"Dumped Garbage-Relax No. 26" (2010) is a stunning, large-scale realist oil painting of a nude young Chinese woman painted against sapphire blue velvet curtains as if she is on stage, whose overtly seductive manner of undress is balanced by her naive, dream-like gaze and virginal porcelain skin. It is only until one stops looking at the woman herself, that the surreal nature of the painting is fully realized. Her cropped, bleach blond hair has morphed into a white paper bag that empties a bizarre assortment of objects into the scene, including playing cards, insects and thumbtacks that float in space, a dynamic visual metaphor for the pressure and 'garbage' that fills the minds and lives of young Chinese women today. The artist intentionally gives no indication of this woman's place in time, thus encapsulating both the women of Traditional 'Old' China as well those of the modern 'New China'.
This work is by famed female Chinese Contemporary artist He Hongbei (China, b. 1969), and belongs to her iconic "Dumped Garbage" series of realist figurative works that launched the artist onto the international art scene with critical acclaim. As a female artist, He Hongbei is extremely conscious of her femininity, as well as the issues that face women in today's contemporary society. Most dominant in her work is the importance of the woman as the central axis as an independent individual. This painting measures an impressive 200 x 165 cm (79 x 65 inches), is in excellent condition and is unframed. Can be shipped on stretchers or professionally rolled off of stretchers as winning bidder desires.


He Hongbei (China, b. 1969) received her degree from the affiliated High School of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Chongqing in 1988,
and in 1992 graduated from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, China. She has recently returned to live and work in China after 10 years living in the United States. She has shown her work globally with notable solo and group exhibitions including the seminal 2009 solo exhibition "Dumped Garbage" Beijing Zhou Gallery, Beijing, China as well as her US solo at Noel Gallery, Charlotte, NC, USA . Selected group exhibitions include her 2008 ’Chinese Art group Exhibition’, Zurich, Switzerland. The artist has been awarded in 2002 "Annual Art Exhibition-Best of Show", Parimus, NJ, USA and again at "The First Biennial Exhibition of Arts" Guangzhou, China.