Construction--Cui+Guotai



Title: Construction Artist: Cui Guotai Date: 2007 Medium: Acrylic on canvas Size: h: 78.7 x w: 129.9 in Style: Contemporary Region: Chinese
 * Art Work Identification: **

Cui Guotai was born in Shenyang, China. Shenyang has been the heart of China’s steel-industry for many years. This is what leads to Guatai’s choice of subject matter. Mechanical decay and historical references play a large role in his paintings. “Guotai depicts evidence of a lost era, a disappearance of the industrial age in China built on disillusionment” (Alexander Ochs). Often times his paintings questions China’s planned economy and creates an aesthetical realization. Overall Guatai works in a very large scale expressionist style.
 * Introduction: **

This painting uses the medium of acrylic paint and was created in a very painterly style. Meaning the brushstrokes are thick and quickly made therefore creating an almost clumpy texture on the surface of the canvas. The painterly style is usually used with the artists wants you to know the piece is a painting. The subject matter is that of a locomotive. Due to the nature of this subject the color palette is limited, in this painting there are many different values used along with a touch of warm colors, adding areas of interest in the composition. There is a strong diagonal created by the body of the train which suggests movement but as seen in this image the train appears to be old and dilapidated and no longer functional. There is no since of space in the composition, the form take up most of the picture plane and creates an “in your face” type of feeling aimed at the viewer. Even though the train is not fully rendered the viewer understands many of the train’s components by the uses of different values and shadows. Many of Guotai's more recent paintings "are done in black and white and therefore suggest a newsprint veneer, a concealment of reality reminiscent of Picasso's politically-charged painting of Guernica from the thirties" (Morgan)
 * Descriptive analysis: **

Guatai’s paintings contain enormous amounts of raw energy and also depict some since of irony. He focuses on China’s planned economy with “bridges in various states of collapse and private jets have crashed or ruptured in flight, diesel engines no longer function, obsolete loudspeakers in factories symbolize paranoia and regimented authority, and so on” ( Morgan). The main underlying idea is depicting China major powers inability to gain sovereignty in the past years.
 * Formal/ Contextual Analysis: **

References: Alexander Ochs Galleries (2007) //Solo Show: Cui Duatai: Deconstruction.// Berlin, Germany. [|www.artfacts.net]

Morgan, R. (2008//) Cui Guotai- Evidence of a Lost Era//. Chinasquare Publishing Inc. Beijing, China.