A Tribute in a Return to China
返回中國 向京劇大師致敬
By Amy Qin

BEIJING – Outside China, he is best known as the man behind Mr. Chow – the high-end Chinese restaurants and longtime drinking spots for artists and celebrities in London, New York, Beverly Hills, Miami Beach and Malibu.
在中國以外，他最為人知的身分是「周先生」高級中餐廳老闆。餐廳在倫敦、紐約、比佛利山、邁阿密灘和馬里布一直是藝術家與名流飲宴之處。

In his native China, however, Michael Chow is better known to many as the son of the venerated Zhou Xinfang – a grand master of Beijing opera and founder of the Qi performance style who was tortured during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. Mr. Zhou died in 1975 after years of house arrest.
然而，在他的祖國中國，很多人只知道他是深受尊敬的京劇大師、麒派創始人周信芳之子。1960年代，周信芳在文化大革命中飽受折磨，遭到數年軟禁後，於1975年去世。

Now Mr. Zhou, who was politically exonerated after his death, is revered by the official cultural establishment. And as China celebrates what would have been his 120th birthday, his son has put together a more personal tribute here, in the form of the exhibition “Voice for My Father.”
如今，周信芳身後在政治上得到平反，受到官方文化當局推崇。中國正在慶祝他的120歲冥誕，其子也在中國用畫展「麒派畫家周英華」的形式，表達更為個人化的敬意。

It is the first exhibition in mainland China by Mr. Chow, who was sent to England in 1952 at age 12, leaving behind a pampered life of servants and chauffeured cars in Shanghai. In England, he attended boarding school and later trained as an artist at Central St. Martins in London. After struggling to succeed as an artist, he turned to an endeavor that had a more receptive clientele in London: Chinese cuisine. About three years ago, Mr. Chow, now 75, returned to making art after a 50-year hiatus, painting under his Chinese name, Zhou Yinghua.
這是周英華第一次在中國大陸辦展覽。1952年，12歲的他被送往英國，遠離上海僕役成群、司機接送、嬌生慣養的生活。他在英國念寄宿學校，後來在倫敦中央聖馬丁學院接受藝術教育。幾番努力未果後，轉向嘗試在倫敦顧客接受度更高的事業：中餐料理。現年75歲的周英華擱筆50年後，3年前重新開始藝術創作，以中文姓名周英華發表畫作。

In addition to Mr. Chow’s own paintings, the show features portraits of him from his wide-ranging personal collection, including works by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Also on display is a selection of archival images of Mr. Zhou, who wrote more than 200 operas and performed about 600 characters during an illustrious 60-year career.
畫展除了周英華本人的畫作，還有他的肖像畫，作者包括安迪．沃荷、凱斯．哈林與巴斯奇亞，選自他範圍廣泛的個人收藏，還有若干周信芳的文獻圖文資料，他在60年輝煌的藝術生涯中創作200多齣京劇劇本，飾演近600個角色。

“For me personally, this exhibition is very much so filling a void,” Mr. Chow said in an interview at the exhibition’s opening reception. “A long time ago, when I was 12, I arrived in England. I lost everything. I literally lost everything. I never saw my father again, and I never communicated with him again. I didn’t even know about his tragic death during the Cultural Revolution.”
「對我來說，這個展覽在很大程度上填補了一個空白，」周英華在展覽開幕式上說。「很久以前，我12歲去到英國。我失去一切。可說是一無所有。從此再也沒有見過父親，也沒能和他聯繫。我甚至不知道他已在文革期間慘死。」

Created with a combination of techniques, including thrown paint and collaging, the works are an exercise in what Mr. Chow calls “controlled accident.”
周英華的畫作融合多種技巧，包括潑濺畫法與拼貼，周英華稱之為「受到控制的偶發事件」。

Only on closer inspection do the details emerge: egg yolks preserved in resin; a piece of gold worth $14,000; antique nails; sheets of gold and silver foil; a pair of the artist’s shorts; and a $100 bill in a plastic bag encased in dried paint. (Cash is a feature in all of his paintings “because I love money,” Mr. Chow said.)
仔細審視才能發現作品細節：用樹脂防腐的蛋黃；一片價值14,000美元的黃金；古董釘子；金銀箔；畫家的短褲；甚至還有一張百元美鈔，放在塑料袋裡，用乾油彩封口（現金出現在他所有畫作中，「因為我愛錢，」周英華說）。

The collaging technique was a natural choice, Mr. Chow said. “In collaging, you can put things together that shouldn’t be together, and that’s my life,” Mr. Chow said.
拼貼技巧是自然的選擇。周英華說：「拼貼可以將不應該放在一起的東西放在一起，我的生活經歷正是如此。」

It is clear that Mr. Chow drew insights over decades of conversations and experiences – an influence that some say is apparent in his recent work.
周英華顯然從幾十年來的交談和體驗中得到許多領悟，有些人說可從他最近的作品中看出其影響。

“Younger artists work in a very conscientious way, in that they try to make works that pre-position themselves in some sort of art-historical narrative,” said Philip Tinari, director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. “For him, it comes from a more real place. He absorbed a lot of influences, and he spent so much time around them.”
「年輕一點的藝術家的作品都非常謹慎，試圖讓作品日後能在藝術史占有一席之地，」北京尤倫斯當代藝術中心館長田霏宇說：「對於周英華而言，他的作品來自更真實的領域。他吸收消化了很多種影響，為此花費很多時間。」

“I think now to come to this later phase in life and have this new outlet – for him, it’s totally liberating,” Mr. Tinari added.
「我想，他在晚年找到新表達方式，對他是完全的解放，」田霏宇又說。

On the morning after the opening reception, Mr. Chow, standing before his paintings, admitted he was tired. He had been in China for about two weeks.
開幕式後的當天上午，周英華站在自己的畫前，承認感到疲憊。他在中國已經待了兩星期。

But the feeling of being able to bring these paintings back to China during what he called the “third act – or rather midthird act” of his life, Mr. Chow said, was incomparable.
但是，周英華說，能夠在自己人生的「第三幕，其實是第三幕中段」期間，把這些畫作帶回中國，這種感覺無可比擬。

“I want to call it closure,” he said. “I have come home, to my parents, to China.”
「我想稱之為落幕，」周英華說：「我已經回家，回到父母身邊，回到中國。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/arts/design/michael-chows-art-show-in-beijing-honors-his-father.html

2015-02-24聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 張佑生譯 原文參見紐時週報十二版左