Wu Mingzhong is one of the most influential and important artist in recent years. Drawing on his fragile emotional experiences, he has stumbled upon glass as a medium to reflect human psychological relationships. He has transformed his concept into a new artistic language, one of fragility and transparency. The language has become the aesthetic core at the heart of Wu Mingzhong’s painting, not only reflecting the analysis of people’s fragile psychology, but also presenting the implications of a transparent sociology.
Wu Mingzhong’s artistic language is unique, that is to say, we can hardly find a similar language or style among his peers. His painting does not fall into the genealogy of Political Pop or Cynical Realism or even the Gaudy Art prevalent in the Chinese Contemporary Art. But it is worth noting that the language of his paintings reveal a very strong intuition, just as the painterly strokes are bold rather than detailed, although viewed from a distance, his paintings do indeed integrate details – the results are simple and rich. Wu Mingzhong’s painting has a conceptual language that illustrates the psychological vulnerability of people, conveying his suspicion of the historical value of social events through contrasting fakeness and authenticity.
In the present lot, the glass portrait features two women on a thin wine glass stem which in itself looks so fragile. Wu Mingzhong, as is his other paintings since 2005, has placed red wine in the glass container which more than any other reason has made his painting more eye-catching. Chromatics and visual psychology tell us that red has the longest light wave, the strongest penetrating power and the highest degree of sensibility. It is reminiscent of the sun, fire, and blood and other things. Red brings people psychological reactions of joy, excitement, and agitation. Red undoubtedly has the symbolic meaning of danger, warning, and prohibition in Wu Mingzhong’s works. Just like perhaps the artist might have suggested the fragility of these two subjects’ relationship in this painting which might be evident if one is to examine more closely their body language and expression.