ShanghART Gallery 香格纳画廊
中文

The Second State
GENG JIANYI 耿建翌
1987
oil on canvas
130(H)*196cm
GJYn73

In 1986, Geng Jianyi started to create very few works of exaggerated laughing faces. The hairless, earless, neckless smiling faces in The Second State appear like masks. The prototype of this work is a friend of Geng. The exaggerated laughing face is deciphered as the reflection of the awkwardness towards the social reality at that time. According to the artist, he has often been bothered by way of communication. He has tried to avoid the phenomenon of misreading by shortening the distance between the audience and the work. This work is one of the steps during the process to overcome the communication problems. The distance between viewing and being viewed is a continuous subject featured in his later works.

Detail pictures:

Related Exhibitions:
Holzwege, ShanghART, Shanghai 11.09, 2016 -03.09, 2017
Portrait of the Times, Power Station of Art, Shanghai 08.17, 2013 -11.10, 2013
Wu Zhi, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai 09.07, 2012 -10.12, 2012


Related Texts:
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture - Geng Jianyi , EdwART TEXT 2011-01-24
Calvino's "honest man", you do not understand Geng Jianyi , Cao Junjie TEXT 2012-09-01