Chen Zhen (1955-2000) - photo 1
Chen Zhen (1955-2000) - photo 2
Chen Zhen (1955-2000) - photo 3
Chen Zhen (1955-2000) - photo 4

Chen Zhen (1955-2000)

Lot 69
21.09.2022 15:00UTC +01:00
Classic
Sold
€ 132 300
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationFrance, Paris
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 813944
Lot 69 | Chen Zhen (1955-2000)
Estimate value
€ 70 000 – 100 000
Chen Zhen (1955-2000)

Un village sans frontière, 2000

assemblage de bougies, cires et bois

69 x 28 x 29 cm.

Réalisé en 2000.



candles, waxes and wood assembly

27 1/8 x 11 x 11 3/8 in.

Executed in 2000.





Provenance

Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris

Acquis auprès de celle-ci en 2003





Literature

D. Rosenberg, M. Xu, Chen Zhen: Invocation of Washing Fire, Prato, 2003 (illustré en couleurs p. 283).



Special notice


Artist's Resale Right ("droit de Suite").
If the Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer also agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.



Post lot text

« Si quelque chose est acide, vous le croisez avec quelque chose desucré. C'est une façon très chinoise d'exprimer la contradiction, comme le yinet le yang. Le moment le plus excitant dans mon travail est lorsqu'il y a soudainement une rencontre entre deux choses qui étaient inactives auparavant. Il s'agit de contraste, de contradiction et de confrontation ». - Chen Zhen‌

“If something is acid you cross it with something sweet. This is a very Chinese way of contradiction, like yin and yang. The most exciting moment in my work is when there is suddenly a meeting between two things that were inactive before. It is about contrast, contradiction, and confrontation.” - Chen Zhen


« En Chine, la bougie symbolise la vie d'un homme. Rassembler quatre-vingt-dix-neuf chaises d'enfants collectées dans différents pays du monde pour construire un village universel. Bâtir des maisons comme des autels de lumière. Nous posons les fondations. Notre espoir repose sur les générations futures ». - Chen Zhen

“In China, the candle symbolises the life of a man. Gathering 91 children's chairs collected in different countries of the world to build a universal village. Building houses as altars of light. We lay the foundations. Our hope lies in future generations.” - Chen Zhen


Un village sans frontière est issu d’un groupe de 99 œuvres réalisées par Chen Zhen en 2000 avec l’aide d’enfants de Salvador au Brésil. Le projet est né de la collaboration de l’artiste avec Projeto Axé, un centre de défense et de protection des enfants et des adolescents défavorisés. « Ces enfants vivent dans un contexte très défavorable, marginal, dans les pires conditions de vie et de pauvreté. Comment puis-je développer un projet réellement excitant et stimulant pour la créativité et l’énergie des enfants ? […] Comment le projet pourra-t-il intégrer l’histoire et l’urbanisme de la ville du point de vue de ces enfants des rues ? Comment trouver des matériaux locaux vraiment caractéristiques, et un processus de travail qui dise vraiment quelque chose à ces gosses ? » (Chen Zhen in D. Rosenberg, M. Xu, Chen Zhen: Invocation of Washing Fire, Prato, 2003, p. 272).

Appuyant son concept de transexpérience comme méthode de création, cette œuvre exploite les « entre-lieux » chers à l’artiste, ces espaces offerts à la nouveauté, où chaque objet porte la trace d’une histoire, d’une origine, d’une mémoire et peut se réinventer dans une seconde vie. Alors qu’en Chine la bougie symbolise traditionnellement la vie d’un homme, elle est, à Salvador, associée à l’espoir et au recueillement. Par ailleurs, la structure de ces objets rappelle les habitations à pilotis des favelas. Ainsi, au travers de cultures différentes, la bougie devient dans un espace universel une métaphore de l’existence, tant selon la tradition chinoise et la symbolique brésilienne que selon son réemploi en tant qu’« après-objet ».

A Village Without Borders is the result of a group of 99 works created by Chen Zhen in 2000 with the help of children from El Salvador to Brazil. The project was born out of the artist's collaboration with Projeto Axé, a centre for the defence and protection of disadvantaged children and adolescents. “These children live in a very unfavourable, marginal context, in the worst conditions of life and poverty. How can I develop a project that is really exciting and stimulates the creativity and energy of the children? [...] How can the project integrate the history and urbanism of the city from the point of view of these street children? How can we find local materials that are really characteristic, and a working process that really says something to these kids?” (Chen Zhen in D. Rosenberg, M. Xu, Chen Zhen: Invocation of Washing Fire, Prato, 2003, p. 272).

Supporting his concept of transexperience as a method of creation, this work exploits the “in-between places” dear to the artist, those spaces offered to novelty, where each object bears the trace of a history, an origin, a memory and can reinvent itself in a second life. While in China the candle traditionally symbolises the life of a man, in El Salvador it is associated with hope and contemplation. Moreover, the structure of these objects is reminiscent of the pile dwellings of the favelas. Thus, through different cultures, the candle becomes in a universal space a metaphor of existence, both according to Chinese tradition and Brazilian symbolism, and according to its reuse as an “after-object.”

Art style:Contemporary art
Place of origin:China, Eastern Asia, Asia
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