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Lot Essay
Tang Zhigang came of age during the Cultural Revolution, a period when individual expression in art was strictly forbidden. Art, in the guise of Socialist Realism, was essentially treated as an ideological tool at the service of the state. From an early age, Tang was exposed to the political bureaucracy and propaganda machine of the government; and he would himself become a propaganda painter for the army at the beginning of his career. Like many artists of his generation such as Zhang Xiaogang, the egalitarian and formulaic templates of Cultural Revolution period photographs had a lasting influence on Tang. Tang's early works reflected the realities of his youth, producing images that were deeply embedded in the collective memory of his compatriots. However, after a time of change brought about by the open door policy, China's cultural landscape increasingly shifted from collectivism to individualism. From the 1990s, these transitions became evident in Tang's oeuvre:
'Tang has captured the absurdity of the bureaucracy of institutional life in the most charming manner. The message is succinct without being banal, and the style is as easy and fluid as the subject matter dictates. Tang uses the technique of realism usually associated with social cause and egalitarianism. It is a style accessible to the common man, mindful of his dignity whatever his station in life. It also suggests serious-mindedness, which becomes the poker-faced, dead-pan, tongue-in-cheek flip of Tang's joke.' (Chang Tsong-zung, It's All A Game: Tang Zhigang, Hong Kong 2004). https://www.hanart.com/artistEssayDetail.php?artist_number=85&essay_numb er=31
Tang's paintings are informed by both history and the present - they are biting satires of the complex social and political structures of China. His familiar official scenes populated by children in uniforms are playful yet disorienting. By addressing the absurdities of the regimented life, an element of humour, even surprise, confronts the viewer. Childhood Generation (lot 175) shows an adolescent playfully sticking his thumb in his nostril. Although dressed in military uniform, it is a work that pokes fun at the banality of bureaucratic officialdom. Unlike the sense of anonymity found in official portraits, Tang imbues his protagonist with a sense of individuality with his naturalistic rendition of the child's features and pose. There is at the same time a sense of innocence lost in the painting, no doubt the result of the controlled and compromised childhood experienced by many in the epoch of Mao's China. The playful innuendo in Childhood Generation is indicative of Tang's view that children are the successors of Socialism. The role playing aspect of his adolescent cadres can also be seen as a skeptical commentary on how important issues are being handled like child's play. As such, Tang is presenting his concern over state affairs in his seemingly endearing depiction of children.
There are instant parallels to be drawn in Chinese Fairytale 1 (lot 176) and Chinese Fairytale 2 (lot 177), which reveal a departure from Tang's previous series. In the Fairytale pictures, Tang began bringing his children outside, to the beach and various other spaces of ambiguous nature. Motifs recur throughout: among them, dogs, toys and an assortment of gymnastic equipment. Painted in 2006 and 2007 in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games, both paintings were part of a touring exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai. Here, heroic Maoist soldiers are replaced by infant athletes, suggesting a somewhat narrative composition where children are performing a physical act. Whether they are training or playing, we do not know. The pictorial elements of toys and the puppy suggest a joyful and innocent environment; but as a whole generation of young athletes grew up in preparation to the Beijing Games, the viewer is reminded of the harsh reality of pressure and their heavily burdened sense of duty to China's glory. The Beijing Olympic Games has come to capture the very spirit of modern China, and it has become profoundly engrained in its image to the world. As spectators applauding or athletes performing, the characters are shown deeply absorbed in their respective roles, mindful of not losing face or to make others lose it. Entitled Fairytale, this series of paintings also acts as a cautionary tale on the anxiety and mental pressure in the contemporary era. Simply put, Tang's staging of humourous scenarios can be seen as a way of dissolving the oppressive reality that belongs simultaneously to China's past and present.
'Tang has captured the absurdity of the bureaucracy of institutional life in the most charming manner. The message is succinct without being banal, and the style is as easy and fluid as the subject matter dictates. Tang uses the technique of realism usually associated with social cause and egalitarianism. It is a style accessible to the common man, mindful of his dignity whatever his station in life. It also suggests serious-mindedness, which becomes the poker-faced, dead-pan, tongue-in-cheek flip of Tang's joke.' (Chang Tsong-zung, It's All A Game: Tang Zhigang, Hong Kong 2004). https://www.hanart.com/artistEssayDetail.php?artist_number=85&essay_numb er=31
Tang's paintings are informed by both history and the present - they are biting satires of the complex social and political structures of China. His familiar official scenes populated by children in uniforms are playful yet disorienting. By addressing the absurdities of the regimented life, an element of humour, even surprise, confronts the viewer. Childhood Generation (lot 175) shows an adolescent playfully sticking his thumb in his nostril. Although dressed in military uniform, it is a work that pokes fun at the banality of bureaucratic officialdom. Unlike the sense of anonymity found in official portraits, Tang imbues his protagonist with a sense of individuality with his naturalistic rendition of the child's features and pose. There is at the same time a sense of innocence lost in the painting, no doubt the result of the controlled and compromised childhood experienced by many in the epoch of Mao's China. The playful innuendo in Childhood Generation is indicative of Tang's view that children are the successors of Socialism. The role playing aspect of his adolescent cadres can also be seen as a skeptical commentary on how important issues are being handled like child's play. As such, Tang is presenting his concern over state affairs in his seemingly endearing depiction of children.
There are instant parallels to be drawn in Chinese Fairytale 1 (lot 176) and Chinese Fairytale 2 (lot 177), which reveal a departure from Tang's previous series. In the Fairytale pictures, Tang began bringing his children outside, to the beach and various other spaces of ambiguous nature. Motifs recur throughout: among them, dogs, toys and an assortment of gymnastic equipment. Painted in 2006 and 2007 in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games, both paintings were part of a touring exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai. Here, heroic Maoist soldiers are replaced by infant athletes, suggesting a somewhat narrative composition where children are performing a physical act. Whether they are training or playing, we do not know. The pictorial elements of toys and the puppy suggest a joyful and innocent environment; but as a whole generation of young athletes grew up in preparation to the Beijing Games, the viewer is reminded of the harsh reality of pressure and their heavily burdened sense of duty to China's glory. The Beijing Olympic Games has come to capture the very spirit of modern China, and it has become profoundly engrained in its image to the world. As spectators applauding or athletes performing, the characters are shown deeply absorbed in their respective roles, mindful of not losing face or to make others lose it. Entitled Fairytale, this series of paintings also acts as a cautionary tale on the anxiety and mental pressure in the contemporary era. Simply put, Tang's staging of humourous scenarios can be seen as a way of dissolving the oppressive reality that belongs simultaneously to China's past and present.