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Lot Essay
When Zhou Chunya was completing his Master's degree in Kassel, Germany, he experienced the prevalent style of neo-expressionsim first-hand. The bold and unrestrained lines and colours demonstrate a powerful aesthetic. Upon his return to China, this artistic revolution sunk Zhou Chunya into a brief hiatus. At the same time, he consciously gorged himself with knowledge of Chinese music, art, and architecture. In the end, the artist found his inspiration from the Chinese traditional mountain-water painting. This reinvigorated style produced a series of spellbinding oil paintings.
The boisterous and adventurous expression of Ya'an Shangli No. 5 (Lot 114) is motivated by Zhou Chunya's "affinity for the form of rocks by the literati, but he is dissatisfied with their gentle and introverted character". In the 1990s when Zhou Chunya was hiking through the ancient ruin of Ya'an Shangli, he came across a group of rocks that are singularly grotesque - they glow in an eerie shade of blood-red under the sun. Rock is a metaphor for the gentleman: its anthropomorphization and embodiment of abstract ideas stem from the ancient Chinese fondness for rocks. Antagonistical l y, Zhou Chunya at tempted t o rework the Chinese mountain-water painting into something that is violent and even sexual through his extraordinary treatment of colours and textures. The oil painting contains red, maroon, and crimson – these colours form the mist that is on the underside of the rocks. Under the searing heat of the sun, the top side of the rocks reflect a cool shade of white. The imageries of Ya'an Shangli No. 5 meander between realism and lyricism. On one hand, Zhou Chunya naturalistical l y depicted the textures and grains of the rocks with astonishing realism. On the other hand, the intense red and the contrasting blue entice us into a fantastic realm. Vaguely impulsive, the artist compels the viewers to reflect on the nature of matter through his visual perception.
The boisterous and adventurous expression of Ya'an Shangli No. 5 (Lot 114) is motivated by Zhou Chunya's "affinity for the form of rocks by the literati, but he is dissatisfied with their gentle and introverted character". In the 1990s when Zhou Chunya was hiking through the ancient ruin of Ya'an Shangli, he came across a group of rocks that are singularly grotesque - they glow in an eerie shade of blood-red under the sun. Rock is a metaphor for the gentleman: its anthropomorphization and embodiment of abstract ideas stem from the ancient Chinese fondness for rocks. Antagonistical l y, Zhou Chunya at tempted t o rework the Chinese mountain-water painting into something that is violent and even sexual through his extraordinary treatment of colours and textures. The oil painting contains red, maroon, and crimson – these colours form the mist that is on the underside of the rocks. Under the searing heat of the sun, the top side of the rocks reflect a cool shade of white. The imageries of Ya'an Shangli No. 5 meander between realism and lyricism. On one hand, Zhou Chunya naturalistical l y depicted the textures and grains of the rocks with astonishing realism. On the other hand, the intense red and the contrasting blue entice us into a fantastic realm. Vaguely impulsive, the artist compels the viewers to reflect on the nature of matter through his visual perception.