PRESS RELEASE

Poly 2007 Evening Sales:Zeng Fanzhi, Mask No.14

2007-05-26 11:30:51

Zeng Fanzhi is recognized as an Expressionist because of the sensitive lines and nervous colors in his paintings. The Mask No.14 was produced in 1994, early in his career life as an artist. Comparing with his later works, the Mask No.14 is relatively rational and could be easily understood. The painting depicts a man who wears a mask. The mask has the appearance of a serious middle-aged man, which fits the figure and pose of the protagonist well. It seems that the pose and the figure of the man have been adapted to the mask. The mask is painted in green, which is in sharp contrast to the red of the neck and frontal eminence of the man, indicating that the appearance of the mask is totally different from the man¡¯s face. What would the man look like when the mask is removed, given the fact that the mask fits his figure and his pose well? To survive in the society that full of fierce competition, we are demanded to wear a mask. And the mask would make our own face disappeared one day because we have to adapt our personality to the mask. It is the real danger for us. By the Mask, Zeng Fanzhi warns us of the danger. The painting is dominated by dark gray, other than the nervous red and green on the man¡¯s mask, neck, frontal eminence, etc. These nervous colors help to make the painting a fable of the tragic situation of modern individuals.