Lot 457: CHEN ZHEN

CHEN ZHEN 1955-2000 LUMIÈRE INNOCENTE children's bed, plastic tubes and light bulbs 33 by 56 by 35 1/2 in. 84 by 142 by 90 cm. Executed in 2000.

David Rosenberg and Xu Min, eds., Chen Zhen: Invocation of Washing Fire, Gli Ori, Prato-Siena, 2003, p. 403, illustrated in color (detail)
Exh. Cat., Torino, Galleria Civica d' Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Chen Zhen: In Praise of Black Magic, April - June 2000, cat. no. 68, p. 128, illustrated in color

Galleria Continua, San Gimignano
Acquired by the present owner from the above

"A field of synergy: Space and Spirit overlap.
At the heart of things: light and energy, as well as matter and number.
Choosing your body, being born: innocence of light, quantity of matter ..." Chen Zhen

"The complex art of Chen Zhen, one of the primary figures of mainland China's artistic community of the mid-1980s, grew organically from his struggle for cultural survival as a perpetual nomad or as, in his own words, a 'spiritual runaway.' Chen Zhen coined the term 'trans-experience' to describe the dynamic and dialectical process that occurs when an individual is displaced between cultures, societies and languages. Trans-experience suggested to him both the fusion with these other influences and, simultaneously, the ability, indeed the necessity, to transcend their impact." -Hou Hanru