草根人生的畫家 — 胡蓉

在中國現實主義繪畫的陣營中，胡蓉顯然有別於大多數女性藝術家“自我”、“向內”的創作視角，而獨具一種弘大且嚴肅的社會關照性；同時，她亦異於大多數描繪社會題材與弱勢群體的男性藝術家，滲透其創作中的凝重與晦暗的基調，胡蓉用明媚、燦爛的色板賦予了她眼中的“草根人生”一種獨特的浪漫主義情愫與灑滿溫煦光澤的人性關懷。

As the “’85 New Wave” and the “post 1989” era ended their discussion about the metaphysical propositions, a group of “New Generation Artists” in China shift their attention from the macro issues of human beings to the life of individuals, from lofty spiritual life to ordinary daily life, from top down concerns at distance to close observation. Rona Hu picks out a salient representation of common people in contemporary society — the underprivileged class which is mainly composed of hundreds of millions of rural migrant workers. The artist recreates image of physical and emotional state for this group of people with her superb technique. More interestingly, she puts her creation in the surrealistic context, pitting the realistic life against the backdrop of brightly and dreamy space, a strong contrast yet juxtaposed seamlessly. Here comes the picture of the underprivileged group in the shadow of prosperous cities, their conflicted inner world of longing and loneliness as well as their weak sense of existence.

胡蓉通過具象與抽象的語言轉換、洗練明麗的色彩構成，勾勒出“草根族”人生的夢想與現實。正如她時常將一張張刻滿命運滄桑的人物肖像與蜂窩狀、割裂狀的形式語言疊砌在一起，以圖像的張力刻畫出“草根族”強壯不息，在現實的碎片中保持尊嚴與希冀的生活姿態。北京大學藝術系教授，著名美術評論家李淞形容胡蓉的作品是“站立在多條線索的交叉點上以獲得超廣角視野，試圖連接多個方向”。中國藝術研究院羅麗博士指胡蓉是“近幾年來最令人觀注及期待的女性畫家之一”。認為其作品有強烈的創造力。