Lot 366 | Dead end for the king

OUYANG, CHUN
1974 Beijing

Title: Dead end for the king.
Date: 2006.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Measurement: 180 x 300cm.
Notation: Signed (chinese) as well as dated verso: ouyang chun 2006.


Exhibitions:
- me Collectors Room, Berlin 2010/2011
- Belvedere 21, Vienna 2011

Literature:
- Brehm, Margit (ed.): Ouyang Chun - Painting the King, Hong Kong 2010, ill. p. 15 (extract) and p. 120

Ouyang Chun was born in China in 1974 and grew up in Xian. Until 1995 he studied painting there at the Academy of Fine Art. Since the age of 28 he is an established artist in Beijing, where he not only works in the fields of painting and sculpture, but also creates a variety of installations. Through his extensive self-study and with his incredibly versatile creative vein, Ouyang Chun represents an independent counterbalance to traditional academic art.
The work "Dead end for the king" is part of the "King" cycle comprising 30 works. The cycle, created between 2006 and 2009, shows, partly humorously, partly very seriously, various episodes from the life of a king. Chun himself does not make any selective judgments, but shows both fame and victory as well as defeats, moral failure and death. By using gold leaf Chun creates a double reference to art history. Not only in the European tradition does gold leaf play an important role in art as the divine legitimation of secular rulers, but in China, too, gold painting and the use of gold leaf are traditionally established.
"Dead end for the king" represents a particularly relevant work within the cycle. With an almost playful simplicity, the end of the king is documented in a ruthless but at the same time sober manner. It is precisely this immediacy that makes Chun's works so appealing. In a rigid posture with peaceful facial features the king lies on the ground, only a pool of blood under his head indicates his violent death. His golden clothing in western royal tradition stands in contrast to his Asian facial features. Here the globalised cultural approach of Chun becomes clear, as he is known for merging pairs of opposites and creating a new image from abstraction and narration.