Fang Lijun

signed in Chinese and dated 2011, framed

Donated by the artist

The work is generally in good condition. Please note that it was not examined under ultraviolet light.
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Dream of Peace (Lot 817) was created by the contemporary Chinese artist Fang Lijun for the Peace and Development Foundation. Proceeds from the auction of this work, will be donated to the Foundation for charity purposes. The Peace and Development Foundation is a Hong Kong-based charity organization, whose members are elites from various sectors of the city. From 2005 onwards, the Foundation has been an official partner of the United Nations Development Programme and focused on achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goals in China. Over the past years, the Foundation has directly supported various humanitarian endeavours related to education and poverty in China. In addition, the Foundation has also been involved in specific projects such as leadership training among Mainland and Hong Kong youths, poverty aid, and research on pollution in the Pearl River Delta.

A renowned contemporary Chinese artist, Fang Lijun has been recognized by critics as one of the most important figures in the movement of Cynical Realism. Fang has been invited to participate in many world-class exhibitions within and outside the country. In Dream of Peace, the whirlpool is a metaphor for humanity's unknown future. The painting expresses the artist's abiding concern for life and his hopes for peace. It also embodies his good wishes for the Foundation.

Interview with Fang Lijun
20 February, 2012

Interviewer: What were the reasons behind your participation in this charity auction?

Fang: For an artist, such an opportunity is an honour. The work is called Dream of Peace. Dreams may or may not materialize. I myself am quite a pessimistic person, and I don't believe such a dream can be sustained or realized. This is actually part of what I am saying through my participation in this charity auction: although I myself am not very optimistic, through my contribution I hope to express my respect for those people who do dream of or work towards peace.

Interviewer: Dream of Peace continues your recent creative output in style and subject matter. Can you talk about it a little?

Fang: I created this work for this charity auction, but the subject matter has occurred in previous works. In response to the theme, I chose to paint a whirlpool, which has an unspeakable power. This kind of power has driven the development of human civilization, but we still don't completely control or understand it. As for the dove, we all know very well that it is a very auspicious and upbeat symbol. I also included some angelic naked infants. They need protection and yet must soon face reality — they symbolize life confronting the future. The painting suggests a kind of indeterminacy, involving such forces as playfulness, freedom, beauty, and un-nameable fear. These forces each develop according to their own trajectories and actions, and yet still intermingle despite their different natures. How will the future be like? We don't know.

Interviewer: Dream of Peace seems to carry a concern for human life, like your other recent works.

Fang: Yes — this may be my inescapable theme from the start. Actually it's just not me. In this world of ours, among the entire humanity, every life is faced with a certain condition. The condition is that within a network of dynamic interrelations, humans can never solve the questions of existence. This is why relationships are always central to the argument of my creative work. The point isn't the infant or the whirlpool, but the interaction between them. This is the abiding theme in my work.