Oil on canvas

53 × 73 cm. 20 7/8 × 28 3/4 in.

Signed and titled in Chinese and dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Star Gallery, Beijing
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector from the above

A Night of Waiting and Hoping
Yan Cong’s Artistry and Humour

Born in 1983 in Hubei, Yan Cong graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2006 and now lives in Beijing. In junior high school, he was fascinated by the characters in classic Japanese comics and the pantomime comics of Anke Feuchtenberger, a famous German comic artist, who inspired him to create comics. In 2005, as a junior, he was invited to be an artist at Star Gallery due to his excellent talent. His in-depth observation of life and his humour make his paintings fascinating and creative, combining realism and imagination.

Apart from being an independent artist, Yan Cong is also the editor-in-chief of Special Comix magazine and a comic artist. Since his first exhibition at the Star Gallery in Beijing in 2008, his works have been exhibited in Italy, Paris, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. In 2011, he was invited to collaborate with LEGO to create a large-scale installation at the Shanghai Art Fair, and in 2023, his works were sold at auction for more than a million Hong Kong dollars, demonstrating the extent of his popularity. Waiting for a Call, completed in 2008, is a representative of his celebrated period. With its dramatic and tense tone, it directly refers to a moment in contemporary life and its psychological state, evoking a feeling of empathy in every viewer.

Shining a Light on Reality in a Dream World

In Waiting for a Call, the artist cleverly uses contrasting black and white as the main colours to kick off the drama. Against a dark background with layers of texture, an anthropomorphic white rabbit lies on its side, occupying a huge area, with its ears drooping, eyebrows arched and bloodshot eyes staring straight at the phone in front of it, eagerly waiting for it to ring, Yan Cong has wonderfully transformed the telephone barrel into the carrot, which is the favourite thing for a rabbit. It is quietly held aloft by the old-fashioned rotary telephone frame, like a treasure presented in a royal hall, referring to people’s inner longing, desire and infinite hope. Next to the telephone, there are two roaming dialogue boxes, with no text, but only symbols like lightning, radio waves and physicalisation of the outside world that the protagonist is looking forward to in their imagination, which eloquently expresses the social anxiety, loneliness, longing and expectation of the modern person. In the quiet and boundless night sky, it tells the viewer that you are not lonely.

Price estimate:
HKD: 40,000 - 60,000
USD: 5,100 - 7,700

Auction Result:
HKD: 66,000