Lot 49: Ren Rong , B. 1960 I Love Beijing Tian'an Men (nine parts) iron

iron

each: 40 1/8 by 31 1/2 by 11 3/4 in. 102 by 80 by 30 cm.

Justinus Maria Calleen, Ren Rong 2006, Fürth & Wittlich, 2006, pp. 256-257 and pp. 260-261, illustrated in color

Executed in 2005. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Ren Rong studied at the Art Academy in his home town of Nanjing from 1982 to 1986. From 1989 to 1992, he studied at the Muenster and Dusseldorf Art Academies; in 1993, he received a year-long fellowship from the cultural ministry of Schleswig-Holstein and was awarded the Weilburger Prize for painting the following year. He now divides his time between Beijing and Bonn, Germany. Although Ren Rong is well known for his so-called Plant People forms, his engaging work has yet to receive the attention in merits.

Ren's characteristic figures sport long, lithe limbs, flower-like heads, occasionally bulging breasts, and always a sinuous flexibility; the graphic clarity of their figural construction may remind Western viewers of the cutouts of Matisse, but the ancient tradition of Chinese paper cutting is a source of inspiration closer to home. The cutout is at the heart of Ren Rong's work in diverse media. While Ren's earlier painting featured cutout forms?some assembled from cut photographs, others collaged or painted?in his most recent work, the artist carves his signature decorative elements into painted wood surfaces and cuts flat steel into compositions that transcend his earlier practice.

I Love Beijing (2005) consists of nine, hand-cut-steel silhouettes that rise from their bases with a humorous decorative energy. In some ways these cutout sculptures continue Ren's earlier imagery, with their similar lissome figures and the graphic simplification of forms. However, the repeated iconography of a rising sun and Tiananmen distinguishes this delightful sculptural group. Arranged as an installation, the works are variations on a theme, one of joyful pleasure and theatrical self-presentation. Ren's characters feature a child-like, 'look at me!' grin; some seem to wave at the viewer while others present China's most iconic building as though it were the source of their pleasure. The imagery is in some sense akin to Socialist Realist painting, but one senses little irony in the artist's fancifully free compositions. Ren's softness for Beijing seems an authentic expression, precisely recorded in hard metal.

Happy Family (2006) is a large painting that comprises thirty-two wood panels in four horizontal rows. The work is based upon a childhood photograph of Ren's family, which is printed on the surface and then over-painted. The family of seven, all in dark clothing, is set against a rich blue background. Here the artist is the small boy holding the base stem of a flowering cutout; seven stems expand decoratively from the plant's central root, figuratively connecting each family member to the others. What the picture represents?the interconnectedness of the family unit?the cutout overtly symbolizes. The small plant form that joins the family signifies the natural order and the bonds that nurture the individual. Happy Family is a moving image representing an ideal kinship to which we may all relate.