Today we celebrate the launch of “Art Record”, an AAW project undertaken by two artists, Zhao Xiaojia and Li Zhi. I think they are an interesting pair. Aside from being an accomplished painter, Zhao is an indie lyricist-composer. Music, especially rock and roll, has consistently played an important part in his works. Concert footage with him doing the splits while playing the guitar went viral in 2015. His stunt repeatedly mimicked and wisecracked about, the “splits guy” has single-handedly launched his band into fame. He is arguably the most successful crossover artist from LuXun Academy of Fine Arts.

Li Zhi, a new folk musician, has the makings of a poet. His album, “Mr. Van Gogh”, offers an unprecedented perspective on the legendary life of the master. Chance has it that both Zhao and Li were named “NetEase Cloud Music·Musicians of the year” in 2015. I am expecting to see sparks from the two converging artists through the partnership.

It is the well-received spiritual similarity of music and painting that led AAW to propose the original concept of “Art Record”. In fact, originality is where the value of modern arts lies. How to properly blend audio and visual experience remains a technical challenge, yet the implications of the experiment will be by all means far-reaching.

由AAW画廊计划的"艺术唱片"项目在今天启动， 这一组由艺术家赵晓佳和李志来完成，我认为这一组很有趣，赵晓佳除在绘画界的成就外，也是个集词曲创作的独立音乐人。赵晓佳受西方摇滚乐的影响，音乐一直在他的创作中扮演着重要角色。在2015年他的一段演出视频由于表演过程中的弹吉他劈叉行為而迅速火遍网络。以至于各种模仿秀和网络用語接踵而来，更有“一個大劈叉红了一个乐队”的“誉美”之詞。“劈叉哥”便成了赵晓佳日后的代名词。可以说赵晓佳是鲁迅美术学院出來最成功的“跨界”艺术家。其实音乐和绘画的精神共性是大家有所共知的，AAW画廊提出的“艺术唱片”概念在国内是罕见的，其实当下艺术的可贵就在于它的试探性，当然如何让视听很恰当的嫁接起来在技术上还有待解决，无论如何我觉得它的实验意义将是非常深远的。
新民谣音乐人李志有着诗人一样的特质，我看过他的歌词，那是以一种前所未有的角度表现的《梵高先生》，一个画家传奇般的一生能被概括出來。也可能是巧合，2015年赵晓佳和李志同时入选网易云年度音乐人物。两个领域的艺术家能同时你中有我，我中有你，在这次的合作中期待他们有新的意外发生。

宫立龙 Gong Lilong