Yang Shaojun, The Beach 3, oil on canvas, 2007

Ok, so we’ll try to profile some individual Art Expo works for all you out there to have a taste. Apart from our personal favourites, it’s fun to be able to at least single one out from works which, as a group, might cause us to dismiss the artist entirely. If you see something you like in our posts, come out here as it will certainly be better in the flesh!

Yesterday, this painting by Chinese artist Yang Shaojun at the Heng Artland booth caught my eye. Looking much better in person that in re-pro, it had an instantaneously uplifting effect on me. I mean, what makes us throw both arms straight up above our heads hailing ‘peace’ signs while we’re waist deep in water? Delicious freedom! Hee hee! This work is one of a series based on a visit to the beach. The others show kids and what are presumably their parents, also enjoying the sun. It’s not a heavy topic to say the least, but the delivery of this painting shows a maturity that many here do not. The artist apparently uses the mask-like face for both boys and girls in his work, to create a signature iconic human form. Yang seems to be aiming for ‘poignant yet carefree’:

I’m not willing to be too clean-cut and I try hard to lead you to experience yourselves, be it everyday life and event, or the instant that slips away at a flip of thought. I want you to rediscover them, disintegrate them and reconstruct them.

He succeeded with this work, reviving many moments I experienced in my youth but eventually forgot. The rest of his quote is “I don’t bother what you actually think”, which only makes him all the more likeable! It’s a pity he’s represented by such a commercial outfit, because I suspect that in the right environment he could have been one to push his own personal boundaries.

(SW)