Zhan Wang

Private Collection, London (acquired directly from the artist)
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colours: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There are very fine scratches to the flat surfaces which are inherent to the artist's choice of medium in places throughout the pieces.
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"For me, natural forms represent the fundamental rules of the world. Every natural form is a sign of the uniqueness of the individual existence in the world." (the artist cited in: Uta Grosenick and Caspar H. Schübbe, Eds., China Artbook, Cologne 2007, p. 577)

Stunningly reflective via resplendent surfaces that closer resemble liquid silver than polished aluminium, the sculptures of Rocks Off comprise one of the most sophisticated works from the output of this renowned Chinese artist. The aesthetic dialect of this conceptual sculpture stems from his cycle of so-called scholar's rocks, or jiashanshi (literally meaning "artificial mountain rocks"), in which his works imitate stone monoliths formed by the forces and erosions of nature. However, whereas the sculptures of this highly-acclaimed series predominantly involve only one or two components, Rocks Off consists of a tightly related group of incandescent rocks that resonate with spatial dynamism. The five separate elements here set up a relational interplay in which the vacuums of negative spaces flow between the individual rocks and constantly shift the dimensional relationships between the pieces as the viewer's perspective moves around them. This effect is dramatically compounded by the adjustment of the shimmering reflections and shadows on the surfaces, whose globular highlights swell and recede with the evolving fluidity of molten mercury.

The epic cultural context that frames Zhan Wang's work and provided the conditions for its genesis is absolutely seminal to the conceptual identity of Rocks Off. Zhan Wang exactly replicates found rocks and stones in the engineered element of aluminium as a stylishly reductive commentary on the interaction between tradition and progress in contemporary China. Whereas traditional Chinese society since the Tang dynasty pursued the aesthetic ideology of inserting weathered boulders into domestic gardens and spaces as meditative objects to echo the great phenomena of Nature, Zhan Wang's sculptures both accentuate the artificiality of this enterprise and reinforce the process of monument-making by being second degree artefacts themselves. Furthermore, Rocks Off is thematically complex because it bridges the threshold between art and design, concurrently serving as four chairs and a table, and thereby stressing the importance of communality as well as asking questions of history and identity with its sculptural project.