Visual Arts Library
Series 2 No. 3
Artist: Fang Lijun
Date:
1991 - 1992
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 200 x 200 cm
Event: Chinese History
Fang is best known for his bold-colored paintings, which feature single or multiple figures with clean-shaven heads against expansive backgrounds of earth, water or sky. Fang's art is extremely personal, as he often uses himself or family and friends as models for his works. Some of his figures seem to be posing for photographs, while others seem to involve the viewers in an intimate moment. The figures' faces carry a wide range of expressions, including enigmatic smiles, yawns, and grimaces. The power and appeal of his work lies in the fact that Fang manages to create works that strike a familiar chord with viewers though his works only suggest narratives that are never fully revealed. Artist's Statement Timewise these paintings can certainly be related to the 1989 events, they were all executed between 1990 and 1992, so they have a direct relationship to that time. But they can not be considered as a story or as explanatory texts. We were students back then, so the influence was very strong. But I personally do not like to draw direct links, this is not what I want to express. When you create, you pick from many different elements, it is difficult to say what percentage of what is there...Certainly these works can be related to a sense of disillusionment, but for me, they can also involve a sense of liberation.
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