COLOUR EVOLUTION IN CHINESE
CONTEMPORARY ART (1981-1990): AN
INDEFINITE FUTURE
By 1980, the artists born in this period grew up
in a completely new cultural environment, where
technological advancements have enabled
knowledge to be disseminated instantly in the
Internet age. Young Chinese artists now explore
colours with a more diverse and open attitude.
The popularity of digital art, virtual reality,
artificial intelligence, and other new media have
given artists more space for creation. Colours
no longer serve to decorate paintings, as they
have become the core of artistic expressions.
As millennial artists, Zhang Yingnan, Zhao Zhao,
Cui Jie, Zhang Kai, and Gao Ludi have broken the
barriers of traditional colour concepts under the
influences of globalization and westernization in
this information age. Now they choose colours
based on their experiences and visions, while
enriching their personal styles by referencing
the advantages and benefits from other schools
of art.
In his surrealistic style, Zhang Yingnan created a
gloomy space based on memory in Between Rising
and Falling (Lot 111). The entire work is filled
with melancholic blue colours that create a quiet
and lonely atmosphere. The artist deepened the
dramatic tension of the space through objects and
designs. The simple choice of a single polychromatic
colour violently illustrates the psychological
suggestion in the painting at its climax. Zhao Zhao
chose to use a monochromatic blue with different
levels of saturation for both Sky No.2 (Lot 121)
and Constellation (Lot 120). The blue, rhythmic,
and dynamic world in Sky No.2 contains complex
emotions and moods because it was rare for the
artist to see such an image in Beijing, where he
resided. While creating the Zodiac Series, Zhao
Zhao discovered the philosophical meanings in the
coincidental yet existential cracks formed by bullets
passing through glass. He applied this inspiration by
painting how energy spreads out from the center
to the periphery, which ultimately led to the visually
astonishing Constellation Series. In the Building of Blue
Glass (Lot 113), Cui Jie applied the tetradic colour
scheme with neighboring colour systems like yellow迪的︽P4︾(Lot 114) 曾在展覽﹁果實﹂中展出，畫中佈滿了 種顏色和其互補色相鄰的兩色去呈現主體的趣味性。 的內裡從黃色過渡到橘色，輪廓線以藍紫色描繪，混合了一 了類似互補色但在視覺上更加柔和的補色分割配色法，黃桃 同樣的甜蜜，但雀躍的心情已隨著時間消失殆盡。作品使用 長後，罐頭水果被視為一種不健康的存在，雖然一樣食用時 切半的黃桃，這是他兒時常見的一種甜蜜的記憶，但歷經成
Lot 121 Lot 113
60 POLY AUCTION HONG KONG
