Acrylic on canvas

99×79 cm. 39×31 1/8 in

Signed in Chinese and English, located and dated with artist’s seal on bottom left
EXHIBITED
19 Sep – 13 Oct 2008, Niubi Newbie Kids, Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong

PROVENANCE
Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong
Private Collection, Asia

Free Imagination
The Artworld of Lai Chiu-Chen
Born in chiu fen, Taiwan in 1970, Lai Chiu-Chen graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan Academy of Arts in 1994. He was the winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1996, and won the Taipei Art Awards successively in 2002 and 2003 after earning his MFA from his alma mater in 2002, which largely raised the public visibility of his artistic performance. He has thenceforth established an active presence in different prestigious exhibitions respectively hosted by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, and the Seoul Museum of Art.
Lai tends to deliberately keep the textures and layers hidden deep in the compositions of his paintings. His great powers of concentration manifested in the creative process contrasts sharply with the quality of fast-drying acrylic paint he habitually applies, making the surface of his works deceptively smooth and seamless as if they are printed. Nonetheless, his works always brim with amazing details and metaphorical implications waiting for the viewers to find out through a closer look.
In his work Two People’s journey to outer space for auction this time, Lai fully exercised his fertile imagination and creativity, juxtaposing two smileys with a launch vehicle, a real thing bringing a sense of technology. The blue-colored background is reminiscent of the vast, engrossing universe that entices the viewers to wander therein. The flattened composition declares the artist’s intention in diluting the sense of depth, so as to allow the smileys and the launch vehicle to stand on an equal footing. Transcending the confines of rigid reality on composition, the artist gave this painting sheer delight of freedom that knows no boundaries. The retro round faces and eyes of the two figures, along with their hats in an identical style, created a harmonious unity. The bright colors of both ends of the launch vehicle echo each other and contrast with the silver grey section in the middle. From the two figures’ innocent perspective, the soulless launch vehicle is probably turned into a colorful playground displaying a childlike fantasy. The sky is adorned with kaleidoscopic bits of colors that are as rich in detail as impressive, insofar as to constitute a world of fairy-tales interlaced by realities and fantasies.
The Bird You See Is Not a Bird at All
Birdie by Chen Fei
Men that stand looking at Chen Fei’s Birdie may appear to be discussing with their girlfriends and companions, trying their best to find a common ground on how the painting should be read and what idea the artist was imposing, eventually leading to the further discussion topic “Why should a woman and how she can capture a man’s heart by working on his stomach, or his genitalia？” However, in their minds, they are more than likely to roar, “THIS IS JAPANESE PORNO!”
Chen Fei’s pursuit of beauty comes in a rebellious way. His conception of beauty encompasses the themes of violence, sex, eye-catching scenes, Japanese manga, household stories or jokes, and villains in film and television.
The villains are naturally the most memorable characters on screen. They are typically ruthless in a humorous way. Birdie features a great villain “played” by the artist Chen Fei himself. He deliberately exploits the point of view as the film director, standing as he looks over a barefoot female kneeling on the ground. The female’s her eyes concealed with a rough black-line, resembling some very amateur and rustic film production. Her fresh looking top and Japanese style multi-color skirt, however, clearly revealing her identity that she is none other but Chen Fei’s girlfriend. Her left hand is placed on her groin and her inner elbow embracing the more curvy line of her upper body. The irresistible sweetness of her lightly uncovered chest gives her a scent of youthful sentimentality. Her right hand is seen grasping a bald pink bird desperately waiting to be fed, who appears to be very close to its special moment.
As one of his first few works that departed from oil painting, Birdie was one of Chen’s experiments into a new artistic style utilizing the marker pen to colouring the painting instead of the oil paint. He takes one of the biggest male fantasies and invites his most intimate partner to portray a self-effacing yet a realistic scenery in everyday life. Chen Fei boldly challenges the social acceptance by generously presenting a scene of a private moment in a funny and cuteness overloaded way. He is dare to play the game, and dare to challenge senior audience couples on whether they would laugh in front of his works, or whether adolescent girls would squeeze the hands of their boyfriends from the same class, while their faces are blushed red.

Price estimate:
HKD: 300, 000 - 500, 000
USD: 38, 500 - 64, 100

Auction Result:
HKD: 448,400