In 2008 the young Chinese artist Zheng Jianhui, born 1983, finished his print series "Modern Angels", created in the technique of reduction woodblocks. This page is a publication of the artist's statement about his "Modern Angels" series.
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"In my new series Modern Angels, the Chinese angels wear Chinese traditional clothing and play in the sky. But I chose some western constructions for the background, like The Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Statue of Liberty in New York, and also some Chinese modern buildings, like the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Shanghai. And soon it will be the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in the number 4 of this series."
"I intentionally put these different factors together from different spaces and different times. I want to show some affiliations and conflicts. If there were no borders of time and space, how would it be?"
"In this series, one finds many paper planes, paper cranes and paper ships. A paper plane cannot fly very far. A paper ship cannot sail in the sea. But they were my best friends in my childhood. To be quite frank, I just want to bring this kind of atmosphere to my new series, to my angels paradise. And these paper toys make the picture look very light and joyful."
"I like to put the personalities in the sky, the free space above the city. I call it the new fashion of the modern angels. They can easily see the horizon and touch the sky."
Zheng Jianhui
Text edited by artelino
Edited and composed by Dieter Wanczura
(July 2008, updated July 2009)
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Sunday, November 08, 2009: On Active Events you find our thumbnail overview of current and coming auctions of contemporary Chinese prints. If you have any questions, please contact me. - Dieter