Yang Shaobin - Faces Places: Online Auction Hong Kong Wednesday, April 20, 2022 | Phillips
  • No.5 finds itself amongst Yang Shaobin’s celebrated portrait series, which is known for itsprovocative emotional expressions due to the tension and violence displayed. In this work, a flushed and slightly disfigured face takes up the large canvas, with the figure seems to be in a daze. The deep red background permeates the image of the face, leaving blocky casts on the face, and implies that the seeming stillness may be the aftermath of a conflict. The colour red is a part of the artist’s colour repertoire for symbolizing human vitality, capitalist greed, as well as the iconography of the Cultural Revolution.

     

    Yang was born in 1963 in Tangshan, Hebei Province. China. Together with Yue Minjun and Fang Lijun, Yang has emerged as one of the leading voices in contemporary Chinese painting. Drawing on his life experiences and the urge to explore deeper into human nature, Yang imbues political commentary of societies in his works. By eliciting a sense of discomfort among viewers, the artist invites them to ruminate on the emotional pull and human struggles stemming from violence, as well as the social consciousness that may arise from that.

     
    • Provenance

      Galerie Serieuze Zaken, Amsterdam
      Acquired by the present owner from the above

    • Exhibited

      Iceland, Akureyri Art Museum; Austria, Stadtgalerie Schwaz; Austria, Kunstraum Innsbruck; Norway, Haugar-Vestfold Kunstmuseum; Finland, Kuopio Art Museum; Finland, Salo Art Museum; Sweden, Ystads Konstmuseum; Netherlands, Singer Museum in Laren; Germany, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Facing China: Works of Art from the Fu Ruide Collection, 17 May 2008 - 24 June 2012, p. 118 (illustrated)

    • Literature

      Yang Shaobin, Yang Shaobin Essence of Violence, Shijiazhuang, 2006, p. 92 (illustrated)

Ж34

Lot offered with No Reserve

NO. 5

signed, titled and dated '"NO-5" YANG SHAO BIN 1997-1998' lower left
oil on canvas
work 230.3 x 180.2 cm. (90 5/8 x 70 7/8 in.)
frame 235 x 184.7 cm. (92 1/2 x 72 3/4 in.)

Painted in 1997-1998.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
HK$100,000 - 180,000 
€11,800-21,300
$12,800-23,100

Sold for HK$107,100

Contact Specialist

Hin Hin Wong
Associate Specialist, 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Hong Kong
+852 2318 2013
hinhinwong@phillips.com

Faces Places: Online Auction

Online Auction 20 - 27 April 2022