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Lot Essay
Following the success of the Mask series, Hospital series, Meat series, the Hospital series, and the Meat series, in 2002, Zeng Fanzhi began his iconic Chaotic Strokes (luanbi) series – it proves to be another breakthrough in artistic expression. The essence of the Chaotic Strokes is that, by using hasty and tangling brush strokes, the artist expresses the sense of agitation that he experienced while living in Beijing for over a decade. The speed of the metropolis is the catalyst for this artistic expression – it is contradictory and chaotic, yet passionate and surging.
Since 2004, Zeng Fanzhi painted a series of political figures using the chaotic Strokes, these portraits include Marx, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, and the Pope. Andy Warhol is the only artist that he painted during this period. In the 1990s when Zeng was still painting the Mask series, the portraits of Andy Warhol already made a few appearances. This master of Western Pop Art has a significant influence on Zeng. Warhol’s celebrity portraits achieved a climax in Pop Art. They embodied the society's ideologies and aesthetics in the 1960s.
In Portrait of Andy Warhol (Lot 174), the grand master of 'deeply superficial 'Pop Art stares directly at the spectators. His gaze projects confidence and provocation. Even through the dense web of chaotic Strokes, his piercing gaze is not in any way obscured. It is an expression of boldness that stems from his artistic attainments. Underneath the dynamic and turbulent lines, his presence is still unmistakeably felt – it highlights how perfectly poised the figure is. The colour changes as the rhythm of the b rush strokes modulates. The darkness in the background is interwoven into Warho's iconic platinum hair. Zeng Fanzhi uses his unique visual vocabulary to depict Andy Warhol, who is an extraordinarily audacious figure in the art world. It expresses the confidence and grace of the artist. At the same time, such an undertaking also reveals his ambition to become an artist who is as significant as Warhol of his time.
Since 2004, Zeng Fanzhi painted a series of political figures using the chaotic Strokes, these portraits include Marx, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, and the Pope. Andy Warhol is the only artist that he painted during this period. In the 1990s when Zeng was still painting the Mask series, the portraits of Andy Warhol already made a few appearances. This master of Western Pop Art has a significant influence on Zeng. Warhol’s celebrity portraits achieved a climax in Pop Art. They embodied the society's ideologies and aesthetics in the 1960s.
In Portrait of Andy Warhol (Lot 174), the grand master of 'deeply superficial 'Pop Art stares directly at the spectators. His gaze projects confidence and provocation. Even through the dense web of chaotic Strokes, his piercing gaze is not in any way obscured. It is an expression of boldness that stems from his artistic attainments. Underneath the dynamic and turbulent lines, his presence is still unmistakeably felt – it highlights how perfectly poised the figure is. The colour changes as the rhythm of the b rush strokes modulates. The darkness in the background is interwoven into Warho's iconic platinum hair. Zeng Fanzhi uses his unique visual vocabulary to depict Andy Warhol, who is an extraordinarily audacious figure in the art world. It expresses the confidence and grace of the artist. At the same time, such an undertaking also reveals his ambition to become an artist who is as significant as Warhol of his time.