PAN DEHAI (China, B. 1956)

The Corn Series: Wanted No. 4 (Lot 154) is a classic work that belongs to Pan Dehai's Corn series. Grains of corns in various sizes are configured at the center of the painting to form the figure. The intensely repeated pattern eliminates the natural appearance and properties of corn – it has become the medium and painting tools of the artist. Visually, the different configurations of corn are often read as mysterious, fantastic, complicated, and sometimes even incomprehensible. This is precisely what the artist is attempting to explore – the fundamental properties of image. The black intersecting lines cross the torso of the figure. Between what is apparent and what is obscured, within nature and humanity, the artist has discovered his unique visual language.