采访整理: 婕姗杨柯斯－达莱斯 前洛杉矶市立画廊主任
JIS:请告诉我一些你的个人经历和艺术教育背景，还记得你是什么时候开始对绘画感兴趣的吗？
田伟:我一直没有机会去考虑我真正感兴趣的是什么，是艺术呢，还是其他学科？为保持传统，我5岁时我父亲就要求我开始练习书法，我父亲出身于一个普通农村家庭，为了能上大学，他曾非常努力地工作，并经历了很多磨难。这也更坚定了他的决心：作为长子的我应该 “子承父业”, 去接受高等教育，成为一个优秀的知识分子。于是不管学什么, 我父亲都力求为我提供最好的学习环境，请最好的老师来教我。所以在我学龄前就能背诵古诗，写出文章，绘画只是其中之一。他从小就给我灌输了一种很强的意识：无论做什么，都要做到最好！这就是我从小学起就比同龄人优秀的原因吧。JIS：那您母亲的家庭呢？田：我母亲出身书香门第，我外祖父曾经是一个备受尊崇的人物，早年曾东渡日本留学。和当时其他中国学者一样, 他在政府中担任要职, 但他对于当时的政治事件和冲突充满焦虑, 决定辞官隐退。他对于自己隐退后的生活感到非常惬意：整天和一些学者来往, 这些学者中不乏书法家、画家、作家和诗人，祖居三原的于右任就是他的好友之一。我母亲是一名医生，她既受过西医的药理教育, 也学过中医, 因此她的医术可谓是中西合璧。JIS：你早年的成长经历对你的人生和如今的职业是否有影响？田：1966年“文化大革命”开始时我正在上小学，忽然间我的书法特长有了用武之地。那时到处写的都是打倒这个、批斗那个的“大字报”，“小字报”等标语。一时间能写类似标语的人便成了“尤物”，备受人们瞩目和敬重，我的艺术生涯大约就是从那时候开始的，因为我当时能够用真、草、隶、篆四种不同的书体写毛主席诗词，那时候很多人都在等我书写的这些毛主席诗词。还记得1972年陕西省碑林博物馆举办第一届书画展时，我就是是最年轻的一位，这也得益于这番经历。当时的我真可谓是求知若渴、遍访名师。同时,我也打破传统, 不是跟随一位大师学一种书体, 而是师从多位大师, 然后尝试综合各大师之长, 形成自己的风格和书体，而后又学习篆刻与国画。JIS：和同龄人比较而言，您可谓少年得志，那么您是何时产生了离开中国的想法的呢？田：从1966到1976，“文化大革命”历经10年。虽然在这10年我的书法大有用武之地, 但当时由于我外祖父的政治背景原因，我不能上大学。直到1977形势发生变化, 我才得到“公平待遇”，获准参加高考，考试通过后进入大学学习。那时还有机会选择专业, 我父亲要求我选择理工科。 因为当时他认为：“你的一生想要安宁，就只能跟机器打交道,而不是和人打交道。”我谨遵父命选择了雷达专业，并以平平成绩完成了学业，取得了工科学士学位。这在我的人生中实属一种失败，因为我在该领域没有做到最好。这使我不得不反思，所学专业是否为我所爱？当然四年寒窗，英文这个副产品足以让我在后来美院同行中得以炫耀，考过托福出国留学此为后话。那时的国情，大学教育是公费的，国家不允许个人因为改变主意而再选择其他学科。毕业时因我当时在美术方面的出色表现，学校破格让我留校在电教中心做了美术师。同时这也让我找到了一个到美院进修两年的借口。进入美院的殿堂之后，我并没有去参加原本打算学习的平面设计课，而是进入了油画系学习，学我所爱，我欣喜若狂。于是我如饥似渴,不分昼夜地学习和研究欧美的艺术作品。对我来说，绘画打开了我人生的另一扇门，而且此门是不开则已，一开不可收拾。此后我开始萌发了出国学习的念头，我想去了解真正的艺术，而不是书上并不出色的复制品。那时中国的艺术课本都要审查, 很少能体现真正的艺术。我意识到如果我一直呆在中国，我的艺术视野将受到限制，我的艺术创作也会被抑制。那样的话，我充其量只能做一名传统艺术的学生。我觉得创意源于自由，学习需要资源，艺术家既需要展览馆，也需要接近真正的艺术。JIS:仔细想来，那是一个令人痛苦的决定：离开自己熟悉的一切, 来到一个孤独无助,
an Interview with Tian Wei
Conducted and edited by Josine Ianco-Starrels ormer Director of Municipal Gallery of Los Angeles
JIS: Tell me a little bit about your personal history, your training in China, and your beginnings as an artist. Do you remember when you were first interested in becoming an artist? TW: I never had the chance to find out if and when I would become interested in art or any other subject. My father insisted that I begin to practice calligraphy when I was five years old, in keeping with Chinese tradition. Although my father came from a peasant family, he worked very hard to be able to receive a university education. It follows that he had his mind made up that I, his eldest son, was to follow in his footsteps and become an educated man. My father made every effort to provide me with the very best teachers to tutor me in a variety of subjects. Art was only one of these; he also required of me that I memorize classical poetry and that I write essays on different subjects. He instilled in me the concept of hard work in order for me to be the best at whatever I would do. When I was old enough to go to elementary school I was far more advanced than my fellow students. J: What about your mother's side of the family? T: My mother grew up among intellectuals, friends of her father's. My maternal grandfather was a respected scholar – that was prior to the Chinese Revolution of 1949. Like many scholars in China, he had a high government position at the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty, but he left his post when political events became too fraught with conflict. He retired, content to live the life of a scholar surrounded by friends who were calligraphers, painters, writers, and poets. My mother, who eventually became a doctor, was trained in Western medicine as well as in traditional Chinese healing arts; in her practice she combined the two. J: How did your training influence your life as a student and how does it relate to what you're doing today? T: I was a junior high school student in 1966 at the time of the Cultural Revolution, and suddenly my skills in calligraphy were in great demand. All over there were written denunciations and confessions and exhortations against this or that, and those who had the ability to produce public signage were well rewarded with attention and accolades. My career actually began then, because I was able to write Chairman Mao's poems in four different calligraphic styles – there were actually waiting lists of people wanting me to render these poems into calligraphic writing. I was the only young calligrapher among the other, much older calligraphy masters. That is how I came to meet them and later continue my training with them. Also, I broke with tradition because, instead of following just one master and one style, I learned from many and in the end combined what I had learned into a style of my own. Then I went on to study seal carving and brush painting. J: Having had such early success among your peers, I wonder when and why you began thinking of leaving China. T: From 1966 to 1976, the decade of the Cultural Revolution, while I was in demand as a calligrapher, I was unable to enter the university because my grandfather was politically discredited. In 1977 things changed – the National University Entrance Examinations were reinstituted – so I was allowed to take the tests and, after passing them, enter the university. There were choices to be made as to which discipline I would train in. My father prevailed on me to enter the school of engineering because, he said, "The only way to be safe is to deal with machines instead of human beings." I reluctantly followed his advice and after four years of studies I received my Bachelor of Science degree. Although I had proved that I was able to perform in the field of engineering, I could not love it and therefore could not be the best in that field. The only positive by product of those four years was that I had learned the rudiments of the English language. I was regretful because in China, once you've trained for a particular profession, you cannot switch. Since the government pays for your education, they would not allow you to repeat the process in another field just because you changed your mind. Shortly after receiving my B.S. degree, I entered the Collegiate National Competition of Fine Arts by submitting my calligraphy and won second place, bringing honor to my university. That earned me a fine job at a TV station working as a design engineer. As a special favor, the president of the University allowed me to pursue studies in art, justifying this as necessary for my job at the audio – visual center. I joined a two – year program of enhanced training for professional artists at Xi'an Fine Arts Academy. Once I was there, instead of taking graphic design, which I had been sent to study, I took life drawing and oil painting classes. I feverishly studied Western European art and painting day and night. Thoughts of leaving China began forming in my mind – I wanted to see real att instead of reproductions in books, and not very good ones at that. Even art books were censored in China – only certain kinds of art were represented. I realized that as long as I remained in China, my horizons would be limited and my creative life stifled, that at best I would forever remain a student of traditional
