Mixed media on canvas

110 x 110 cm. 43 1/4 × 43 1/4 in.

Signed and dated in Chinese on upper centre
PROVENANCE
Soka Art, Taipei
Acquired directly by present important private Asian collector from the above

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist issued by Soka Art, Taipei

Ji Dachun's Humorous Historical Recall

Ji Dachun is an internationally influential Chinese artist who features the combination of traditional Chinese artforms and postmodern surrealistic imagery to joke about history with humorous brushwork. He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1993 and participated in the First Chinese Oil Painting Biennale in the same year. In his early works, the protagonists are the ever-changing objects in the pure white background, often delivering some unconventional actions which trigger the viewer's further thinking. Ji has held solo exhibitions at Bern Museum, Shanghai Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing alike. His works have been collected by Swiss Ambassador to China and famous collector Uli Sigg, M+ Museum in Hong Kong, and Today Art Museum in Beijing. This autumn auction presents his representative work in the 1990s, Workers, Peasants and Soldiers, which shows his naughty and humorous charm.

Whimsical Thinking, Lifting It as if It Were Light

The images of "workers, peasants and soldiers" are commonly seen in the propaganda posters during the period of Cultural Revolution. After the Cultural Revolution, the motif of"workers, peasants and soldiers" was frequently appropriated by artists to express their reflection on the past ages because of its representative significance. For example, in Wang Guangyi's classic Great Criticism Series - Coca Cola, viewers will notice that "workers, peasants and soldiers" hold the pen together. In comparison, Ji Dachun's Workers, Peasants and Soldiers is more implicit and humorous, with large pieces of white space in the painting like a drama stage, and the protagonists from the centre march to the right together. However, looking closely, it is ironic to see that they seem in harmony but actually at variance: The "soldier" in the vanguard is clearly dressed as an official of Qing Dynasty with his eyes covered by a black belt, suggesting his blindness; the "peasant" in the middle raises his sickle high, but wears the handlebar moustaches and rings which reveal his class as either the warlord or landlord; the last "worker" holds a hammer and wears a modern cap, yet also a long gown, which is incompatible with the worker identity. The expression cleverly puts forward the artist's reflection on history and reality. Ji jumps out of the original context of the Cultural Revolution imagery with his unconstrained imagination to recall the changes that China has experienced since the Opium War, and expresses the otherwise heavy historical topics with wit and cunning visual language which is evocative and reflective.

Price estimate:
HKD 90,000 – 120,000
USD 11,500 – 15,400