Li Jikai, having participated in scores of exhibitions over the last decade, is now considered to be one of the leading artists of the so called “Ego Generation”. This group of artists are defined by having been born after 1970. Artists from older generations have lived through massive social and cultural upheaval in China and as a result their art tends to be greatly influenced by wider social and political concerns. This has lead to movements such as Political Pop and Cynical Realism. In contrast to these artists though, the Ego Generation have not spent their adult years living in tumultuous times, thus they are more concerned with introspection than addressing wider issues.
Li Jikai’s style is cartoonish and almost childlike. His subject matter is diverse and his paintings are invariably cryptic. In the surreal world of Li Jikai’s paintings, colourful mushrooms sprout up beside strange figures and young children pilot fighter jets. Images range from gigantic woolly mammoth skeletons to towering mountains of
rubbish. Drawing concrete conclusions about any deeper meaning behind Li Jikai’s work is difficult, but many images appear to be fond memories from his own childhood, as well as the products of his clearly vivid dreams.
The present lot, Portrait at Dusk, is a fine example of Li Jikai’s work. Painted in subdued tones, it is typically cryptic in its meaning. The main focus of our attention is drawn towards two figures, one blindfolded, in the centre of the painting. The figures stand in what appears to be a rural landscape with shrubs in the foreground and a river in the background. The familiar lightning bolt, present in many of Li Jikai’s works, flashes in the angry sky and lends to the almost post apocalyptic atmosphere of the work. This is a painting which is clearly a product of Li Jikai’s fertile imagination and we can only guess at its deeper meaning. However, there can be no mistaking the considerable skill that is possessed by this young artist.