Dalai Lama Meeting Journalists
Chen Ping
陈平
Production date
2008
Object Detail
Media
oil on canvas
Measurements
183 x 152 cm
Notes
Chen Ping creates stories. His paintings are characterised by his energetic, gestural sweeps of impasto paint and by the strong colour of his palette. Imaginative and experimental, his practice is underpinned by his deep knowledge of Chinese painting traditions, fused with his understanding of western oil painting from his study of painting at the University of Hobart, in Tasmania. Rejecting the academic tradition of realist figuration that he was taught in Guangzhou, Chen works spontaneously, spinning curious narratives and fables based on memory and imagination. Chen greatly admired French/ Chinese modernist master Zao Wou-ki, and his own work reveals a similar intent to create a new visual language comprising both eastern and western elements. He mixes a Chinese sense of space, calligraphic mark, and essential energy with western figurative imagery and a style influenced by Expressionism. He says: ‘My work deeply connects to Chinese culture and mythology. It expresses my sense of loss of the cultural identity and the inevitable environmental issues.’ His work often speaks of anguish; twisted, distorted figures are roughly delineated with slabs and smears, drips and dribbles of oil paint. There is a hint of the tortured subjects of works by Francis Bacon, or the grotesque, malevolent figures in de Kooning’s ‘Woman’ series. In ‘The Dalai Lama Meeting Journalists’, one of a series of paintings featuring the taboo (in China) figure of the Dalai Lama, the venerable figure appears to hover, floating, just above the ground. Chen Ping says that he saw a news photograph of the barefoot Dalai Lama at a press conference in a contemporary building and was struck by the contrast between ancient wisdom and modernity. The rich red of his robes is smeared, the textural oil paint recalling the colour of dried blood.
Accession number
2009.011