 n his first solo exhibition of 2010, Shao Fan exhibited a series of paintings he produced over the past few years, works depicting hares, a monkey, a doe on its backside, a chicken bone, snow and landscapes. There was also a chilling image from 1989, showing a child stuck in the gears of a sewing machines -- clearly an illusion to a difficult period for young people, including Mr. Shao -- then 25.
But the works in “Shao Fan: An Incurable Classicist,”are not political statements. They are simple, quiet images of reflection by an artist who takes images and forms from classical China and reinterprets them for modern times.
Among those works are his wooden installation pieces, a “Ming Turd,” or feces made so elegantly of wood carvings; a Ming spine made of wood; Ming skeletal foot bones -- sharp and sleek; and a black Ming style eyelash -- a curvaceous piece of sandal wood that is a magical design art.
These are the works that Shao Fan quietly imagines away from the bustle of Chinese contemporary art. He is the artist as Tao stylist; meditative, reflective and bold. His furniture sculptures made him famous, but the range of his artistry was on display at his show, “Shao Fan: An Incurable Classicist,” at Constrasts Gallery in Shanghai.
In his essay introducing the exhibition, Demetrio Paparoni, the art critic, says “Shao aims to recreate an aesthetic that frees itself from Western influence by following local Chinese tradition.”
The artist is clearly a contemporary but he tries to bridge east and west with more of link to Chinese traditional culture and a Chinese aesthetic. This is what makes Shao Fan unusual in the world of contemporary art. And what made his show so remarkable.
Monkey Looking into the Mirror, Oil on canvas, 65 X 50cm, 2010
Monkey Looking into the Mirror, Oil on canvas, 65 X 50cm, 2010
White Hare, Oil on canvas, 200 X 150cm, 2010
Chicken Bone, Oil on canvas, 61 X 61cm, 2010
Long-eyebrow Arhat, Oil on canvas, 75 X 75cm, 2009
Black Hare, Oil on canvas, 260 X 210cm, 2009
Mulan-Helmet, Oil on canvas, 145 X 116cm, 2009
Crandmother, Oil on canvas, 73 X 91cm, 2009
Doe, Oil on canvas, 200 X 160cm, 2009
Landscape, Pencil on Paper, 158 X 158cm, 2009
Hare Looking into the Mirror, Oil on canvas, 230 X 170cm, 2009
One-month-old, Oil on canvas, 100 X 100cm, 2009
Snow, Oil on canvas, 210 X 210cm, 2008
Bowl, Oil on canvas, 165 X 125cm, 1997
Cradle, Oil on canvas, 146 X 115cm, 1989
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