Author: 石冲
Size: 213*162cm
Signed and dated: Dated 1996
Estimate: Estimate Upon Request
Final Price: --
LITERATURE：New Chinese Art History： 1949-2000， P.252， Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House， Nov. 2002； Shi Chong： Case Study of Famous Chinese Contemporary Oil Painters， p.83， Hubei Fine Art Publishing House， 2001； The 3rd Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition Selected Works， p.43， Lingnan Fine Arts Press， Dec.2003； 96·97 the 1st Contemporary Art Academic Exhibition， p.58， Lingnan Fine Arts Press， Dec.1996； Chinese Oil Painting History， p.421， Chinese Youth Press， July 2005； Famous Chinese Contemporary Oil Painters Research·Shi Chong， p.83， Hubei Fine Arts Press， Jan. 2002； 20th Century Chinese Art History， p.1066， Beijing University Press， Dec. 2006； ART REVIEW， p.105， March 2007； Published on Artist Era， Chinese Modern Arts·Oil Painting， 20th Century Chinese Oil Painting（the 3rd volume）， Art Archive， Art Life， America Art News， China Oil Painting， 20 Years Revelation（the 1st volume）， Concept Art with Chinese Form， Chinese Contemporary Art Handbook·Shi Chong， Over Century Art Volume·Shi Chong， Chinese Youth Oil Painters Optional Selected·Shi Chong.
signed in Chinese and dated 1996； signed in Pinyin & Chinese and dated 1996 （back）
EXHIBITED：The 3rd Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition， Won Chinese Oil Painting Fine Arts Award， China National Art Museum； 96， 97 the 1st Contemporary Art Academic Exhibition， HongKong， 1996-1997
It seemed that Shi Chong was destined to be the representative of Chinese avant-garde art at the time when he graduated from Hubei Institute of Fine Arts in late 80s. In 90s， Shi Chong gained his fame by his photo-realistic paintings internationally. As a painter， Shi Chong’s skill is perfect， but what makes him an important artist is not his perfect skill but his understanding of art and his insight of a lot of social problems. In fact， it is unfair to call Shi Chong a painter， because he is famous also for his performance works and his installations. He used to make an installation or a performance work at first， and then record them by painting. In other word， his paintings are ‘traces’ of his installations and his performance works， while these ‘traces’ themselves are also valuable.
As a sincere artist， Shi Chong spends a lot of time to think of the value of human lives and the problems of human society. He does not agree with certain basic humanism ideas such as the importance of human spirits. On the contrary， he believes that human lives and human society are composed generally by material goods. In other word， he believes in the materiality of existence. He tries to convey this idea by his art works so that his works should be regarded firstly as material goods. Taking the Contemporary Scenery for example， the painting is composed by a female nude， a big iron cage， and a lot of photos on the wall. It is clear that Shi Chong is criticizing the strange phenomenon of our time that everything， living or lifeless， has been transferred into‘symbol’，‘spectacle’， and‘consumption goods’. The world， though rich in material goods， is in a chaos of disasters and sorrows. Human beings are controlled by the brutal rule of capital， which is represented by a female nude in an iron cage. Lives become lifeless， because they are controlled by lifeless things， which could never make human spirit fulfilled.
Shi Chong’s painting is cool， because the problem that he brings to us is cool. He compels us to face the cold world around us. We must face the world alone and could never turn to anybody for help.
