INSPIRED BY WESTERN REALISM AND SURREALISM, SONG YONGHONG'S WORKS USE A STRAIGHTFORWARD AND BARE LANGUAGE TO EXPRESS FEELINGS THAT ARE AS VARIED AS COMEDY, DEPRESSION AND ABSURDITY AND RELY ON CONCRETE IMAGES THAT DISPLAY REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCES, WHILE CONSCIOUSLY AVOIDING THE EMOTIONAL SUBTLENESS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE LITERATI. AS EARLY AS 1986, SONG STARTED EXPLORING THE IDEA OF HIS BATH SERIES, PAINTING SMALL, PASTEL-COLORED WORKS. BUT IT WAS NOT UNTIL NOVEMBER 1999 THAT HE CREATED LARGE-SCALE WORKS, AS A RESULT OF MOVING TO A NEW STUDIO. HIS BATH SERIES, THEREFORE, OFFICIALLY BEGINS IN THE YEAR 2000.


SONG'S BATH SERIES IS A CLOSE UP OF BATHERS, WHICH REDUCES THE BATH IMAGERY DOWN TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEOPLE AND WATER. THE TITLE OF HIS WORK, NO.1 (LOT 671), REFERS TO THE FIRST PAINTING OF THE SERIES. LIKE IN MANY OF HIS WORKS IN THE SERIES, NO.1 DEPICTS WATER RUSHING DOWN ON A NUDE MAN. THE EXPRESSIVE POWER OF HIS FACES LAYS IN HIS CLOSED EYES, FOCUSING THE ATTENTION INWARD TO THE EXPERIENCE OF RUSHING WATER.


BASED ON THREE FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF ASPECTS OF HIS WORKS - BACKGROUND - PERSON - WATER - SONG'S BATH SERIES REFLECTS HIS SENSITIVITY, WHICH IS EXPRESSED THROUGH HIS RIGID, YET CAREFULLY DRAWN, BULKY CHARACTERS. SONG DEPICTS THE ACT OF BATHING AS A KIND OF EXISTENTIAL FEELING, A MENTAL IMAGE ON A SPIRITUAL LEVEL.


BATHING PEOPLE EXPRESS INWARDNESS, SELF-ABNEGATION, INDIVIDUALITY, SECRETIVENESS, SELF-CONSOLATION, AVOIDANCE, CONTRADICTORINESS, LACK OF DIRECTION, AMBIGUITY, BIAS, PLEASURE AND PEACEFULNESS, JUST LIKE A MIRROR THAT REFLECTS HUMAN NATURE.

-SONG YONGHONG