13854D
Zheng Haozhong
郑皓中
Production date
2016
Object Detail
Media
oil and spray paint on canvas
Measurements
200 x 150 cm
Notes
Exhibited in Shanghai in Zheng Haozhong’s solo 2019 show ‘TAKI’, the frail, insubstantial female subjects of paintings such as ‘13854D’ represent the artist’s sense of social alienation and the fragility of human connections. His technique of representing human figures with fluid, coloured outlines against a blank background represents a form of societal blankness, an absence or even a vacuum. Here, the nude figure seated on what may be the side of a bed is deliberately ambiguous, yet there is an echo of Edvard Munch’s painting ‘Puberty’ which depicted a naked young girl with an ominous dark shadow on the wall behind her. In ‘13854D’ the bright yellow form and the green curved lines behind the figure suggest an unseen presence. Zheng works quickly and spontaneously in the studio, painting multiple canvases simultaneously. He cites British painters Lucien Freud and David Hockney, and the Irish Francis Bacon, as among the artists he most admires; their influence is evident, yet Zheng Haozhong has created a visual syntax that is entirely his own.
Accession number
2019.065