Guangzhou: "Modern," "beautiful," and "seductive" are a few of the terms people have used to describe the Exhibition of Oil Paintings by Jiang Heng and Sun Xiaofeng currently on at the Guangdong Museum of Art.
But the works of these two young artists are more than just modern and beautiful. They are meaningful examinations of the contemporary Chinese social and individual experience.
In a series called "Beauty and Fish," Jiang depicts grinning city girls surrounded by combinations of red fish.
The most striking feature of these paintings is the Barbie Doll plasticity of the women, all of whom are perfectly pretty but ultimately lifeless.
"I used plastics as a symbol for industrialization to reflect the commercialism that is saturating society," Jiang said.
With the standards of beauty in China increasingly defined by commercial phenomena like movies and advertisements, Jiang is afraid people are becoming brainwashed.
At first glance, his paintings look like simple depictions of anonymous cover girls and movie stars. But a second look reveals that the women, though they look pretty, are really just banal, mass-produced clones pumped out by a post-industrial society.
Jiang combines tradition and modernism in his work with ironic effect. The images of red fish are a nod to nianhua, the traditional New Year paintings from rural areas, which stand in sharp contrast to the urbanity represented by the girls.
"The two subjects coexist harmoniously. Both are pretty things that appeal to people," Jiang said.
The works of Sun Xiaofeng are also imbued with a plastic feel, but they are more playful and fantastical.
In the work "Hey," Sun depicts a boy spreading out his hands like wings while floating in clouds. In the background, a Barbie doll soars like a spaceship.
Sun chooses brilliant colours that contrast sharply, adding a humorous feel to the weary real world. He also deals with social issues such as video-game violence and the blurring of gender lines.
The Guangdong Museum of Art has consistently kept track of China's young and most audacious artists, many of whom are likely to shape the future of contemporary art in the country. Jiang and Sun are definitely among these pioneers.
The exhibition runs until June 24.
(China Daily 06/18/2001)
