【红门 - 座谈会】The Toyists Are Here! 玩具主义来了！他们的面具背后藏着什么？

玩具主义者？他们是谁？

Toyists? Who Are They?

玩具主义者在北京798

Toyist at 798 Beijing

红门画廊携玩具主义者们于2018年7月22日, 周日下午4-6点，在位于798艺术区的红门画廊举办艺术家座谈会。届时他们将展示玩具主义艺术作品并与大家进行讨论。观众参与问答环节还将有机会获得一本玩具主义者送出的画册。他们的面具背后是什么？准备好为玩具主义的青蛙而疯狂了吗？

Red Gate Gallery at the 798 Art District is hosting an artist talk for the Toyists on July 22nd, 2018, from 4 pm to 6 pm, to talk about their art and philosophy. An artist catalog will be sent out as a gift during the Q&A section. What’s behind their mask? Are you ready to be frogonized? We are looking forward to having you!

在艺术界，艺术家们经常试验创新的技巧和风格，有时带来的是失落，而有时带来的是惊喜。艺术一直以来都是一个解构和重建的过程，就好像小孩子在沙滩上建的沙堡一样毁了又盖。整个艺术史可以被看作为一系列的反应和反反应。很多时候，艺术流派的目的就在于互相对立。

In the world of art, one is constantly seeking to experiment with innovative techniques and styles in a cycle of excitement and disappointment. Art has always been a process of deconstruction and reconstruction, similar to a child’s sand castle on a beach being repeatedly torn down and built back. The main purpose for an art movement is to attack the one before and start an art riot that can save the art world. The entire history of art can be seen as a series of reaction and counter-reaction. At times, movements are programmed to oppose one another.

玩具主义，一个成立于1992年的神秘但充满活力的艺术流派，却不是这样的。它是一个试图重新发现绘画的意义，而不是想颠覆后现代主义的当代艺术流派。这使得玩具主义成为一个独立流派.

This is certainly not the case with Toyism, a mysterious but vigorous art movement founded in 1992. It is a contemporary art movement trying to rediscover the meaning of painting without the intent to overthrow postmodernism. This is one thing that makes Toyism a stand-alone movement.

玩具主义者Jafr,《重生》. 三维综合材料麻布丙烯画, 200 x 200 cm.

Toyist Jafr, Rebirth. 3D Mixed Media on canvas, 200 x 200 cm.

玩具主义是模棱两可的。当其他运动强调拒绝的重要性时，玩具主义却专注于接纳。一些艺术流派只在博物馆和画廊展出，而另一些流派则声称有价值的艺术只属于街头。玩具主义两者兼有。那些从未踏足画廊或博物馆的人可以在街头看到玩具主义的作品并感叹“现在终于有了给人民的艺术！”而只去画廊或博物馆的观众可以看到玩具主义的作品并说“看哪，这就是艺术！”有些人可能会问，在玩具主义艺术中，形状的使用是否有受到涂鸦或者街头艺术的影响。但提出这个问题的同时，他们还必须思考拉斯科洞穴里为什么会有美丽的动物线条。这些线条的流动性和玩具主义的线条有没有相似之处？还有人可能会想知道在模仿梦的世界和揭露心理机制的层面上，玩具主义是否植根于超现实主义。毫无疑问，玩具主义可以被视为融合着超现实主义的主题。玩具主义的特点是它能接受一切，只要这一切可以被翻译成玩具主义的视觉语言就可以。

The Toyism movement is ambiguous. While other movements emphasize the importance of rejecting, Toyism focuses on embracing instead. Some art movements exhibit at only museums and galleries; others say that all worthy art must be in the streets. Toyism accepts both. Those who have never entered a gallery or a museum can see a Toyism works in the streets and say “Finally, art for the people!”; those are solely gallery or museum goers can see Toyismworks and say “Behold, this is art!”. Some might ask if the use of shapes in Toyism is influenced by graffiti or street Art, but at the same time, they must also question why there are beautiful animal lines in the Lascaux cave paintings. Is their fluidity not similar to the Toyism lines? Others might ask if Toyism is somewhat rooted in surrealism in terms of mimicking the world of dreams that reveal hidden psychological mechanisms. There is no doubt that Toyism can be considered surrealist themed. The characteristic about Toyism is that it can adopt everything, as long as it can be translated into Toyism’s visual language.

玩具主义创造了强大的，令人震惊的艺术，都是基于他们的秘密宣言和宣言里描述的“我玩故我在”的艺术哲学。宣言中没有任何关于艺术在当代社会中的作用的内容，也没有任何可以被视为纲领性口号的内容。这个先锋宣言不被用作是宣传噱头。它是关于玩耍、做梦、以及任何人们能想象的东西。

Toyism produces powerful and shocking art based on a secret manifesto about its ‘I Play There I Am’ art and philosophy. There is nothing in it about the role of the art in the contemporary society, nor anything that can be considered a programmatic slogan. This pioneer manifesto is not used as a publicity stunt. It is about playing, dreaming, and everything else one can imagine.

玩具主义者是一群神秘而有趣的艺术家，大部分都是画家，但也有雕塑家和玻璃艺术家。他们拒绝有些当代艺术的虚荣心，组成了一个匿名的集体。在这个集体里，个人是无法区分的。二十个玩具主义者可以形成一个艺术家。荣耀不仅仅属于Hribso，Lodieteb或者Toescat，而属于这个集体组成的艺术家。这种类型的团体听起来几乎是天方夜谭。然而，当有一个共同的理想和信念时，这却是有可能的。玩具主义最具标志性的特点就是在公众面前戴面具。千百年来，绝大部分的文化都使用过面具，最初是为了伪装一个人的身份，甚至将一个人变成一个木偶一样的无生命物体。事实上，这个团体的意图是要被视为木偶，像拥有神秘外表的活生生的生物一样运动。揭开面具就是将木偶人性化，然后将玩具主义者置于艺术之前，走上一条通往利己主义的道路。的确，没有艺术家，艺术就不可能得到推广。这样一来，想知道毕加索1924年3月7日晚餐吃了些什么，就成了件很自然的事情。保持艺术和艺术家之间的平衡是非常棘手和微妙的。这样看来，玩具主义者的工作做得相当不错。

Toyists are mysterious and interesting artists consisting of mainly painters, but also sculptors or glass artists. They reject the vanity of the contemporary art in order to form an anonymous collective where individuals cannot be distinguished. The 20 Toyists can operate as one single Artist. The glory does not belong to Amukek, Lodieteb or Bliissem, but to the Artist with a capital A (for Artist as well as Art). Having this type of group sounds almost impossible. However, it is made possible when there is a shared ideal and belief. Their wearing of masks in public is perhaps the most well-known trademark of Toyism. Masks have been used for thousands of years in most if not all cultures, initially used to disguise a person's identity or even turn a person into an inanimate object like a puppet. It is, in fact, the group’s intention to be seen as puppets moving like living beings with an uncanny appearance. To unveil a mask is to humanize the puppet and subsequently place the Toyist before the Art, on a path that leads to egoism. It’s true that Art cannot be promoted without the artist and it is a natural curiosity to find out what Picasso had for dinner on 7 March 1924. Keeping the balance between the Art and the artist is very tricky and delicate. It seems Toyists are doing the job rather well.

戴着面具的玩具主义者们

Toyists with Mask

玩具主义者们非常看重物体，不管它是一块30 x 30厘米的小画布还是一堵30米高的墙。每项工作都经过了详细的计划，并以刷清漆做结束。每幅画都用5厘米的支架包起来，还画了架子的边缘。这种处理确保了从各个角度去看装置都能有很高的视觉质量。当画作覆盖了整个物体的表面的时候（比如在荷兰埃门的“Dot”油箱和在冰岛凯夫拉维克的水箱），就显然不是一个装饰，而是将颜色和形状转化为一种全新的、令人惊叹的东西。

The Toyists have great respect for objects, whether it is a small 30 x 30cm canvas or a 30m wall. Every work is planned in details and finished with a varnish. Every painting is wrapped around 5cm stretchers with painted edges. This treatment ensures the quality of the installation view from every angle. When the painting covers the entire surface like the ‘Dot’ gas tank in Emmenor the ‘Uppspretta’ water thank in Keflavík, it is clearly not a decoration but a metamorphosis transforming the colours and shapes into something completely new and breathtaking.

冰岛凯夫拉维克的玩具主义作品“Uppspretta”水塔，Uppspretta的意思是“迸发的能量”。

Water Tower “Uppspretta” by the Toyism Art Movement in Keflavik, Iceland. Uppsprettarefers to the bursting of energy.

坐落于荷兰埃门的“The Dot”天然气容器。

The gas globe “Dot”, located in Emmen, Netherlands.

很多当代艺术流派的参与者都是由社会和哲学原则凝聚在一起，然后努力寻找一种共同的视觉语言。玩具主义不需要找到这样的语言，因为它开始的时候就伴随着一种技巧。玩具主义绘画在没有人知道背后的原则时是很容易辨认的，这就产生了一个逻辑结论，即其宣言必须包括某种完善的颜色和形状要求，而不是写满了美学和哲学思想。玩具主义颜色有着非常精细的简单性，这种简单性实现起来却是最复杂的。每一条线都必须稳定地用手画出来，每一个形状都必须用手术般的精度进行多次绘制。一毫米之差就会毁掉整幅作品。

Many contemporary movements are held together by social and philosophical principles and struggling to find a visual language. Toyism does not need to find such a language because it started with one with accompanied techniques. Toyism paintings are recognizable without one knowing the principles behind the movement, which results in the logical conclusion that its manifesto must contain some sort of a developed colour and shapes recipe instead of a bunch of aesthetic and philosophical ideas. Toyism colours are extremely flat and are perfectly within the well-defined lines. There is a very elaborate simplicity in Toyism and this simplicity is the most complex thing to achieve. Every line must be drawn with a steady hand and every shape must be painted multiple times with surgical precision. A miss of a millimeter can ruin the painting.

使用圆点是玩具主义绘画的标志。玩具主义圆点圆圆厚厚，像凝固的熔岩一样。液体颜料的概念悬浮在时间中，让人想触碰这些圆点而去感受这些神奇的节奏的实体性。这种节奏像旋律中的节拍一样维持着这幅画。玩具主义游戏中的艺术是一个严肃的话题。一种对玩游戏的误解是游戏必须是不重要的、肤浅的东西。游戏意味着乐趣，但它又不总是关于乐趣。玩具主义的一种“游戏”让观众有一种对世界的新的、批判性的敏感视觉。

The use of the dots is the hallmark of Toyism paintings. Toyism dots are round and thick like solidified lava. The idea of liquid paint suspended in time makes one want to touch these dots, to feel the concreteness of such a magical rhythm that sustains the painting like a beat in the tune. The art in the game Toyism is a serious matter. One misconception about games is that it must be something trivial and shallow. Games imply fun but are not always about fun. The Toyismkind of "play" is to invite viewers to a new, critical and sensitive vision of the world.

用同一种视觉语言进行创作是否有点无聊？答案是根本没有！当一个人采用严格的视觉语言来限制他的艺术表达范围时，他就有机会深入探索各种事物。每一种当代视觉语言都有一个特别的震撼人的因素，但这种因素在给人一次冲击以后往往难以维持。在玩具主义中，最初的震撼让有趣的视觉图像打开了隐藏的意义维度，迫使观众进一步探索。

Does creating with the same visual language get a little dull? The answer is not at all. When one limits the range of expression by adopting a strict visual language, one ends with the opportunity to explore things in depth. Every contemporary visual language has a powerful shocking WOW factor, but it is not always maintainable after the emotional punch. It is in the use of Toyism. After the initial shock, the fun apparent imagery opens a dimension of hidden meanings that compel the viewers to explore further.

这些信息不仅仅是概念性的。它们更像一次跨越画布的视觉之旅，有许多陷阱和形状。它们正在重新组合、分解、呈现、消失，将故事叙述到它的结尾。打破玩具主义的规则是一种有趣的游戏。不过对于玩具主义爱好者来说，这当然不是关键。一个人爱上喝一杯清爽的饮料不一定要知道它的配方，味道是最重要的。玩具主义可以是任何东西，但不能是一个静态。有时候更好的办法是保持神秘感，而不是把作品中的一切全部解释清楚。玩具主义作品的神秘之处在于一种非常特殊的对比。观众不可能用手电筒打光去理解阴影的意义，而解释之后的奥秘也就不再是一个谜。现实和游戏之间的张力让玩具主义作品变得十分有趣。有时候，游戏的意义是如此真实，以至于可以超越现实。

These messages are not simply conceptual. They are more a visual journey across the canvas with a lot of traps and shapes that are recomposing/decomposing and appearing/disappearing to narrate a story to its conclusion. Breaking the Toyism code is a fun game. However, for Toyism lovers, it is certainly not crucial to do so. One does not need to know the recipe to enjoy drinking a refreshing beverage. The taste is all it matters. Toyism paintings can be anything but static. Sometimes it is even better to preserve the mystery and not fall into explaining everything. The mystery of a Toyism work lies in a very special mixture of contrasts. The viewers cannot comprehend a shadow by putting a flashlight on it, and a mystery explained is no longer a mystery. What makes it intriguing is the tension between what is real and what is a game. Sometimes the meaning of the game can be so real that it can surpass the reality.

玩具主义者,《马力狂热》.布面丙烯画.

Toyists, Horsepower Mania. Acrylics on canvas.

玩具主义如何推动艺术的未来？每一个艺术流派都不免陷入了时间的洪流之中。现在是时候让艺术回归艺术，而不是对未来做预测的时候了。玩具主义具有能够经历时间考验的影响力，至少这一点是肯定无疑的!

How can Toyism drive the future of art? Every art movement is caught in the stream of time. Now is the time to put the art back in the art, not the time to make predictions. Toyism has the quality that can make a difference and endure time. That much is certain!

7月22日，周日下午4-6点, 玩具主义者们将会来到位于798艺术区的红门画廊，展示玩具主义艺术作品并与大家进行讨论。观众参与问答环节还将有机会获得一本玩具主义者送出的画册。他们的面具后面是什么？准备好为玩具主义的青蛙而疯狂了吗？

On July 22^nd, Wednesday, the Toyists are coming to the Red Gate Gallery at the 798 Art District to talk about their art and philosophy. The artist talk is from 4 pm to 6 pm. An artist catalog will be sent out as a gift during the Q&A section. What’s behind their mask? Are you ready to be frogonized?