ILLUSTRATED:

Tang Zhigang is one of the most representative artists of contemporary Chinese art. Like the artist himself, his art has a stubborn and unyielding vitality. Through seriousness and humor he achieves a delicate balance between the frozen and the thawed. This balance in his imagery has the effect of making you stop yourself from laughing out aloud even as the subject makes you smile on the inside.

Threshing Floor in Guishan is a direct observation of Man and Nature, ethics and ecology. It enriches the reality of life and has a strong graphical quality that expresses Tang's preference for nonconscious scenes. In his painting he pursues something that is natural and original, demonstrating the artist's open approach to life.

The unique visual aspects of Threshing Floor in Guishan makes the essence of life more accessible with Realism and Modernism's emotions fusing and developing together. In this manner this work is translated through a classic individual artistic framework to become a parable for life in reality and in culture from a cultural perspective to construct a more embracing insight into human nature. The vocabulary used in this artwork is simple and accessible. It captures a moment from the threshing ground then uses popular, fashionable and even planar methods of artistic expression to bring the scene to life. Through an unforced presentation of the inspirations drawn from the scene, the work takes on a more spiritual meaning. It represents the lifestyle of the local people and their surroundings at the time, highlighting the contemporary nature of art.

Tang's painting looks at a border town in the southwest between the blue skies and red earth deep in the jungle. Through the characters' settings and the boldness of the images he creates an overall impression of calm. Through this painting, he seeks to establish a conversation between localization and globalization while at the same time attempting to rise above it.