Zeng Fanzhi

signed in Chinese and English and dated 2000, framed

Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
Private Collection

This work is generally in good condition. There are minor handling marks around the edges. Having examined the work under ultraviolet light, there appears to be no evidence of restoration.
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Behind the Façade
Zeng Fanzhi

Created between 1994 and 2002, the Mask series is considered to be Zeng Fanzhi’s most important body of work painted in his 30’s. The symbolism of the mask and the refined technique of the palette knife perfectly situate the series into exploring the alienation and superficiality experienced by the artist in Beijing during the period of economic reform. The lot on offer, Untitled (Mask Series) (Lot 822), produced in 2000, belongs to the latter period of the series that features a more vibrant color palette and polished lines. The work is a still portrait of a well-dressed but lone man of China’s rising middleclass, hidden behind an apathetic masked facade. The lack of any suggestive gesture or background is crucial in highlighting the inner loneliness and hollow nature of city dwellers. The stylish wardrobe and mask are Zeng’s emblematic way of pinpointing the inevitable pretension needed to fit in with the many different elite social groups; a careful blend of symbols that appropriately sums up the anxiety and discomfort magnified within the Mask series.

Born in 1964, two years before the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, Zeng Fanzhi naturally became part of the new generation of artists with the perfect witness in observing the drastic episodes of social and urban developments in contemporary China. The emotional experience during his humble early years in Wuhan, from seeing the sickly patients in the hospital corridor while borrowing a nearby hospital’s toilet every day, to being exposed to masterpieces by Western artists during his study at the Hubei Art Academy, all contributed greatly to his critically acclaimed artistic style and thematic structure of anxiety, death, and illness presented in the early Meat series and Hospital series. The raw expressionistic brushstroke, the flesh colour palette, and emotionally disturbed figures depicted in the two painting series not only earned him special attention from national critics including Zhu Bin, who praised Zeng’s submission to the Guangzhou Biennale, Hospital Triptych II, to bear a sense of maturity rarely found in young artists. They are also a direct portrayal of the painter’s own emotional narrative and apprehension of his surroundings, an expressive approach that further sets him apart from China’s popular contemporary painters such as Yue Minjun and Zhang Xiaogang.

Zeng Fanzhi’s inevitable move to Beijing in 1993 was a much needed turning point for the artist’s creative outlet. As he once confessed to art critic Karen Smith on the limitations set out in his hometown, “in Wuhan, there was nothing to see except for books, I don’t think it would help with my improvement.”¹ Upon arriving in the capital, what he did not expect at the time, however, was probably the overwhelmingly rapid economic transformation already taking place in the city. Moreover, his desire to belong to the core groups and trends in the art circle further revealed to him the ubiquity of the false facades in a modern society. These dramatic changes experienced by Zeng ultimately became a powerful source of inspiration behind the critically and commercially successful Mask series.

On this, Zeng says, “the paintings are about real people. I exaggerate and embellish the figures to emphasize the falsity of forced intimacy and laughter. Because false faces exist, people cannot avoid the distance they create between each other. It is almost impossible to confide in each other as everyone hides their true nature, all of their desires, so that when they appear in public, the outer mask is all everyone else sees.”² For this reason, unlike the Meat series and Hospital series that rely heavily on group dynamics, the Mask series magnifies the theme of solitude by significantly reducing the number of figures illustrated; often with only one or two portrayed against a colorful backdrop on a single canvas. Their attires are no longer missing or restricted to the homogeneous hospital uniforms, but rather take on various accessories signifying their ranks within the society. The most uncanny and disturbing of all would no doubt be the mask on each of their faces, safely guarding the vulnerable self underneath. It is this mask that later becomes one of the most recognized symbols in Chinese contemporary art.

1 Lu Peng, “Story of a State of Mind”, The Painting of Zeng Fanzhi, 2006
2 Pi Li, “Life Behind the Mask”, Zeng Fanzhi 1993-1998,1998