LI JIN (CHINA, B. 1958)

In a genre where the portrayal of elegance and serenity dictates aesthetics, Li Jin's paintings exude a crude sense of reality rarely seen in Chinese ink paintings. Li's typical compositions are packed with figures and food, symbolising sex and nourishment, the two primal indulgences of life. The "excess" of things implies a sense of vanity, hedonism and conspicuous consumption. Amid the laughter and folly, Li suggests that physical enjoyment may be transient — a concern for mortality hinted at in the lack of facial expression in his figures.