Prism

The Prism (Lot 147) is Wang Xiaosong's attempt to explore the application of medium. The experience of traveling and living between two worlds, the East and West, coupled with the absorption of a hodgepodge of cultural heritages along the way, has enabled the artist to frame his works of art in the language of Eastern (avoid 'Oriental' in every content) aesthetics. In other words, he incorporates Minimalism with the abstract nature of Chinese calligraphy. Instead of deciphering the abstract symbols in concrete terms on canvas, Wang employs special treatments-such as pressing, encrusting, fissuring, piercing as well as using ready-made objects-to the canvas, breaking through the limitation of "planes" over the base of easel painting and thus creating a three-dimensional virtual space. In doing so, the artist fuses the spatiality of sculpture with the traditional easel painting, reconstructing a unique sense of temporality blended in the new space. Yet such deconstruction equates not destruction, but rebirth. In Prism, layers and layers of colours of tonal contrast are plastered onto the canvas, rendering a well-rounded structure; the peculiar brushworks of human form lend to a solid and vibrant texture reminiscent of a sculpture. Standing in between the 'abstract' and the 'figurative', the conglomeration of the human forms constitutes Wang Xiaosong's ideas of social criticism, whereby demonstrating his concern with and contemplation on the modern society.