HE SEN (China, B. 1968)
THE BREAKING DAWN: EARLY CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART - THE JOHNSON CHANG COLLECTION
HE SEN (China, B. 1968)

Two Friends in a Chair

Details
HE SEN (China, B. 1968)
Two Friends in a Chair
signed and dated in Chinese (lower left)
oil on canvas
180 x 150 cm. (70 7/8 x 59 in.)
Painted in 1991

15% of the hammer price of this lot will be donated to Moonchu Foundation
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
Literature
Asian Art Archive, China's New Art, Post-1989, Hong Kong, 2001 (illustrated, p. 100).
Beijing Art Now Gallery, He Sen 1989-2004, Beijing, China, 2004 (illustrated, p. 46).
Lu Peng, A History of Art in Twentieth-Century China (Revised Edition), Peking University Press, Beijing, China, 2009 (illustrated, p. 873).
Exhibited
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Arts Centre; & Hong Kong City Hall, China's New Art, Post-1989, 30 January-28 February 1993.
Sydney, Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Mao Goes Pop, 2 June-15 August 1993.
Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne Arts Festival, China's New Art, Post-1989, Summer 1993.
Vancouver, Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, China's New Art, Post-1989, 12 April-28 May 1995.
Eugene, USA, University of Oregon Art Museum, China's New Art, Post-1989, 17 December 1995-28 February 1996.
Fort Wayne, USA, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, China's New Art, Post-1989, 23 March-11 May 1996.
Salina, USA, Salina Arts Centre, China's New Art, Post-1989, 14 March-11 May 1997.
Chicago, USA, Chicago Cultural Centre, China's New Art, Post-1989, 7 June-8 August 1997.
San Jose, USA, San Jose Museum of Art, China's New Art, Post-1989, 2 September-2 November 1997.

Brought to you by

Eric Chang
Eric Chang

Lot Essay

It is quite possible that in the mind of everyone who is courageous is the spirit of the heroic Che Guevara, and everyone humble a recluse like Ji Kang. This is a place without vanity or shame, confidence or self-blame, glory or dishonour. It is only concerned with nature and the frame of reference. – He Sen


He Sen was born in Yunnan in 1968. He graduated from Sichuan Fine Art Institute in 1989. During the social turmoil of the 1990s, He Sen chose the path of self-imposed exile. He offered this explanation, “Perhaps it is my nature to prefer quietude. I tend to drift away from the complexities of the society.”


He Sen's works are melancholic and tragic. The nebulous and dreamlike qualities in the grey and red construct a mysterious sense of distance. This is precisely the ideal space for He Sen to meditate. Two Friends in a Chair (Lot 157) was painted in 1991. The figures are depicted as clusters of paint over a grey background in an expressionistic manner. The relationship between the figures' mental processes and bodies is the focus of the artist. He Sen explained that this works represents “the fear of adulthood and the escapism from reality.”

More from Asian Contemporary Art (Day Sale)

View All
View All