ZHANG Jinxian 张谨贤, Empty·Travel - 1 空·游 -1, 2019

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Ink, natural mineral pigment on
On a special and unique antique "horse hair" rice paper
Natural wood frame with plexiglass

175 x 95 cm
68 7/8 x 37 3/8 in

Unique piece

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Series: Empty•Travel

A carp swimming peacefully through the Taihu Stones. This artwork seeks to make the audience return to simplicity and freedom in the spirit, to liberate his mind, to make his...

A carp swimming peacefully through the Taihu Stones.

This artwork seeks to make the audience return to simplicity and freedom in the spirit, to liberate his mind, to make his mind quiet, tranquil, lonely, and inactive, and to make the mind fuse with the universe as if it were sublime to of Chinese Taoism “enlightenment of self”.

The artist strives to express the pursuit of getting rid of the world vulgarity, keeping calm and indisputable. The Chinese Taoist culture advocates "Xinzhai sitting and forgetting”, eliminating distracting thoughts, making the state of mind pure and quiet, therefore lead to a bright road. Put down is for a better pick up, forget is for a better remember. It is not necessarily a bad thing to let it go in Chinese culture. What truly suits you is the real best for yourself.

In this painting, Zhang Jinxian chose special painting forms such as flatness, clump formation, and presence or absence, to magically draw Taihu stones layer by layer into three-dimensions. Each part of stone can be viewed from completely different directions, therefore create an optical illusion of movement and changes under water.

Provenance

In traditional Chinese culture, carp is considered a mascot.
According to ancient Chinese legend, the carp in Yellow River will become a dragon if it jumps over the dragon gate.
It is also a metaphor for advancing against the hard current.
If the bitterness is successful, all the fame is gained.

Taihu stone is a peculiar natural limestone formed by water erosion. Since the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC – 1046 BC), Taihu Stone has become an object that royalty, nobility and gentry love to collect and enjoy. "Big, strange, inspirational and elegant" are the top grade of a Taihu stone. The famous Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi‘s “Taihu Stone Records” (843 A.D.) contains the mystery of the Taihu stone reflecting the beauty of the five high mountains of China, including a full landscape of hundreds of holes and thousands of valleys shrunk on one stone. It is a carrier of Chinese literati sentimental to nature, a carrier of expression and an aesthetic symbol full of metaphors.

Exhibitions

Aug-Oct 2021: "Timeless" exhibition, Art Thema HéYī gallery, Brussels
Mar 2022: Brussels Affordable Art Fair, Tour & Taxi, Brussels

Ink on Paper

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ZHANG Jinxian 张谨贤 Chinese, b. 1988

Further images

Provenance

Exhibitions