Lot 431: He Sen (b. 1968)

He Sen (b. 1968)
Du Du
signed in English and Pinyin and dated 'He Sen 2006' (lower centre)
oil on canvas
78¾ x 98½in. (200 x 250cm.)
Executed in 2006

Acquired directly from the artist.
Anon. sale, Christie's London, 17 October 2006, lot 321.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
In the exhibition catalogue of He Sen, Marella Art Contemporanea, Milan, 2003, E. Battiston describes He Sen's work as "represent(ing) the fear of growing, an escape from reality generated by a sense of panic. New Chinese generations seem scared by responsibility, so they want to escape..." (E. Battiston, in He Sen, exh. cat., Milan, Marella Art Contemporanea, unpaged). The young women He Sen presents us with in his paintings seem to be caught somewhere between an innocent childhood and a troubled, uncertain adult life, constantly in flux. They appear on canvases as twisted Lolitas of China's modernity, provocatively offering themselves while contrasting their little-girl postures with cigarettes, hard liquor, lascivious positions and Delphic looks. They are the symptoms of a rapidly evolving society, where an increasing number of dilemmas face China's youth: a generation seems to be tumbling towards loss of spirituality, of identity, and into a pool of uncertainty. The artist is known to have said that the young Chinese generation "do not know what to do, they feel confused and perplexed by our new society" (ibid.).
He Sen's decision of 1998 to paint the young women accompanied by soft toys such as teddy bears further exaggerates the tension between innocence and knowing, between being seduced and seducing, between helplessness and power. The presence of the plush dolls creates a conflict between a sense of childhood and the paraphernalia of adulthood, which seems to have befallen en entire generation. Battiston: "toys are elements associated to children and childhood, they help to relax and don't need effort, again as escape from obligations and responsibilities" (ibid.).