Oil on canvas

130 x 89 cm. 51 1/8 x 35 in.

Signed in Chinese, inscribed and dated with three artist's seals on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Asia

Like Stone, Like Life
The Cobble-obsessed Chou Chu-Wang

Chou Chu-Wang is a Pingtung native born in 1978 and a graduate from the Department of Fine Arts at National Kaohsiung Normal University. As a rising star in the contemporary art world, he impressed the viewer over the past decade with densely laid and fully detailed cobblestones that carry rich connotations. His philosophical portfolio has won him wide recognition. When he was 25, his work brought back the Grand Prize of Kaohsiung Arts Award and later joined the collection of Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. In 2007, he received the Grand Prize of Taipei Fine Arts Award and twice won Chimei Arts Award. His reputation has been further enhanced by his solo exhibitions, including The Hours, Vicissitudes of Stony Seas and Geologic Fabric of the Mind.

To See a World in a Cobble

The Stones Islet series, which was started from 2014, is the signature work of Chou, and among the series Sand and Stone Series-Isle of Stone is collected by Taipei Fine Arts Museum. The auction proudly presents the namesake piece finished in 2019, which symbolizes the perfection of his techniques and the culmination of his commitment to stone-painting. Chou took a realist approach to maximize the details and adopted an aerial perspective that presents the array of pebbles in a self-explanatory manner and lends the tiny gravel a sense of magnificence. The stones, big or small, are just like living beings that can breathe and function. They together make an organic archipelago. The different levels of surface finish show the traces that time has left as if to recount their stories to the viewer. The stone-obsessed artist created this piece to convey his philosophy that nobody is an island and every effort counts. Chou selected cobbles as his artistic incarnation, putting out a realist rendering while chanting the hymn to life.

Price estimate:
HKD: 115,000 – 160,000
USD: 14,800 – 20,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 135,700