Oil on canvas

41 × 33 cm × 3 16 1/8 × 13 in.× 3

Signed in English and dated on bottom right（A）；signed in English and dated on middle right（B）；signed in English and dated on bottom right（C）

LITERATURE:
1997, 8+8-1: Selected Paintings by 15 Contemporary Artists, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong, p.28 – p.30
EXHIBITED：
20 Jun – 12 Jul 1997，8+8-1：Selected Paintings by 15 Contemporary Artists，Schoeni Art Gallery，Hong Kong
1998，8+8-1：Selected Paintings by 15 Contemporary Artists，Connaught Brown Gallery，London

This work is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity issued by Schoeni Art Gallery，Hong KongThe Boundary between Reality and Imagination
Magic Square Series by Xin Haizhou
Born in 1966 in Chengdu，Xin Haizhou was graduated in 1989 from the Department of Printmaking at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts.He made his debut in the same year in the " China/Avant Garde" in Beijing，and was selected to attend the "I Don't Want to Play Cards with Cezanne：Exhibition of Chinese Avant-garde Art" in the U.S.in 1991，“Chinese Modern Art Exhibition" in 1993，gaining the attention of domestic and foreign art institutions.His works have been tour-exhibited multiple times in the U.K.，Germany，the U.S.among others.In 2013，he held his solo exhibition in the White Box Art Museum in Beijing，making a full display of his artworks in the past five years.His works have been collected by the Asia-Pacific Museum in the U.S.，Infeld Art Center in Austria，Feng Pingshan Art Museum of the Hong Kong University，Shanghe Museum，and other art institutions.
The group of three pieces "Magic Squares，Billiards & Sleeping Series No.1，N19 & No.27" on sale were created in 1996 and have exhibited in "8+8-1：Selected Oil Paintings of 15 Contemporary Artists Exhibition" held by Schoeni Art Gallery in 1997.They are important representatives of Xin Haizhou's works of this series.The three works depict three ordinary social individuals in aloneness.Xin Haizhou focuses on the most ordinary moments in real life while using Surrealistic approaches to place the characters in some special and unusual time and space.For example in “Magic Squares…Series No.27"，the contemplating man with his eyes closed and hands on his chin seems to be in an unordinary space.The painter selects and reproduces his head，and projects it into infinite darkness in the background.The sketch-style depiction of the lines and textures of the figure forms strong visual contrast with the Surrealistic imagery construction.Together with the other two works of the series，the collision of the colors and dissolution into the background，render a cross-band field of reality and fantasy.

Price estimate:
HKD: 30,000 – 50,000
USD: 3,800 – 6,400

Auction Result:
HKD: 64,900