Lot Essay
Zhang Hui always questions the visual reality through her works. She claims that old paintings have died more than once while the younger generation of painters replaces the older, which attaches new significance to artistic creation. "Every contemporary painter must reflect on the essence of and method for painting. We are standing on our predecessors' achievements that constitute a stratified relationship, while the strata are not arranged in a parallel manner. We should take these factors into our consideration. More importantly, the core elements remain immutable, have the most basic human emotions such as melancholy, misery, happiness, and jealousy ever changed?" In Miraculous Slop Analysis 1 (Lot 584) the artist writes "the windbreak forest in 1987/2008." Branches and tendrils sprawl across the red iron gate erected in 1987. It is the gate of the community in which the artist inhabits. A grotesque black circle appears in the center of the beautiful scenery, which serves as the core of this work. It symbolizes the artist's awe at the unknown "reality" that she is experiencing.