Oil on canvas

200 x 280 cm. 78 3/4 x 110 1/4 in.

Signed in Chinese and Pinyin, and dated on middle left

LITERATURE
2008, Chaotic Code – You Jin Solo Exhibition, New Age Gallery, Beijing, Exhibition Invitation Card
EXHIBITED
5 – 27 July 2008, Chaotic Code – You Jin Solo Exhibition, New Age Gallery, Beijing

PROVENANCE
New Age Gallery, Beijing
Private Collection, Asia

Note: An exhibition label of Beijing New Age Gallery is affixed on the reverse

You Jin's Digital Psychedelia:
Birth, An Allegory for the Growth of a Nation

You Jin graduated in 2005 from the Visual Communication Art Design department of Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts. He has a gift for producing highly intricate images that resemble garbled computer code, the inspiration for which came from a class he took in computer automated design. By deliberately flattening three-dimensional imagery and depicting scenes using futuristic digital techniques, he hints at modern society's lack of spiritual fulfillment, encouraging us to look back on our history and rekindle our appreciation for the humanities. Since 2008, You Jin has held exclusive exhibitions of his work in Beijing, Geneva, Hong Kong, and Seoul as well as contributed works to joint exhibitions at the Today Art Museum in Beijing and the Melvin Art Gallery in Florida.

Birth is one of You Jin's most acclaimed works featuring garbled computer code. On an enormous canvas measuring close to three meters, the artist has painted the sky, the earth, and a central figure. The garbled code can be seen along the bottom half of the image, where a profusion of irregular colored lines intersect in order to form a psychedelic representation of the land. We can vaguely make out the Great Wall of China, rendered in white and blue. On the top half of the image, shooting stars rush across a boundless night sky. Floating between heaven and earth is a newly born baby. In 2007, China had just experienced a decade of exponential growth and was gearing up to host the Olympic Games in Beijing. In this context, the central figure in Birth symbolizes China brimming with energy and excitement as it opens a new, brighter chapter in its history.

In 2018 and 2017, You Jin's works Daydreaming About the Future and Path — Backyard Garden respectively fetched the impressive sums of 1.08 and 1.1 million yuan at auctions. Birth is not only a defining work in You's “garbled code” series — it is also the artist's largest painting to be put up for auction thus far. This is therefore an unmissable opportunity for serious art collectors.

Price estimate:
HKD: 400,000 – 500,000
USD: 51,000 – 63,800

Auction Result:
HKD: 613,600