VOL.13 The Latest Updates on BAC Artists
Updated: Sep 23, 2020
2020.09.24
Unveiling Ren Zhe's Latest Artistic Creations
News about Ren Zhe's most recent collection
Born in 1983, Ren Zhe is revered as a pioneer of contemporary Chinese sculpture. His works cast a critical eye upon art historical tropes and examine both traditional Chinese aesthetics and philosophies with Western artistic expression, re-interpreting them in his inimitable style. Brimmed with vigour and vivid expression through the artist’s freehand approach, his works capture the spirit of humanistic aspirations - an ideal that Ren Zhe fostered from studying Chinese literary classics.
The Guardian
2020
Bronze
614 x 226 x 245 cm
Ren Zhe’s newest sculptural piece “The Guardian” was recently collected by Hong Kong Parkview and is currently on view at Block 15. The boundless strength, bravery, and vitality of the two guardians are encapsulated in the artist’s eponymous work.
Featured here are two warriors on a Taihu stone with wings fanned across the composition, symbolising the unyielding power and unbreakable bond they have for each other. When reflected against the work’s medium, bronze, the sun casts a warm golden glow which represents sacredness while the figure’s silver stainless steel exemplifies solemnity and eternity.
"Boundless Scroll” and “Noble Tranquility” at Wang Fu Central, Beijing
These two monumental sculptures are collected by Wang Fu Central in Beijing and are exhibited in the green space of the West building. One depicting a warrior playing a stringless quqin and the other writing on a blank scroll.
Boundless Scroll
2019
Stainless steel
130 x 132 x 180 cm
This work of art captures a moment frozen in time - a warrior’s swift movements as he writes on an empty ‘boundless scroll’. The piece of scroll is thought to resemble the spirit of Laozi’s beliefs.
Noble Tranquility
2012
Stainless steel
230 x 170 x 190 cm
A person’s strength is not determined by his outward appearance alone but rather radiates from the depths of his soul. In “Noble Tranquility”, Ren Zhe attempts to capture a moment in time, creating a stark contrast between the sculpture’s physical stillness and the figure’s movement. The warrior featured in this sculpture is faced with an empty log. In fact, he is playing an ancient guqin whilst he enters an ethereal state. The artist associates this work of art with Laozi’s philosophy, “Da Yin Xi Sheng” - reminding viewers that oftentimes, this sense of silence and emptiness conveys a more powerful message. Ren Zhe encourages viewers to take a closer look, to observe and feel the warrior’s graceful energy as he strums the instrument.
Latest Crossover Collaborations
Artist Ren Zhe x Martell
In 2020, Martell commissioned Ren Zhe to create a bespoke Mid-Autumn Festival gift “Fengwu Nine Heavens”. Inspired by his fascination for heroic figures told in epic tales of mythology and antiquity, Ren Zhe designed a sculptural piece to convey a “defining moment” for the launch of Martell’s “Daring New” collection. Each gift set features a wine vessel (decanter/carafe) resembling a Taihu stone - blending traditional Chinese aesthetics with Martell’s 300 years of history in the West. A true celebration of French Art de Vivre.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong Auction Result, 2020
Ren Zhe’s sculpture “Far-Reaching Ambition” sold for HK$750,000 in Sotheby’s Spring Auction Modern Art Day Sale 2020, nearly achieving double its pre-sale estimate.
“Far-Reaching Ambition” depicts a warrior in a contemplative and introspective state who has just returned from war. As the subject reflects upon the end of his journey, he is encouraged to listen to his heart, yearn for an abundant spiritual world, and pursue for eternity.
The Latest Updates on Pang Jiun
Born in 1936, Pang Jiun studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts where he developed his artistic skills and techniques into a quintessential oriental Expressionist style. The artist is best known for fusing Western oil painting techniques which he adopted from his travels to France, with implicit imagery of Eastern philosophy. Through Pang Jiun’s paintings, viewers are invited to experience his unique artistic language of rhythmic vitality and charm.
Recent Auction Results
“Guilin Landscape”
2009
Oil on canvas
60.6 x 72.7 cm
On 19 July 2020, Ravenel International Art Group sold Pang Jiun’s “Guilin Landscape” for HK$692,913 in their Modern and Contemporary Asian Art Taipei Sale, reaching more than double its high estimate. “Guilin Landscape” is a distinctive work of art in Pang Jiun’s oeuvre. The artist’s idiosyncratic use of grey is a common characteristic amongst his paintings which imbue a sense of fluidity and multivalency. From Pang Jiun’s perspective, the colour tone alludes to the formal charm and ethereal quality of Chinese poetry as well as the profound depths of reserved emotion within Chinese people. Pang Jiun associates the colour grey with Chinese landscape scenes. Displayed here, the delicate and undulated colour creates magnificent curling smoke of mist and clouds in the background - producing a particularly elegant effect where the small boats, the river and guilin mountains fade in and out of visibility in the misty greys of the canvas.
“Monet’s Garden”
2009
Oil on canvas
182 x 454 cm
Pang Jiun’s “Monet’s Garden” was offered at Sotheby’s Modern Art Evening Sale in Hong Kong on the 8th of July 2020. The painting realised an impressive total of HK$7,375,000, far exceeding its high estimate of HK$4,000,000 and was sold to benefit the LKS faculty of medicine of the University of Hong Kong. In this piece of oil on canvas, the artist vividly recalls Monet’s refined taste of oriental elements. What makes Pang Jiun’s “Monet’s Garden” so distinctive is the artist’s ability to utilise bold brushstrokes whilst dismissing elements of light and shadow to communicate the garden’s natural colours. It is evident that Pang Jiun was very much influenced by Post-Impressionism and Fauvism.