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Lot Essay
Fang Lijun is an artist whose emergence and growth accompanied the opening up of Chinese society in the 1990s. His works emphasize the pursuit of spiritual freedom and reflect upon the meaning of life in the contemporary society. At the same time, they question the condescending collective consciousness of the nation, and reveal the struggleof Fang's generation for individual autonomy and expression. His painting style is frank and direct, surpassing the persistence of realistic technique among the artists who went before him. With his personal interpretation on "beauty" and "ugliness", his style has had considerable impact in the development of a contemporary avant-garde Chinese art, opening up a refreshing new page for Chinese oil painting.
The tragedy of the June 4th Incident in 1989 created a sense of unease in Chinese society. Artists who had enjoyed official support under the liberalization and opening up of the earlier part of the decade now faced new restrictions. Ironically, though, this new set of circumstances stimulated artists to search for new outlets and new styles in order to express themselves. The bald-headed figures of Fang Lijun that appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s were the perfect idiom for this new age of ironic detachment and existential drift. The bald-headed image, in Fang's hands, is filled with contradictions - it represents the baldness of a criminal, prisoner or a soldier, and suggests a subversive if not threatening presence; at the same time, it evokes the baldness of monks, their denial of worldly materialism and pursuit of values that exceed the earthly realm; and in the contemporary era, the shaved head further suggests a hooligan, someone who self-consciously adopts an outsider status. Hence, the bald-headed figures of Fang are rich with meaning and associations; irrespective of whether they embody elements of the good or the evil, they are, to a certain extent, all characters out of the mainstream, and are to a certain degree, distant from the society. Fang Lijun to create a space beyond that of authoritative power, highlighting the revolutionary spirit inherent to his works.
Humans are of course largely born without hair, and the baldness of a new-born baby further implies the beginning of life and all the expectations that birth entails. 2002.6.1 (Lot 2039) depict a bald-headed child, somehow preternaturally mature, riding on a large red peony floating still amidst the air. His face cheerfully looks down onto the packed group of bald-headed man in the bottom of the painting, who raise their heads and looks at the child earnestly and pleadingly at the child. Some raise their hands to catch the flowers that he distributes. With this work, Fang adopts a monumental vertical composition, in one that highlights the distances between the sky and the earth, emphasizing the child's nearly other worldly status above the others, giving him a sense of prestige and distinctiveness. The interaction between the child and the group of man evokes the religious paintings in the European Renaissance period (fig.1). In works such as these, a hierarchical composition reinforced Jesus status as savior and leader among men in symmetrical altar-styled composition. These compositions emphasized redemption on earth through the blessings and salvation from the Heaven.
"For a young age, people would only show us good things, and tried to cover up everything negative; yet, what creates that biggest impact on me are all things that came beneath goodness."
The extreme brightness and vibrant colours in 2002.6.1 psychologically evoke positive associations in the viewer. In terms of visual language, Fang blends in the characteristic of "Red, Bright and Shining" of the Cultural Revolution style (fig.2). The identity of the ruler is expanded indefinitely into a benevolent, almost Christ-like savior. However, history has shown demonstrated the bitter pills that have followed movements based on charismatic personalities and emotional excitement. Rulers dictates the destiny of the people, and they can offer redemption just as easily as they can bring pain and suffering. The duality of the role of the leader is suggested in Michelangelo's depiction of Jesus Christ in The Last Judgment (fig.3), where the fate of the believers and the sinners differ powerfully. Fang adopts this semi-religious language, but significantly undermines it, mocking the masses who become helplessly manipulated targets. With works like 2006.2.1, Fang investigates the near-religious worship of leaders in under any political movement; and is sympathetic towards the absolute suppression that has been cast upon the individuals. As such, his bald-headed figures have an important and inevitable link with the social background of contemporary China, as Fang himself states, "Although the image of a bald man as an individual is distinctive, yet as they appear as a collective, the individual personality will vanish. This is for me a strong and compelling reason. For a man like me being brought up against this cultural background, the feeling of one as being neglected and ignored as an individual within the society is an intense one." Here Fang takes his central motif of the hooligan and reshapes him to new conceptual ends. Baldness symbolizes those men with a blurred identity in such a political era, and the unified bright red skin also reinforces this tension. Set against a majestic snow-capped peak, the visual meaning of Fang's work is the exactly opposite of that of the propagandist paintings. He is not praising those in power, but is placing the hope for a better life in the hands of the people. He lets them roam around freely between heaven and earth, and receive the blessings given by nature to each individual. Fang uses his sensitivity as a contemporary artist to highlight the tensions and conflicts inherent to human nature and his immediate social environment, while also expressing his genuine concern for the fates of those caught up in these seemingly timeless and eternal struggles.
The tragedy of the June 4th Incident in 1989 created a sense of unease in Chinese society. Artists who had enjoyed official support under the liberalization and opening up of the earlier part of the decade now faced new restrictions. Ironically, though, this new set of circumstances stimulated artists to search for new outlets and new styles in order to express themselves. The bald-headed figures of Fang Lijun that appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s were the perfect idiom for this new age of ironic detachment and existential drift. The bald-headed image, in Fang's hands, is filled with contradictions - it represents the baldness of a criminal, prisoner or a soldier, and suggests a subversive if not threatening presence; at the same time, it evokes the baldness of monks, their denial of worldly materialism and pursuit of values that exceed the earthly realm; and in the contemporary era, the shaved head further suggests a hooligan, someone who self-consciously adopts an outsider status. Hence, the bald-headed figures of Fang are rich with meaning and associations; irrespective of whether they embody elements of the good or the evil, they are, to a certain extent, all characters out of the mainstream, and are to a certain degree, distant from the society. Fang Lijun to create a space beyond that of authoritative power, highlighting the revolutionary spirit inherent to his works.
Humans are of course largely born without hair, and the baldness of a new-born baby further implies the beginning of life and all the expectations that birth entails. 2002.6.1 (Lot 2039) depict a bald-headed child, somehow preternaturally mature, riding on a large red peony floating still amidst the air. His face cheerfully looks down onto the packed group of bald-headed man in the bottom of the painting, who raise their heads and looks at the child earnestly and pleadingly at the child. Some raise their hands to catch the flowers that he distributes. With this work, Fang adopts a monumental vertical composition, in one that highlights the distances between the sky and the earth, emphasizing the child's nearly other worldly status above the others, giving him a sense of prestige and distinctiveness. The interaction between the child and the group of man evokes the religious paintings in the European Renaissance period (fig.1). In works such as these, a hierarchical composition reinforced Jesus status as savior and leader among men in symmetrical altar-styled composition. These compositions emphasized redemption on earth through the blessings and salvation from the Heaven.
"For a young age, people would only show us good things, and tried to cover up everything negative; yet, what creates that biggest impact on me are all things that came beneath goodness."
The extreme brightness and vibrant colours in 2002.6.1 psychologically evoke positive associations in the viewer. In terms of visual language, Fang blends in the characteristic of "Red, Bright and Shining" of the Cultural Revolution style (fig.2). The identity of the ruler is expanded indefinitely into a benevolent, almost Christ-like savior. However, history has shown demonstrated the bitter pills that have followed movements based on charismatic personalities and emotional excitement. Rulers dictates the destiny of the people, and they can offer redemption just as easily as they can bring pain and suffering. The duality of the role of the leader is suggested in Michelangelo's depiction of Jesus Christ in The Last Judgment (fig.3), where the fate of the believers and the sinners differ powerfully. Fang adopts this semi-religious language, but significantly undermines it, mocking the masses who become helplessly manipulated targets. With works like 2006.2.1, Fang investigates the near-religious worship of leaders in under any political movement; and is sympathetic towards the absolute suppression that has been cast upon the individuals. As such, his bald-headed figures have an important and inevitable link with the social background of contemporary China, as Fang himself states, "Although the image of a bald man as an individual is distinctive, yet as they appear as a collective, the individual personality will vanish. This is for me a strong and compelling reason. For a man like me being brought up against this cultural background, the feeling of one as being neglected and ignored as an individual within the society is an intense one." Here Fang takes his central motif of the hooligan and reshapes him to new conceptual ends. Baldness symbolizes those men with a blurred identity in such a political era, and the unified bright red skin also reinforces this tension. Set against a majestic snow-capped peak, the visual meaning of Fang's work is the exactly opposite of that of the propagandist paintings. He is not praising those in power, but is placing the hope for a better life in the hands of the people. He lets them roam around freely between heaven and earth, and receive the blessings given by nature to each individual. Fang uses his sensitivity as a contemporary artist to highlight the tensions and conflicts inherent to human nature and his immediate social environment, while also expressing his genuine concern for the fates of those caught up in these seemingly timeless and eternal struggles.