strength for the future bursts forth from that very starting point.
网上有一句话“人生本就是一个圆，兜兜转转，最后还是会回到原点。”这句充满宿命论的论调中，充满了对于命运的无奈感与无力感。但是中国人很喜欢圆形，因为它预示着一种圆满，带有不忘初心的意味。所以在兜兜转转回到原点的努力中，生命的阅历大大地增加了，在原点处迸发出了同往未来的全新力量。
Shi Haitao is an artist who has “gone around in circles” before eventually returning to painting. He recently held his solo exhibition “Backlight,” unveiling his journey of artistic exploration to the public.
石海涛就是一位兜兜转转的艺术家，最终还是回到了绘画。他在近日举办了个展“逆光”，将自己对于艺术的探索历程公之于众。
Shi Haitao’s Artistic Creation
At first glance at Shi Haitao’s works, one can tell he is what people call a “professional trained in a formal art school”: his grasp of the atmosphere in painting and the shaping of images are extremely precise. When the author talked with curator Liu Libin about the artist’s personal experience, Liu explained: Shi Haitao graduated from the Stage Design Department of the Central Academy of Drama. After graduation, he engaged in drama creation, and later switched to other industries where he achieved success.
石海涛的艺术创作
第一眼看到石海涛的作品，就知道他就是人们常说的“科班出身”：对于绘画气氛的把握与形象的塑造十分到位。笔者同策展人刘礼宾聊到艺术家个人经历时，他介绍道：石海涛毕业于中央戏剧学院舞台美术系，毕业之后投身话剧创作，之后又转到了别的行业并取得了成功。
Eight years ago, however, he turned his focus back to painting creation, working alone in a secluded studio in Shunyi District, Beijing—seemingly a form of “seclusion.” Liu Libin and Shi Haitao have not known each other for long, but he saw in Shi’s works the creative passion of “accumulating strength for a breakthrough” and “fighting alone.” This led to the exhibition “Backlight” at the Powerlong Art Museum.
但是在8年前，他将精力转向了绘画创作，独自呆在北京顺义区一个孤零零的画室中，似乎是一种“归隐”。刘礼宾与石海涛相识时间不长，但是从他的作品中看到了那种厚积薄发、孤军奋战的创作热情，便有了宝龙美术馆的展览“逆光”。
“Backlight” is a technical term. Photographers regard the unique effect created by backlight photography as an art form, which emphasizes the outline of the subject. The phenomenon of “backlight” also occurs in theaters: when audiences sitting in the back rows look at the backs of those in the front rows, they appear in backlight—and this has become a subject depicted in Shi Haitao’s works.
“逆光”是一个技术性词汇，摄影者将逆光拍摄产生的特殊效果视为一种艺术，更凸显对象的轮廓。而“逆光”的现象也出现在剧场中，坐在后排的观众看前排观众的背影也都是逆光，成为了石海涛笔下所描绘的对象。
At the same time, “Backlight” also relates to Shi Haitao personally. After achieving success in the business field, he resolutely turned to artistic creation—a path opposite to the pursuit of many others. His painting technique is also the familiar realistic style, which, in the current context of installation art, new media, and performance art, seems like “moving against the trend” (literally “walking in backlight”).
同时，“逆光”也与石海涛个人有关，他在取得了商业领域上的成功后又毅然决然地转向了艺术创作，和很多人的追求相反；他的绘画技法也是人们所熟悉的现实主义，在当下装置、新媒体、行为的语境中也像是一种“逆光而行”。
First Space: Image Theater
The exhibition is spread across two disconnected galleries. The first gallery primarily showcases Shi Haitao′s easel paintings centered on the theme of “theater,” which the author divides into two sections: “Image Theater” and “Real Theater.”
第一个空间：图像剧场
此次展览分布在两个不相连的展厅，第一个展厅主要展示石海涛以“剧场”为核心的架上绘画创作，笔者将其分为“图像剧场”和“真实剧场”两个部分。
In 1987, Shi Haitao was admitted to the Stage Design Department of The Central Academy of Drama. This was not only a pivotal historical period but also became a key focus of his artistic creation. Several works at the start of the exhibition continuously create the effect of spatial transformation: in The Show is About to Begin and Auditorium-1, the viewer′s perspective is positioned outside the auditorium, watching the audience who are in the middle of a film; in The Audience and Drama: My Poor Marat-2, the viewer′s perspective stands in opposition to the audience in the seats, as if the viewer themselves were on stage; in Drama: Five Stories by Lao She and Drama: My Poor Marat-1, the viewer′s perspective is placed below the stage, as if the viewer themselves were seated in the auditorium.
1987年，石海涛考入中央戏剧学院舞美系，这既是一个十分重要的历史时段，也成为艺术家艺术创作的重要内容。展览开始的几件作品不断地制造空间转换的效果：在《演出即将开始》《观众席-1》中，观者的视角置身在观众席外，看着正在观看电影的观众；在《观众》《话剧：我可怜的马拉特-2》中，观者的视角与台下的观众对立，似乎观者自己置身在舞台上；在《话剧：老舍五则》《话剧：我可怜的马拉特-1》中，观者的视角位于舞台下方，似乎观者自己置身在观众席中。
“Am I the subject or the object?” The transformation of identity caused by gazing and being gazed at creates a sense of disorientation. What is certain, however, is that these frequent shifts do not draw the viewer into the painting. Although the relatively realistic style of the works confirms the existence of the scenes, the viewer cannot determine their own position. Thus, the first space is an “Image Theater” that the viewer cannot control, which raises the question of “choice.”
“是主体还是客体？”因为凝视与被凝视所产生的身份转化，产生了某种恍惚感。但是可以肯定的是，这种频繁的转换并没有让观者进入画中，虽然画面中较为写实的手法肯定了场景的存在，但是观者不知道自己的位置究竟在哪里。因此，第一个空间是观者自己无法控制的图像剧场，这就涉及到了选择的问题。
Shi Haitao′s own image appears in his works—he participated in the drama My Poor Malat. This is a play about how young people make life choices amid the artillery fire of World War II, in which Shi Haitao sits alone on an empty stage. Meanwhile, the masked figures in the audience seats indicate the background in which the work was created. Therefore, in the post-pandemic era, how should we choose our way of life?
石海涛自己的形象出现在了作品中，他参演了话剧《我可怜的马拉特》。这是一部关于在二战的炮火中青年人如何进行人生选择的话剧，石海涛一个人坐在孤零零的舞台上。而观众席中戴着口罩的人们，点明作品创作的背景。因此，在后疫情时代，我们又该如何选择自己的生活方式？
In the second half of the first space, the artist created works such as Lights Fading Up, Rehearsal, and Top Light, naming them after theatrical terms while focusing on major global events of the present day. These works include both everyday scenes and “spectacles of power” like military parades. As a result, the viewer′s sense of space is disrupted once again: Is this a theater screen or the real world? Are we the subjects or the objects? Hence, if the world is a theater, how should we understand the relationship between the individual and the world?
在第一个空间的后半部分，艺术家一些以剧场词汇命名的当今世界重大事件，创作了如《灯光渐起》《彩排》《顶光》这样的作品。这里面既有日常生活中的场景，也有如阅兵等权力景观。所以观者的空间感再次遭到扰乱：这是剧场荧幕还是真实世界？我们是主体还是客体？因此，世界就是一个剧场，我们如何看待个体与世界的关系？
Shi Haitao stated that the conclusion of this space features one piece from the only set of landscape works in the exhibition. It depicts a scene he encountered while driving home from his studio at night: the car′s headlights illuminate the back of a dog wagging its tail, casting two shadows on the ground. In fact, this work also summarizes Shi Haitao′s core artistic proposition from one perspective: choice.
石海涛表示这个空间的结尾是展览中唯一的一组风景作品中的一幅，表现了艺术家夜晚从工作室开车回家遇到的场景：车灯狗照着一个摇着尾巴的狗的背影，在地面上出现了两个影子。这幅作品实际上也从一个侧面概括了石海涛的艺术命题：选择。
Second Space: Real Theater
At the end of the first gallery, there is a semi-enclosed black screening room where Echoes — a color audio-visual work co-created by Shi Haitao and Yang Yanyuan—is shown in a loop. When viewers enter this space, they truly become the “audience” depicted in the previous paintings; they can sit on the benches in the space to watch this 10-minute-plus work.
第二个空间：真实剧场
在第一个展厅的结尾处，有一个半封闭的黑色放映厅，正在循环放映由石海涛和杨延远一同创作的有声彩色影像《回声》。而观众进入这个展厅中，真正地变成了之前绘画作品中的“观众”，可以坐在空间中的长条椅上观看这个10多分钟的作品。
Echoes is composed of footage from two stage plays. One is Hamlet, directed by Lin Zhaohua in 1990, which opens with the famous line: “To be, or not to be—that is the question.” The other is Romulus the Great, also directed by Lin Zhaohua and his team in 1992. It tells the story of an emperor who indulges in raising chickens every day: he seems indifferent to politics, but in reality, he pushes the tyrannical Western Roman Empire to its downfall through “governing by non-interference.” Both plays feature actors Guo Donglin, Ni Dahong, and Hu Jun. However, in the darkness, the faces of all actors in the footage are blurred—thus eliminating any “celebrity image burden.”
《回声》由两部话剧影像组成，一部是导演林兆华在1990年指导的作品《哈姆雷特》，开头即是那个著名的台词“生存还是毁灭 这是一个问题”。另一部同样是林兆华等人在1992年导演的作品《罗穆路斯大帝》，讲述了一个天天沉溺于养鸡的皇帝，看似不关心政治，实际上是通过无为而治把暴政的西罗马帝国推向毁灭；两部剧中都有演员郭冬临、倪大红和胡军参演，但是黑暗中，影像中所有演员的相貌都被模糊化了，因此偶像包袱也就不存在了。
From 1990 to 2000, Shi Haitao was engaged in contemporary theater creation and collaborated with directors like Lin Zhaohua on multiple stage plays. These two works, therefore, had a profound impact on the artist. Nevertheless, the sense of space in the plays is processed into a flattened visual effect, with a thick, brushstroke-like texture similar to that of oil paintings. Additionally, the actors in the images do not match the audio; this sense of “image lag” once again creates a sense of discomfort that contradicts the experience of daily film-watching. Both plays fall into the category of experimental theater, and such expressive methods—imbued with the spirit of avant-garde art—further emphasize the significance of their ideas.
石海涛在1990-2000年从事当代戏剧创作，与林兆华等导演有多部舞台剧合作，因此，这两部话剧对于艺术家产生了很大的影响。但是话剧的空间感被处理为了一种平面化的视觉效果，带有一种如油画般厚重的笔触感。此外，画面中的演员与声音也并不相匹配，那种图像滞留的感觉再次引发了一种与日常观影相悖的不适感。这两部话剧都属于实验戏剧，这样的带有先锋艺术意味的表现方式进一步强化了思想的意义。
In essence, both plays explore “human issues,” specifically “individual issues.” Lin Zhaohua′s Hamlet does not emphasize the traditional theme of “usurping the throne and seeking revenge”; instead, it centers on the idea that “everyone is Hamlet.” Hamlet’s primary agony stems from his ability to think—and all living people with the capacity for thought may face Hamlet’s fate. Romulus the Great is a non-historical four-act historical comedy. Its playwright, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, believed that the “overall world is ungraspable, but the individual world is manageable”—thus, everyone should “do what they ought to do.”
这两部话剧实际上都是讨论人的问题，具体说来是个人的问题。林兆华导演的《哈姆雷特》没有强调传统的“篡位复仇”，而是定主题为“人人都是哈姆雷特”，哈姆雷特主要的痛苦是因为他有思想，而活着的有思想的人都可能面临哈姆雷特的命运。《罗穆路斯大帝》是一部非历史的四幕历史喜剧，其编剧弗里德里希·迪伦马特认为，整体世界是不可把握的，但个人世界是可以驾驭的，所以每个人都应“做他所应做的事情”。
In Shi Haitao and Yang Yanyuan′s creation, the two works are edited into a single piece, making their message more explicit: after entering the modernist era, humans face a dilemma—how to confront the struggles within their own hearts? What exactly is “destiny” in the unseen forces of the universe? Such reflections on destiny stem not only from the artist′s personal experiences but also serve as a core concept in his creative context. When watching Echoes carefully, the “audio-visual disjunction” is uncomfortable—could this also be a metaphor for human suffering?
在石海涛和杨延远的创作中，两部作品被剪辑为一部作品，使得其指向更为明确：进入现代主义后人出现了一种困境，即如何面对自己内心的挣扎？冥冥之中的“命运”究竟是何物？这种对于命运的思考不仅源于艺术家的经历，同样是他创作脉络中的一种核心观念。而在认真观看《回声》时，音画分离是不舒服的，这是否也寓意人的痛苦？
Third Space: Historical Theater
The exhibition “Backlight” features a well-structured spatial logic, with close connections formed between work and work, work and space, and space and space. The sense of theater created in Shi Haitao′s oil paintings differs from the concept of “theatricality” proposed by Michael Fried. Shi Haitao′s sense of theater does not diminish the “concentration” of the viewer′s experience; the inherent appeal of the artworks themselves remains intact. In Fried′s discourse, however, theatricality is contrary to concentration—as the artwork loses its “autonomy” when it establishes a relationship with the surrounding world.
第三个空间：历史剧场
展览“逆光”有着较为缜密的空间逻辑，作品与作品、作品与空间、空间与空间形成了密切的联系。石海涛油画作品中营造出的剧场感，不同于迈克尔·弗雷德（Michael Fried）的“剧场性”概念。石海涛的剧场感并没有抹杀观者观看的“专注性”，艺术品自身的吸引力依旧存在。而在弗雷德的论述中，剧场性是与专注性相悖的。艺术作品与周遭世界发生的关系丧失了其“自主性”。
The works in the second gallery of the exhibition are titled “Layered Fragments” by the curator. This section showcases Shi Haitao′s easel paintings, sculptures, and installations centered on portraits. Classic works of art and historical figures serve as the starting point of this part: works such as The Scream, Mona Lisa, and Girl with a Pearl Earring, along with portraits of celebrities including Aisin Gioro Puyi, Eileen Chang, Marilyn Monroe, and Master Hongyi, have all undergone specific treatments by the artist. These treatments range from contour line-style gradient color processing to density adjustments amid disordered brushstrokes.
展览第二个展厅中的作品，被策展人命名为“切片层叠”，展示了石海涛以肖像为核心的架上绘画、雕塑与装置创作。经典作品与历史人物成为这一部分的开端，《呐喊》《蒙娜丽萨》《戴珍珠耳环的少年》等作品，与爱新觉罗·溥仪、张爱玲、玛丽莲·梦露、弘一法师等名人肖像都被艺术家进行了某种处理，或是等高线式的渐变色处理，或是在错乱笔触中的疏密处理。
Liu Libin argues that Shi Haitao “reveals his unique perspective on reading images through his methods of processing images… Moreover, this ‘image-decoding’ approach has shaped the artist’s distinctive artistic language, thereby releasing information about the images that was previously unknown to the public.” Beyond the technical painting language, these figures themselves are shrouded in a layer of historical mystery—making this form of expression also a kind of deconstruction of established narratives.
刘礼宾认为石海涛“通过处理图像的方法体现出自己阅读图像的特有视角……而‘破解图像’方式形成了艺术家特有的艺术语言，而从释放出图像所没有被人熟知的信息。”除了技术性的绘画语言之外，这些人物本身就蒙上了一层历史的迷雾，这样的表达也是一种对于建构的拆解。
Within Shi Haitao′s creative context, these figures become actors—when the grand curtain of history falls, they depart from the stage forever. However, some of these images feel remarkably real to the artist himself: works like Jing,chief Edito and My name is Lin Zhohua convey a warmth distinctly different from that of his other pieces.
在石海涛的创作脉络中，这些人物就成为了一个个演员，历史的大幕落下，永远离开了舞台。然而这其中也有一些形象对于艺术家本人来说是十分真实的，《静主编》与《我叫林兆华》就可以感受到一种明显区别于其他作品的温度。
Shi Haitao has also translated his painting techniques into spatial expressions. The gallery houses multiple sculptures from The Illusion series, which center on portraits of historical figures such as Marx, Engels, and Lenin—reflecting the artist′s understanding of space. This also raises questions about viewing: specifically, how to identify the outlines of portraits amid complex layered relationships. This echoes the exhibition′s theme of “Backlight”—only from a backlit angle can one more easily discern the identities of the figures.
石海涛还将绘画的处理方式进行了空间化的表达，这个展厅中放置了多件以马克思、恩格斯和列宁等历史人物肖像为主题的雕塑作品《幻象》系列，反应出艺术家对于空间的理解。而这也涉及到了观看的问题，也就是如何从复杂的层叠关系中辨识肖像的轮廓，这也与展览的主题“逆光”相呼应，即在逆光的角度才能更容易看清人物的身份。
The final set of works in this space features portraits of politicians, celebrities, and entrepreneurs from the covers of Time magazine (U.S.), painted and distorted by the artist on aluminum plates. Since these portraits frequently appear in mass media, they are easily recognizable. At the very center of these paintings stands a frame the artist purchased in Europe, inlaid with a mirror printed with the word “Time“.
这个空间中最后一组作品，是艺术家将美国《时代杂志》封面中的一些政要、明星和企业家的肖像绘制在铝板上，并且进行了扭曲。由于这些肖像经常出现在大众媒体上，所以很容易辨识出来。在这些绘画作品的正中央是一个艺术家从欧洲买回来的镜框，镶嵌着一个印有《时代》杂志字样的镜子。
Viewers can look into the mirror to experience the “illusionary beauty” (literally “flowers in a mirror and moon on water”) that the artist intends them to see. Through artistic means, the artist judges these figures, drawing the exhibition’s perspective back to the “theater of the world” once more.
观众可以通过照镜来感受艺术家想要观者看到的镜花水月。艺术家通过艺术的方式臧否人物，将展览的视野再度拉回世界剧场。
Epilogue
Shi Haitao′s artistic creation is filled with concern for the fate of human history and metaphors for human choices. He takes the theater—familiar to him—as a core creative theme, transforming his deeper perceptions of society into the inherent structure of his works. As Hu Bin, Executive Deputy Director of the Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and Professor at the School of Art and Humanities, stated: “This entanglement and interplay between the individual and the collective, life and power, embodies his reflections on the proposition of ‘biopolitics’… In my view, one of the essential meanings of Shi Haitao′s works is his attempt to discern the code of power in modern society through his unique depiction of spectacular rized portraits and groups, and to offer a meaningful contemplation of the life forms and free will of all living beings.”
尾声
石海涛的艺术创作中充满了对于人类历史命运的关怀，充满了一种对于人性选择的隐喻。他以自己十分熟悉的剧场作为创作的一个主题，将自己对社会更为深入的感受转化为了作品内在的结构。正如广州美术学院美术馆常务副馆长、艺术与人文学院教授胡斌说的那样：“这种个体与集体，生命与权力的纠缠及牵扯正体现出他对于‘生命政治’命题的思考……在我看来，石海涛的作品的要义之一就是力图通过对被景观化的肖像和群体的特殊描绘来洞察现代社会权力的密码，并对芸芸众生的生命形态和自由意志予以意味隽永的观照。”