The Roots of Pleasure — The Paintings and Sculpture of Li Jin

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Lot 4
  • 4

Snowy Hair

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Description

  • Snowy Hair
  • inscribed, signed LI JIN, and with three seals of the artist
  • ink and colour on paper
  • 38 by 43 cm., 15 by 17 in.
  • 2014

Catalogue Note

"As love perfects under the moon, your hair is as white as snowflakes, but what was swirling instead were tears."

The artist's inscription is an edited play on words from a popular Jay Chou song of the same title. Li Jin's version roughly translates to "perfect under the moon, your hair is swirling like snowflakes." In contrast to the pop star's melancholy from an unfinished love affair and longing for a united future, Li Jin portrays an old man's sorrow in a private moment of hair washing. The moment is so mundane that it subverts the blatant sentimentality of the Chinese Pop lyrics epitomised by the original song. By placing himself as the subject with the "snowy hair" in the company of two voluptuous women, Li Jin imbues the picture with a healthy dose of self-mockery and flirtation.