心繫台灣  胸懷大地  陳東元個展

Embracing the Land in His Heart:A Solo Exhibition of Chen Tung-yuan

林 釗 / 台灣創價學會理事長 

Chao Lin / General Director of Taiwan Soka Association

    美國著名思想家愛默生曾經說過：「人最大的幸運，即是被內在精神所引導而成為真正的自己。」換言之，確立心之所向，由追尋夢想的過程中不斷提昇自己的境涯，將能為自己創造出更充實、更寬廣的視野。

    The renowned American thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Man’s greatest fortune is to be guided by the inner spirit into becoming his true self.” In other words, if you establish a direction for your heart and to elevate yourself to ever higher realms in pursuit of your dreams, you will be able to create a fuller, broader vision for yourself.

    台灣七〇至八〇年代期間，國政外交變局頻傳，藝文界掀起一股回歸鄉土的復興運動，加上當時美國「懷鄉寫實主義」大師安德魯‧魏斯（WYETH, Andrew.1917- 2009），其寫實風格開始影響國內，藝術家紛紛起而效之，本土鄉景人物開始成為藝術家作畫的主要題材。有別於魏斯，陳東元的畫作雖也細膩寫實，但較著重於視覺的觀察感受而較無魏斯文學式的寫實影射；他由攝影式的寫實視點切入，從圖像汲取所需視角，再予以延伸，組合成另種意涵畫面。他的繪畫蘊涵著豐富、內斂的樸實生命力，造就出另一種繪畫的心像境界。    

    During the 1970s and 1980s, as Taiwan was undergoing frequent political and diplomatic crises, a revival of interest in returning to one’s native soil swept through Taiwan’s artistic community. At the time the realistic style of the American artist Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) was also beginning to influence Taiwan’s artists, who were eager to emulate him. Local scenes and figures became the main subject-matter for artists. Although Chen Tung-yuan also painted in a detailed, realistic style, he put more emphasis on visual observation and sensation and less on projecting a literary style of realism as Wyeth had. He approached the realistic perspective through photography—drawing the needed perspective from the image and then extending it, so that he could compose paintings that held other layers of meaning. His paintings were rich in implicit meaning, reserved yet plain and dynamic. They created a kind of painterly world of the mind.

    於1953年生於山明水秀的宜蘭山區，自小週遭就環繞著優美的山野風光，創作也因此深受影響，作品多以自然景觀為主。中學受水彩畫家藍蔭鼎影響，開始以周遭鄉野景物為繪畫題材，在大學就讀國立臺灣師範大學美術系期間，先後受業於徐寶琳、李焜培老師，並曾獲得全國美展水彩及多次師生系展第一名。 陳東元在他創作生涯中一直秉持著專注，誠摯的態度，對繪畫積極的探索，且從挫折中磨鍊思考，練就了他獨特地觀察力，以及精準的描述方式。在他的畫筆下，農村和鄉間景致，甚或山野峡谷，在在都散發著土地及萬物間和諧的溫潤情感。一般對於鄉土文化殘舊呆板的印象，和農村頹廢凝滯的刻板想像，在他的畫裡全都被轉化為純樸、積極的農村工作景象；農人質樸的性格，互動的溫情，以及安和樂利的社會形態在畫面裡被創作者構築出另種面向的人文風景。

    Chen Tung-yuan was born in a beautiful mountainous area of Ilan County, so that during his childhood he was always surrounded by splendid mountain scenery. His works were thus deeply influenced by this, and most of his works center on natural scenery. In high school he was influenced by the watercolorist Ran In-ting (Lan Yinting) and began to paint the scenes and objects around him. During his time studying in the Dept. of Fine Arts at National Taiwan Normal University, he was taught in turn by Hsu Pao-lin and Lee Quan-Pui (Li Kunpei), and he won First Prize in watercolor in the National Fine Arts Exhibition as well as several departmental exhibitions. Throughout his artistic career, Chen has retained an attitude of concentration and commitment. He actively explores painting, and through overcoming various frustrations he has refined his thought, unique observational skills, and precise methods of depiction. Under his brush, farming villages, rural scenes, even large vistas of mountains and canyons, exude the warm feeling of harmony between the earth and all its creatures. The usual stereotypical, timeworn impressions of declining rural culture and decrepit farming villages are all transformed in his paintings: they present pure, positive images of villages and farmwork. The artist takes the farmers’ plain characters, the warmth of their interaction with one another, and their peaceful, happy society and builds them into scenes that present another side of human culture.

    自早期的水彩至後來的油畫創作，從對台灣鄉野的懷鄉描述至對大陸重山萬象的異鄉探索，陳東元由探尋景觀的過程，不斷地在心中重新構圖，挑戰新的視野，並由之創作出更純粹，寬闊的景觀。他由寫實的視角透過心的延伸，孕育出更純粹廣闊的境涯。

 From his early watercolors to his later oils, and from his nostalgic depictions of Taiwan’s countryside to his explorations of exotic mountainous locales in the mainland, Chen Tung-yuan has always sought out scenes and then mentally recomposed them and challenged new fields of vision. From this he creates even purer, broader scenes. By extending the realistic perspective through his heart, he nurtures purer, vaster realms.

    國際創價學會池田大作會長曾說：「從現在到未來，從今日到明日，經常不斷的重複着『前進』再『前進』。這就是偉大人生的真髓。」一直往前邁進的人生才能不斷引導，激勵，拓展自己，重新發現並成就更偉大的目標。 綜觀陳東元的創作歷程，無論大環境的框架，亦或外部形式、風格的影響為何，他都一一挑戰，超越，並由中開展出自己的繪畫風格。而其中最難得的，莫過於他始終抱持著對自然、人性一樣的信念，在創作中毫不遲疑地呈現人與自然萬物間共存的生命力。台灣創價學會此次很榮幸能邀請到藝術家陳東元，以「心繫台灣，胸懷大地」為題，展出他在不同自然、人文體驗下精采的繪畫作品，也藉此讓觀眾感受到他對土地及萬物間獨特的視野與感動，謹代表台灣創價學會在此致上無限謝忱。

    Ikeda Daisaku, President of Soka Gakkai International, once said, “From the present to the future, and from today to tomorrow, ‘advance’ and ‘advance’ again are usually repeated. This is the true essence of lives of greatness.” It is only by a life of continuous advancement that one can guide, encourage, and expand oneself, make new discoveries, and accomplish greater goals. When we look at the whole arc of Chen Tung-yuan’s artistic career, we see that he has always faced and overcome challenges one by one, whether handling the structure of the compositions, their external forms, or their stylistic influences, and from this process he has developed a style of painting of his own. The most difficult accomplishment of all is to maintain steady faith in nature and human nature, and to show without any hesitation the life force existing among people and natural things, in different natural and cultural circumstances. Taiwan Soka Association is very honored to have invited Chen Tung-yuan to show his exquisite paintings in the present exhibition, entitled “Embracing the Land in His Heart,” and to let the public get a sense of his unique insights and responses on the land and all its creatures. On behalf of Taiwan Soka Association, therefore, I would like to offer my unlimited thanks.

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