Panda Girl
Han Lei
韩磊
Production date
2008
Object Detail
Media
C-type print
Measurements
150 x 126 cm
Notes
Han Lei subverts the tropes of idealised beauty found in western oil paintings of the nude and in classical Chinese novels. Instead, his lens is focused on ordinary women with imperfect bodies who could have just walked off the street and removed their clothing. Here, his model stands in a pose recalling Ingres’ ‘La Source’ but she holds a toy panda above her right shoulder and wears knee-high nylons and kitsch fluffy panda slippers and poses against a ruched gold background that suggests the contempt levelled at the ‘tuhao’ nouveau riche in China. With her cellulite and folds of flesh the body of his model may not pass the judgement of those who set standards of female beauty, yet she meets our gaze with disconcerting frankness and a dignity that belies her tacky accoutrements.
Accession number
2015.225