Zhang Jie (China, B. 1980). "Black Room" (2008). Oil on canvas.
Size: 86.75 x 65.75 inches/ (220 x 167 cm).
This work is unframed and in excellent condition.
"Black Room" (2008) is a stunning, over-life size oil painting by female artist Zhang Jie, one of the rising stars on the international art scene, and a leader of her so-called "80's Generation" of Chinese Contemporary artists. Aide from the sheer scale of this work, this is one of the most visually and thematically intense of Zhang's on-going series of self-portraits. The title is ironic, as clearly the subject of the painting is the artist herself and not the physical space her provocative figure occupies. She paints her nude body with an unflinching eye, literally and emotionally exposing herself to the viewer . The perspective is undeniably erotic and intense, balanced by the soft, dreamy gaze on her face, as she looks back over one shoulder, as if assessing her own figure in a mirror. Her large, luminous eyes are heavily done in make-up, and her full pink mouth matches the color of her long, painted fingernails. The composition and content here is undeniably erotic and intentionally voyeuristic, seductive and aloof. The muted mauves, blues and purples grounded in black that she paints in here are signature colors of the artist, as is her lush and definite manner of painting. This is a very rare nude self-portrait by the artist, who usually depicts herself as dressed. Coupled with the impressive scale and accomplished composition, "Black Room" is simply one of Zhang's most impressive and important paintings to-date.
The artist received both her Undergraduate Degree in 2003 and Master's Degree in 2005 from the elite Sichuan Academy of Fine Art, China. In 2005, Zhang Jie was selected as one of the top 20 emerging Chinese artists at the Chinese Art Prize (CAP), by a jury of esteemed international art critics, including Gerard Goodrow (Director Art Cologne), Jeff Kelley (Curator of the Asian Art Museum in California), Isabelle de Wavrin (Co-founder and Co-editor-in-Chief of Beaux Arts Magazine), Dr Marion Ackermann (Director of the Art Museum of Stuttgart, Germany), and Li Lei (Executive Director of the Shanghai Art Museum), among others. Zhang Jie's first solo exhibition at Art Scene China in Shanghai was met with tremendous success. Her work has since been exhibited at shows in Shanghai and Beijing as well as in Europe and the USA (Miami, New York and Washington, D.C.). The artist lives and works in China.
