Author: OUYANG CHUN 欧阳春

Size: 245×160cm

Signed and dated: Painted in 2008

Estimate: 1,000,000 -2,000,000

Final Price: RMB 1,700,000

LITERATURE
2010 King Ouyang Chun / p90-91 / Fluid Editions Published

EXHIBITED
2010 Painting the King Frank Schlag Gallery, Essen, German
2011 King Austria National Museum, Vienna

From 2006 to 2009, Ouyang Chun's 'King' series played a decisive role in his artistic career. This series not only marks the true maturity of his personal artistic style, but also makes him the first Chinese Post-70s artist to gain international attention and recognition. In this series, the artist mainly uses yellow and gold and silver to carry out rich visual narration around the concept of 'King', including those fatalistic fragments in the 'King' life, such as 'the crown', 'the king's cage', 'Immortal King', etc. In 2011, in the solo exhibition held by the Austrian National Art Museum, the Immortal King (Lot 1090) was displayed in the most famous Klimt collection area of the art museum and received great attention. About the origin of 'King' series, Ouyang Chun once said: 'The king is a concept of infinity and infinitesimal. The king can represent a king with power or an ant. What is important is that this series as a whole describes the contradictions in life - from brilliant success to the most miserable situation. On the one hand, the immortal gold forms the opposite of eternal change, on the other hand, it also emphasizes people's divisiveness and greed for power and wealth, which makes people constantly lower Awareness of their own limitations. '
Immortal King (Lot 1090) is the final song of the 'King' series, which can also be called the rebirth of the 'King': after experiencing loneliness, glory and death, the 'King' finally transcends the material form and sublimates into an eternal existence that is immortal. The whole picture is divided into three sections. The huge sun above shines with boundless light, and the palace buildings are faintly visible in the light and shadow, representing the soul's memories and nostalgia for the earthly glitz; The trees and halls in the middle section seem to have people passing by. They are full of shadow, which means that life is just a dream and illusion; The next section is a miscellaneous grass, which spreads boundlessly, implying that after prosperity, all things return to chaos. There are no specific figures, crowns or ornaments in the painting. Everything comes from nothingness and returns to its origin, implying that the theory of impermanent reincarnation in Buddhism - birth and death itself is the beginning and continuation of reincarnation. The death of the body does not mean the extinction of the spirit, but the beginning of rebirth. In order to present the indelible image of life, the artist deliberately created a vague and chaotic picture style, with yellow and green dyeing, thick and rich pigments, stacked and painted repeatedly, creating a colorful and gorgeous visual atmosphere, which cannot help but remind people of the brilliant scene of the paradise in the Western Pure land in the wall paintings of Dunhuang Grottoes.