signed in Chinese and Pinyin and dated 2002, framed

ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Zeng Fanzhi: Every Mark Its Mask, Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildren, Germany, 2010, p. 83

This work is in good condition with minor wear in handling around the edges. Minor restoration was done by a third party restorer to retouch a small stain between the left hand and jacket and to remove dirt on the lower edges of the canvas. Please refer to the Contemporary department for a third party professional treatment report.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Masked Men – Veiled Vitriol
Zeng Fanzhi

Zeng Fanzhi was born in Wuhan in Hubei province in 1964, where he attended the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts from 1987 to 1991. While there, he grew attached to the forceful fragility of German Expressionism, its pathos alluring to him. This gave birth to his world renowned Mask Series. Created in 2002, Untitled (Lot 646) is a key piece situated between his Mask series and the later Untitled pieces and is indicative of the artist’s style at the cusp of change. The painting features a man gazing upwards to his left, mouth slightly agape, as if his upturned face is inspecting a scene unbeknown to us. His visage is concealed not by a mask that Zeng is so well known for, but by a smear that has become characteristic of his later works. The man’s furrowed eyebrows indicate perhaps some awareness of the smear, and his frozen body: bent legs, arms outstretched as if to balance him, may be indicative of his flight from the elusive blur. The sole of his left shoe, however, seems to be detained by harsh, almost cartoonish lines that creep into the canvas from the right hand side. His predicament seems to be one of entrapment rather than of escape, as if Zeng’s figurative “unmasking” of this character has rendered it inept in the face of reality; rendering it a captive rather than a free man. Just like Zeng’s earlier works, the character’s rigid clothes are a mockery of reality, as are the exaggerated enflamed hands, abnormally large ears, excessively angular face, and waxy hair. The only thing that could be clues to the man’s livelihood—his eyes—are too concealed by the blur, effacing him of his humanity.

Zeng’s artistic oeuvre, spanning from the early 90s fixates itself on the human body and the impact of raw flesh. His Hospital series presents the human physique with an uninterested air, one that is vastly lacking in compassion or sympathy. The torturous conditions in which the pained patients find themselves are without relief; their vacant eyes stare blankly off into the distance, while the doctors beam triumphantly, eerily in the foreground. The human body is something of no worth, characterised by rough and aggressive strokes, while the surrounding equipment have a smooth gleam to them: waxy canisters, glossy syringes, and shiny bedframes are littered around the paintings and contrast starkly with the plights of the humans.

The human form remained a point of interest for Zeng even after his Hospital series: the Meat series, ensanguined and visceral, followed the aforementioned clinical scenes. The at once buttery, at once fleshy texture of their skin collides endlessly with the strung up carcases, and are brought into even rawer comparisons where man and beast; man and meat become one. The enquiry into human fragility and the limitations of suffering gradually ebb, giving way to an even more prevalent sense of apathy. The previously expressionist, violent brushwork becomes more subdued, exuding an unconcerned quality that becomes characteristic of Zeng’s Mask series.