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Lot Essay
Born in 1976, Xiang Qinghua, an alumnus of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, began his career by portraying the rustic, ordinary snapshots of life with simple artistic forms and language. In 2009, the artist began exploring and experimenting with the essence of art, a transition from his previous career in lyrical paintings, and latched onto an analytical, critically-processed art mode. Xiang also focused on the conversion between images and the creative vocabulary, and the rendition and manipulation of the relationship between narratives and paintings. He chose many loosely-connected images and reassembled them into a brand-new expressive concept. A visual contest about logic thus begins with this juxtaposition of visuals, perceptions, and imagery asymmetries.
Window is made up of two independent yet seemingly connected pieces. The smaller painting, an independent work in its own right, is also a component of the larger print. The fish in the small painting seems eager to leap over the window frame that locks him off from the world. In the larger version, however, the fish swims leisurely in a faraway landscape. The window frame in the small painting becomes the support of another object in the larger print. The perspective effects a multifaceted rationale in this dimension. The perspective of the smaller piece produces a reverse effect. The visual illusion of flatness and spatial perception, the relationship between abstract expressions and the portrayals of specific objects lead to a polytonal viewing experience. The asymmetry between the spheres and tripod, the assemblage of fish and leaves, and the preposterous composition synthesize a sharp contrast with the graceful clarity and surrealistic sense that overwhelms one's initial viewing.
This infatuation with intellectuality and the explorative experiment with artistic identity is exactly the type of examination and question that Window posed to the human visual experience. Absent from this analytical painting is a preconceived art concept, style and school; rather, every visual experience and every type of materialistic existence can serve as a source of discourse to encourage discussions and studies in the artistic realm.
Window is made up of two independent yet seemingly connected pieces. The smaller painting, an independent work in its own right, is also a component of the larger print. The fish in the small painting seems eager to leap over the window frame that locks him off from the world. In the larger version, however, the fish swims leisurely in a faraway landscape. The window frame in the small painting becomes the support of another object in the larger print. The perspective effects a multifaceted rationale in this dimension. The perspective of the smaller piece produces a reverse effect. The visual illusion of flatness and spatial perception, the relationship between abstract expressions and the portrayals of specific objects lead to a polytonal viewing experience. The asymmetry between the spheres and tripod, the assemblage of fish and leaves, and the preposterous composition synthesize a sharp contrast with the graceful clarity and surrealistic sense that overwhelms one's initial viewing.
This infatuation with intellectuality and the explorative experiment with artistic identity is exactly the type of examination and question that Window posed to the human visual experience. Absent from this analytical painting is a preconceived art concept, style and school; rather, every visual experience and every type of materialistic existence can serve as a source of discourse to encourage discussions and studies in the artistic realm.