EXHIBITED:

Scapes - Zeng Fanzhi Works from 1990-2004, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China, 2004

ILLUSTRATED:

Scapes - the Paintings of Zeng Fanzhi 1989-2004, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, ShangART, Shanghai, 2004, illustrated, pp. 28-29

By 2004, the year this painting was executed, Zeng Fanzhi was enjoying great success in the art world, both critically and financially, and was recognized as one of the leading lights in the contemporary Chinese art world. Our present work "Andy Warhol is Shooting Picture" is a playful meditation on the true role of an artist, while offering a deep reflection on Zeng's view of the cultural dialogue between East and West, as well as a commentary on his position in the Chinese art world.

Andy Warhol epitomizes the supremacy of commercialization in the art world as one of the leading figures in the Pop-art market of 1960s and 1970s New York. Warhol, more than any other artist, presented himself not as an individual, exploring and asking deep questions, nor as an artist, experimenting with modes of expression, developing and maturing his art form, but instead he presented himself and his works as the ultimate commodities. For Zeng, Warhol, the artist, is the ultimate symbol of the commoditized artist, obsessed with creating his own wealth, fame and celebrity. Warhol adopted global pop icons such as Mao and Marilyn Monroe as mainstay images of his works, portraying them not as individuals but as stylized iconic images easily recognized and digested by a mass audience. As his works achieved huge commercial success, Warhol began producing self-portraits, some of monumental proportion, giving himself, what for him, was the ultimate accolade of being a recognized global celebrity and pop icon. Warhol produced his works for public consumption, without any inner depth, often the works bear hallmarks of mass production techniques such as with his silk screens. His works lack intimacy or personal qualities, and are stripped of any roughness or ferocity.

For Zeng Fanzhi, Warhol's ethos and modus operandi could not be more diametrically opposed than to his own. Zeng is a deeply personal artist, driven from within to explore his feelings and thoughts, giving expression to his inner turmoil and perturbations on canvas. Each painting he produces is a unique take on an existential question whirling around in his mind. Zeng's inner energies are poured forth onto his canvases in strong swirling brushstrokes that immediately set up a dialogue with the viewer. The contrast with the plasticity of Warhol's works could not be stronger. Zeng's works bare a raw intimacy, which immediately connects psychologically with the viewer, as if we are intimately engaged with the raw emotions and feelings of another human being. Warhol could never reach this level of intimacy, his works are surface deep, invoking little engagement from the viewer.

In "Andy Warhol is Shooting Picture" Andy Warhol is in many ways the symbol of the anti-artist. In 2004, Zeng Fanzhi, and indeed all contemporary Chinese artists were faced with the question of staying true to their artistic selves or jumping ship and joining a juggernaut of commercial success. Zeng's position on this question is very clearly expressed in the present painting. The entire composition is very striking as the subject poses for the artist Warhol to photograph him. Our expectations are immediately shattered as we realize that the monumentalized, over-sized Warhol, is painfully brought down to size as he is portrayed diminutively on the canvas and indeed takes second place to the subject of his photo shoot. Warhol is placed in the background, three quarters turned away from the viewer, and facing away. Warhol's subject is placed in the forefront, facing out with his face in full view and is much larger in scale. It is clear that in Zeng Fanzhi's world, the artist is subsidiary, secondary to his work. For Zeng, the artist should be the proverbial outsider, peering in on another world. The artist should negate himself, burying his ego, as he searches for fundamental truths and realities.

The main figure in the painting, Warhol's photographic subject, is a typical Zeng character and true to his intimate style of expressing the core of the individual. He seems aloof, distant, and remote. Stiffly posed, sitting upright on a chair, calmly smoking a cigarette as his thoughts seem impenetrable, as he seems imperturbable. Perhaps he is a self-mage of Zeng the true artist, a contemplator, a viewer, an absorber, a meditator. The perspective in the picture is quiet strange with Warhol seemingly isolated and separated from the posing subject. In fact it seems that the posing subject is the one contemplating Warhol rather than the other way around. The posing subject is given further emphasis with the white background while Andy Warhol is made more insignificant as his figure blends into the grey and reddish background at his back. The generally empty canvas, a technique borrowed from traditional Chinese ink and brush paintings, forces attention onto the depiction of the two men and heightens their significance. The poser is drawn with strong, dramatic brushwork, large fleshy hands, and a dramatic chiseled face. Warhol in contrast is depicted pretty much featureless, his white wig being the one clearly recognizable feature. Zeng's message could not be more clear, an artist can never dominate.

For Zeng, his commercial success cannot overwhelm his artistic core. The painting is a clear indication that he will not abdicate his calling as an artist for the trappings of wealth, fame and celebrity, a world that was wide open to him in 2004. He will not embrace the cult of personality, and he will continue to be a questioning artist, observing the world around him, absorbing fundamental truths and give expression to them on canvas.

Zeng Fanzhi was born in Wuhan in Hubei Province in 1964. As a child, he was introverted and was deeply affected by the chaos and irrationality in the society of his youth. His psyche was deeply traumatized by what it observed and art was the only outlet for his inner turmoil. He was immediately attracted to German Expressionism at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, and his studies were to have a life-long influence on his works and techniques. Wild strokes, fleshy colors and brooding expressions were to become part of his hallmarks and were to allow him to express his angst and alienation in apocalyptic imagery and colors. However, such introspection and expressionistic tendencies found little acceptance in his native Wuhan and so in 1994 Zeng moved to Beijing. Here, he suffered the full trauma of alienation and disconnection.

Zeng's body of work is a detailed expression of his psychological state at each period in his life. Unlike most of his contemporaries who are happy to stick with winning formulas in their artwork, Zeng has consistently introduced new series of works, and pushed the boundaries of his artistic style to constantly create new and arresting expressions of his inner-state. While still in Wuhan, he produced his first two series of works "Hospital" and "Meat" both of which were directly influenced by horrifying early experiences for the young introvert. In the 1960's most homes in China didn't have a bathroom. The young Zeng had to use the one in the local hospital. His sensitivities were traumatized by the chaotic scenes he witnessed there on a daily basis. His resulting "Hospital" series typically depicts uncaring doctors and terrified patients. "Meat", his second series, results from his experience of passing by his local butchers on his way to and from school everyday. In the heat of summer, the only way for the workers to cool down was to lie on the frozen carcasses which resulted in them being covered in blood. For the highly sensitive Zeng, this was deeply disturbing.

On moving to Beijing, Zeng was hoping to find acceptance and understanding of his art. Instead he found himself isolated and cut off from the mainstream. Faced with loneliness, detachment and alienation, he produced his "Mask" series for which he has become most famous. The face of each of his protagonists is hidden by a flat mask which sublimates all expression and feeling. Well-dressed, professional, young urbanites mask their true inner selves subjugating their feelings and emotions, and negating their lives. After the "Mask" series, Zeng started to move to more abstract forms. In 2000, he began to depict figures without masks. These figures may have regressed even more than his masked characters as their vacant and expressionless eyes are empty and hauntingly portray the loneliness and isolation of the individual. As in all Zeng's works the depicted persons have very large hands in strong poses seemingly emphasizing that although we can hide our inner most feelings most carefully behind an expressionless face our agitated hands will always betray our true inner turmoil.

The "Portrait" series also marks a deeper connection for Zeng with traditional Chinese painting techniques. Combining expressionism with the abstractness of traditional Chinese water and ink painting, The figures often float suspended in an empty background while any details are portrayed in a very minimalist way, allowing Zeng to emphasize the isolation and detachment of his character. This very forceful effect is taken directly from traditional Chinese paintings. Zeng's brush strokes are also strongly influenced by traditional Chinese water and ink brush strokes. Large single strokes with wide brushes create an abstract feeling while narrow brush strokes are used to create strong, emphatic lines reminiscent of Chinese calligraphy.

In 2004, Zeng began to produce landscapes, and figures isolated in landscapes. While the paintings with figures continue his theme of detachment, loneliness and alienation, the landscape pictures seem to offer some sort of redemption. Wild and chaotic strokes depict strong and vibrant grasses growing around mountains and blowing freely in the wind. It's as if Zeng is finally beginning to accept that his deep emotional inner turmoil and perturbations are something natural and part of nature, something not to be afraid of, something to be let loose and freed no matter how frightening, to be unconstrained and ultimately to be unmasked.

Zeng is truly a master of expressionism, engaging with society, searching for fundamental truths and realities, and pouring forth his conclusions on canvas. "Andy Warhol is Shooting Picture" is a philosophical mediation on the role and more importantly the position of an artist in society. Painted at a critical period in Zeng's development as an artist, it provides a clear indication that Zeng fully intends to stay true to himself and will not allow himself to be distracted by success, nor allow himself and his works to become mere commodities in the vein of Warhol and American commercialization. He will continue to grow and develop as an artist, constantly honing his voice, and adjusting his methodology and techniques as he matures and considers new and interesting questions. "Andy Warhol is Shooting Picture" is truly a remarkable statement by a remarkable artist, and is hugely important in the light of Zeng's development as an artist.