Lot 1084: HE SEN

HE SEN
(Born in 1968)
Untitled
signed and dated 'He Sen; 2007' in Pinyin and Chinese (lower right)
oil on canvas
150 x 150 cm. (59 x 59 in.)
Painted in 2006

Acquired directly by the present owner from the artist
Private Collection, New York, USA

Artist He Sen's works explore the human condition in a dramatic and dark context uncharacteristic of contemporary Chinese art today. His current subject matter of human suffering and solitude reflect the artist's point of view on the effects of global consumerism on Chinese youth. He Sen's Untitled (Lot 1084), Girl on Sofa (Lot 1086) and Girl Calling (Lot 1085) employ dark monochromatic, neutral grays, and shadowy blacks. Void of any true fiery colour, the works are steeped in emotional debt. He Sen was widely known as a realist painter throughout the early 1990's focusing on the new "modern" youth of China. Lacking a human presence in his work, using relics of modernization, such as cassettes, trainers, and cigarette packets, He Sen by the late 1990's truly found his new inspiration. Girl Calling epitomizes the height of his realization as a figurative painter. The piece's eerie violet wash, and life-like quality is intentionally blurred, giving a sense of anonymity to the subject in the painting. His deliberately lurid works employ the trope of the sexy advertising girl who can sell anything, exacting the visual appeal of such images with Warholian ambivalence.
He, once caught in the mirage of the economic and commercial development of communist China, has matured into a socially adept artist navigating homogenization he suggests is a by-product of capitalism in contemporary China. Brush strokes move from illusionary to sharply detailed and smoother surfaces. He has progressed from a nonchalant attention to detail, into representing hidden variations on the feminine ideal centralizing on the interaction with mainstream commodities.