Thinkers of Salvation
Chen Chunmu
陈春木
Production date
2011
Object Detail
Media
acrylic, oil, pencil, charcoal and pen on canvas
Measurements
380 x 495 cm (9 x panels)
Notes
Growing up in a remote, sparsely populated village in Anxi, Fujian Province, Chen Chunmu’s favourite pastime as a child was exploring the lush, misty mountains nearby and gathering various species of wild plants and mushrooms. After graduation, though Chen pursued his career in Beijing, his surrealist paintings – a wonderland of fantasies – have never drawn away from the shady dense forests and the mysterious creatures concealed beneath their branches and leaves. ‘Thinkers of Salvation’ depicts an uncanny and disturbing scene amid a hallucinatory jungle. A winged human-like creature kneels on the ground, praying in front of an old tree. Its lower branches are wreathed by dark green vines, while the top ones stretch wildly into a stormy indigo sky where several skull-like faces float in the air. On the other side of the trunk, a creepy skeleton lies in the withered and yellow grass, with its abnormally long neck oddly jointed to a skull-like head and staring eyes. His technique of thinned-down acrylic and oil paint applied with flowing brushstrokes conveys a gloomy feeling of damp and cold, evoking a sense of fear and repression.
Accession number
2011.014