Zeng Jianyong August 23, 2008

ZENG JIANYONG'S DISPLACED CREATURES
Carol Cheh

The Header series, a group of recent paintings by Zeng Jianyong, refers to a term used in the People's Republic of China to denote the head of the class-the top pupil, a child who not only earns good grades, but respects his or her elders and gets along well with others. The "header," held up as an example of all-around excellence, is something that Chinese children eagerly aspire to be. At the same time, the existence of this lauded position highlights how much cultural pressure there is to excel in both scholastic and social environments-pressure that can at times become harmful and oppressive. In more extreme cases, this pressure has led to depression and even suicide.

Zeng's paintings depict a single child or group of children in ordinary dress against an empty, neutral background. An armband bearing three horizontal stripes and a prominent black scarf worn about the shoulders identifies the header. Intended as emblems or caricatures rather than realistic portraits, Zeng's children, while discernible from one another, all have a distinct trademark look-ruddy marks on their skin that could be blood stains, overly large heads, tiny noses and mouths, and startling silver-grey eyes that look like shattered marbles.

Like Margaret Keane, whose paintings of big-eyed children became an American pop-culture phenomenon in the 1960s, Zeng uses his children's remarkable eyes to fix both the viewer and the subject, providing a focal point for tension and interaction. We look into the children's eyes to see what they see, and to see ourselves reflected. Unlike Keane's children, however, whose eyes are so large and clear that they seem to take the whole world in at once, Zeng's children seem to be saddled with malfunctioning glass eyes, perhaps introduced into their bodies following some kind of trauma, and now dooming them to forever see the world in some sort of skewed fashion. One wonders, what went wrong here? The splintered eyes seem to be the origin for an entirely splintered sensibility, which reveals itself in the bloody vein-like markings spreading across the children's faces and arms.

Zeng's Spare Time series, which takes animals as its protagonists instead of children, uses the same framework, but with different effects. The faces of cats, dogs, horses, and other animals are portrayed as though they are human, some with doleful or angry looks, some with apparent tears streaming down their faces. Instead of the shell-shocked, robotic look of the children, however, these animals have lively personalities, which come through the more one gazes at their images. They seem to act as mirrors of our adult behaviors; just as the children have disturbed their childhood, the animals have lost their animal nature by interacting with us and responding to our demands.

Zeng has said that as an artist, he "treasures the weaknesses of human nature, such as irrationality and fragility," and tries to tap into these qualities when making his art. The Header series was partially inspired by Zeng's young son, whose current experiences in primary school are reminding the artist of his own upbringing. Stylistically, Zeng cites the influence of Western contemporary sources. In addition to Keane, his work can be linked to the whacked-out portraiture of Lisa Yuskavage, John Currin, or Egon Schiele. It also has something in common with the social criticisms of Honoré Daumier and George Grosz. Zeng himself cites the simplicity and modest charms, and perhaps the color palette, of Italian still-life painter Giorgio Morandi as an abiding influence.

In both the Header and Spare Time series, Zeng uses materials that are associated with traditional Chinese painting and watercolor-handmade paper, inks, and watercolors. However, the technique that he employs is uniquely his own. Using two sheets of handmade paper, Zeng adheres one sheet to a board, then takes the second sheet and paints the image on the surface. Once the image is dry, he flips it over and adheres it to the first sheet on the board. Thus, the image is sandwiched between the two sheets, which have the delicate translucence of rice paper, and the viewer sees the image through the paper. The result is that the paintings have a luminously faded look-a look of faraway urgency. While there is a mild obscuring of the image, its intensity still shimmers through, accented by a layer of black ink added to the top surface of the children's scarves, making them pop off the canvas.

Zeng's unique and absorbing work is the product of a wide variety of influences and training, both Eastern and Western. In the end, all of these factors are subsumed by his own individual vision. In the artist's own words, "If my art is considered a mix of Eastern and Western styles, I prefer to view it as a natural result. During my student time of artistic training, I had training in both Chinese and Western art skills, and I studied the histories of both. I have tried many different methods, such as Chinese traditional painting, oil painting, printmaking, illustration, mixed media, and 3D animation. All these experiences naturally improved my style. It is possible to elaborate on the Eastern elements and Western elements in my art, or, to deny that my art belongs to any style. I always follow my intuitions."

Please join Eli Klein Fine Art and Zeng Jianyong for the opening reception on Saturday, August 23rd from 6 to 9 pm.

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of eliklein.