李象群是我国当代雕塑艺术界的领军人物，他的雕塑作品在国际上屡获重要奖项，其雕塑水准和艺术品位得到了广泛的认可。

纯熟的雕塑手法、对材料语言的自如把控，以及持续不断的突破性思考，使得李象群在雕塑创作上往往可以做到“举重若轻”——从艺术家的角度讲，手法上看起来轻松自如，可内心却“如履薄冰”般紧张而又笃定；从作品的角度看，人物造型形神泰然自若，但其背后的力量感穿透人心。

雕塑是空间的艺术，它存在于空间，也赋予空间意义。但此次展览，艺术家李象群追求的是对雕塑艺术一般意义的超越。一方面，这些作品都与历史题材有关，这就加入了时间的观念；另一方面，将这些作品置于紫禁城这一具有特殊历史意义的物理空间更是大大拓展了作品和展览的意涵。毋宁说，展览本身就是对雕塑和空间关系的再探讨，是一件更为宏大的作品。

举例来说，《大紫禁城》是艺术家为中国历史文化高度符号化的物理建筑的造像。但显然，在造像的手法上，艺术家以解构的方式重建了“紫禁城”。“今人不见古时月，今月曾经照古人。”今天的我们已经无法看到昔日的紫禁城，但今天的紫禁城曾聆听了中国封建王朝最后的挽歌。以“皇宫”为功能的紫禁城已经不存在了，但是它存在在历史中，也保存在了艺术家的雕塑中。在《元四家》和《东坡》中，艺术家更是来用写意的方式来探讨中国传统文人精神的当下表达……将这些形式化、物质化的时间，共置于紫禁城，这一时间的见证者，是一项非常难得和有价值的行为。将艺术家创造的“紫禁城”、作为博物馆存在的今天的“紫禁城”以及“紫禁城”这一符号并置，形式化的时间被巧妙地安放在见证时间的空间中，通过这样的方式，艺术家让“紫禁城”看到“自己”，让历史看到当下，在此，时间和空间彼此观照，互为客体。

李象群视“提出问题和提供思考问题的空间”为当代艺术家的社会责任。萨特说，人给世界带来了“无”。世界因为有了人的存在，世界的意义就变了。让我们把人的范围缩小到艺术家群体，世界的意义出现了更为丰富的变化。艺术使作品成为艺术作品，使人成为艺术家。艺术让存在显现，让历史显现，但艺术保存的是自由，所以，艺术保存的历史、生活、思想都是自由的。艺术让活的历史显现。

“人人都可以质疑历史”，究竟什么是历史真实？历史的意义为何？艺术家是自由的，他们可以天马行空，答案也是开放的，观众可以随意揣测艺术家的意图，这种自由性，成就了艺术，也成就了艺术家和艺术品。艺术家无意提供结论，但愿意通过展现自己的思考来唤醒更多思考的可能。

张子康

Foreword
Li Xiangqun is the leading figure in China's art circle of contemporary sculpture. Having won major awards around the world repeatedly, his sculptures have been widely recognized for the sculpting techniques as well as the art taste.
The skillful sculpting techniques, the free control over the material language and the constant groundbreaking thinking have enabled Li Xiangqun to “handle complicated matters with ease” when working on sculptures—from the perspective of the artist, his techniques may seem to be free and relaxed, but his heart is nervous yet steadfast “as if treading on thin ice”; and from the perspective of the art works, the character modeling is in perfect composure, while the power behind the art works can touch people deeply in their hearts.
Sculpture is the art of space. It exists in the space, while granting the space its meaning. But what Li Xiangqun is pursuing in this exhibition is to transcend the general sense of sculpture art. On the one hand, all these art works are related to history, which has integrated the concept of time; on the other hand, presenting these works in the Forbidden City, a physical space with the special historical significance, has greatly expanded the connotation of the art works and that of the exhibition. What’s more, being a re-discussion on the relationship between sculptures and the space, the exhibition itself is an even grander piece of art work.
For example, the Great Forbidden City is the statue the artist has created for this physical architecture, which highly symbolizes Chinese history and culture. But obviously, the artist has adopted the approach of deconstruction to reconstruct the “Forbidden City”. “People nowadays cannot see the moon in ancient times while the current moon has shined over the ancient people.” Today we are unable to see the Forbidden City in the past, but today’s Forbidden City has heard the last lament of Chinese feudal dynasty. The function of the Forbidden City as “the imperial palace” has faded, but it is preserved in the history and captured in the artist’s sculpture. In “Four Representative Landscape Painters of Yuan Dynasty”and “Su Dongpo”, the artist has adopted the freehand approach to explore the current expression of the spirit of traditional Chinese literati... Collocating the formalized and materialized time in the Forbidden City, which is the witness of time, is a very rare and valuable behavior. By placing the “Forbidden City” that the artist has created, together with the “Forbidden City”, which now exists as a museum, and the symbols of the “Forbidden City”, the formalized time has been skillfully placed in the space which has witnesses the time. In this way, the artist provides a chance for the “Forbidden City” see “itself” and makes current visible for the history. Here, time and space reflect on each other, taking each other as its reciprocal object.
Li Xiangqun regards "raising questions and providing room for thinking" as the social responsibilities of contemporary artists. Sutter said that it was men who brought the “Nothingness” to the world. Because of the being of men, the significance of the world changed. When we narrow the scope of men down to the group of artists, the significance of the world will change in a more abundant and diverse way. Art makes a work an artwork and a man an artist. Because of art, being is disclosed and the history is revealed. As what art preserves is freedom，the history, the life and the thoughts preserved in art are all free. Art gets the living history indicated.
“Everyone can doubt the history”, then what on earth is the historical truth? What is the meaning of history? Artists are free to create art works with an unrestrained and vigorous style that brims with talent while the answer is also free so that the audience can interpret the intentions of artists. And this freedom has instigated art and facilitated artists and their art works. The Artist has no intention to provide a conclusion, but he is willing to arouse the possibility of more thinking by presenting his own thinking.

Zhang Zikang

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