Zeng Fanzhi

It has been a long while since I have seen artwork that takes my breath away. I do not proclaim to be a connoisseur in fine art or pretend to know every nuance and technique, but I do however appreciate good art (good is also subjective) and artists that challenge convention with their own God given style and talent. I look forward to the day when I will earn enough to own all the pieces I've lusted after for so long. Sonny Liew, who I have the privilege to call friend is an artist who's talent and work amazes me along with Mark Ryden and Manson's watercolours.

Over the weekend we made it down to see Zeng Fanzhi's exhibition because I'd read a bit about it in the newspaper and how he drew inspiration from the hospital down the street from where he lived and from MEAT. Good enough for me! We went in not knowing what to expect but were so completely floored by this man's talent and self developed technique, coupled with the odd political commentary here and there. His seemingly random, but I'm sure calculated and deliberate crazy paint streaks forces you to look at portraiture a different way, and gives it a somewhat contemporary twist. One wonders how he could bring himself to smudge and seemingly deconstruct a piece that obviously took painstaking weeks or months even to complete but an end result that is beyond your imagination.

I particularly loved the 'Mask' as well as the 'Meat' series, though attempts to find some samples online proved futile as there isn't very much of his artwork that has been uploaded. So if you are wondering what to do one of these lazy weekends, Zeng Fanzhi's exhibition is on at the Singapore Art Museum until the 3rd of June, I think you'll enjoy it, we throughly did.