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Lot Essay
Pan Dehai, one of the leading revolutionist figure of Chinese Contemporary Art, finished his study in Northeast Normal University in 1982. After his graduation, he voluntarily requested to be assigned to Kunming because of his yearning for the natural environments of the south where he sequentially met his artist partners, including Zhang Xiaogang, Mao Xuhui and Ye Yongqing who all shared similar ideas with him. They, who had passion and hope for art, held New Figuration Exhibition in 1985 without sufficient financial subsidies. Their slogan was 'Figuration of spirit, Figuration of soul' and emphasized the presentation of the soul, the subconscious and the internal life. Later, Pan took part in some important exhibitions, such as 1989 Avant-Garde Exhibition in National Art Museum of China in Beijing and the traveling exhibit China's New Art Post-1989 in 1993, going through a critical period of succession.
The works of Pan in the early 1990s were different from the trend of Cynical Realism and Pop Art but were still inclined to explore the issue of life. The two pieces of work that belong to the same period show his unique style of painting. The character in Announcement of Seeking People (Lot 542) is densely composed by tiny granules and can be associated with Opened Corn series of the late 1980s. The orange red ellipsoid in the centre of the picture is more like peeled corn rather than the image of a missing person. More and tinier granules can be found on every corn kernels and the character, as a whole, is totally dissolved by the artist to become primitive life like cells. Not only does he want to present the light and dark, and the three-dimension of the subject in the picture, but it seems that he also suggests the process of breeding, developing, declining and dying during the biological reproduction by depicting corn kernels in different volumes and tone of colors. The golden yellow in the central part is just like life's most brilliant peak. Besides, we understand that there is existing commonality of all creatures on earth when the character, clothing and background are constructed in the same manner. The world system formed by human and Nature in fact has no definite boundary. The objective phenomenon is just a limitation of visual experience of human being. Pan thoroughly comprehends the nature of life and opens the door to the condition of abyss for viewers.
Created during his stay in Beijing, City Series: No. 1 (Lot 541) depicts four cycling characters entirely depicted in a red illusional space in a tight composition that signifies the busy streets of Beijing. The faces and bodies of all characters are covered by the same arrangement of corn kernels. The artist, therefore, displays the body and wheels of the car like soft corns, expressing the commonality between human and object. The lost gaze of the characters highlight the unease and anxiety in the internal sentiments of human and exhibit the real affection fo the artists in the urbanized world. Split, construction, integration, separation and re-composition are the repeated process that implies Pan understands the transformation of life forms.
The works of Pan in the early 1990s were different from the trend of Cynical Realism and Pop Art but were still inclined to explore the issue of life. The two pieces of work that belong to the same period show his unique style of painting. The character in Announcement of Seeking People (Lot 542) is densely composed by tiny granules and can be associated with Opened Corn series of the late 1980s. The orange red ellipsoid in the centre of the picture is more like peeled corn rather than the image of a missing person. More and tinier granules can be found on every corn kernels and the character, as a whole, is totally dissolved by the artist to become primitive life like cells. Not only does he want to present the light and dark, and the three-dimension of the subject in the picture, but it seems that he also suggests the process of breeding, developing, declining and dying during the biological reproduction by depicting corn kernels in different volumes and tone of colors. The golden yellow in the central part is just like life's most brilliant peak. Besides, we understand that there is existing commonality of all creatures on earth when the character, clothing and background are constructed in the same manner. The world system formed by human and Nature in fact has no definite boundary. The objective phenomenon is just a limitation of visual experience of human being. Pan thoroughly comprehends the nature of life and opens the door to the condition of abyss for viewers.
Created during his stay in Beijing, City Series: No. 1 (Lot 541) depicts four cycling characters entirely depicted in a red illusional space in a tight composition that signifies the busy streets of Beijing. The faces and bodies of all characters are covered by the same arrangement of corn kernels. The artist, therefore, displays the body and wheels of the car like soft corns, expressing the commonality between human and object. The lost gaze of the characters highlight the unease and anxiety in the internal sentiments of human and exhibit the real affection fo the artists in the urbanized world. Split, construction, integration, separation and re-composition are the repeated process that implies Pan understands the transformation of life forms.