Zeng Fanzhi stands out in many ways from his peers in contemporary Chinese art, displaying an uncommon maturity both in terms of expression and technique. Primarily concerned with the inner world, his body of work reflects his deep psychological unease and search for meaning in a bewildering new world. While his contemporaries mostly focused on political and social issues in a newly open and emerging China, Zeng from the beginning of his career focused on the alienation and detachment of the individual in a frightening new environment. Zeng is not just unique in his themes, he has also been an experimental technician in painting methods and particularly in the great Chinese tradition of brush strokes and use of space. Both his universal theme of the pain of alienation and detachment and his masterful use of the paintbrush have brought him worldwide recognition and made him one of the most important of Chinese contemporary artists.

Zeng Fanzhi was born in Wuhan in Hubei Province in 1964. As a child, he was introverted and was deeply affected by the chaos and irrationality in the society of his youth. His psyche was deeply traumatized by what it observed and art was the only outlet for his inner turmoil. He was immediately attracted to German Expressionism at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, and his studies were to have a life-long influence on his works and techniques. Wild strokes, fleshy colors and brooding expressions were to become part of his hallmarks and were to allow him to express his angst and alienation in apocalyptic imagery and colors. However, such introspection and expressionistic tendencies found little acceptance in his native Wuhan and so in 1994 Zeng moved to Beijing. Here, he suffered the full trauma of alienation and disconnection.

Zeng's body of work is a detailed expression of his psychological state at each period in his life. Unlike most of his contemporaries who are happy to stick with winning formulas in their artwork, Zeng has consistently introduced new series of works, and pushed the boundaries of his artistic style to constantly create new and arresting expressions of his inner-state. While still in Wuhan, he produced his first two series of works "Hospital" and "Meat" both of which were directly influenced by horrifying early experiences for the young introvert. In the 1960's most homes in China didn't have a bathroom, the young Zeng had to use the one in the local hospital. His sensitivities were traumatized by the chaotic scenes he witnessed there on a daily basis. His resulting "Hospital" series typically depicts uncaring doctors and terrified patients. "Meat", his second series, results from his experience of passing by his local butchers on his way to and from school everyday. In the heat of summer, the only way for the workers to cool down was to lie on the frozen carcasses which resulted in them being covered in blood. For the highly sensitive Zeng, this was deeply disturbing.

On moving to Beijing Zeng was hoping to find acceptance and understanding of his art. Instead he found himself isolated and cut off from the mainstream. Faced with loneliness, detachment and alienation, he produced his 'Mask' series for which he has become most famous. The face of each of his protagonists is hidden by a flat mask, which sublimates all expression and feeling. Well-dressed, professional, young urbanites mask their true inner selves subjugating their feelings and emotions, and negating their lives. After the "Mask" series, Zeng started to move to more abstract forms. In 2000, he began to depict figures without masks such as in the present painting. These figures may have regressed even more than his masked characters as their vacant and expressionless eyes are empty, hauntingly portraying the loneliness and isolation of the individual. As in all Zeng's works, the depicted persons have very large hands depicted in strong fleshy colors almost raw in their import, seemingly emphasizing that although we can hide our inner most feelings most carefully behind an expressionless face our agitated hands will always betray our raw inner turmoil.

The "After Mask Series" also marks a deeper connection for Zeng with traditional Chinese painting techniques, combining expressionism with the abstractness of traditional Chinese water and ink painting. The figures often float suspended in an empty background while any details are portrayed in a very minimalist way, allowing Zeng to emphasize the isolation and detachment of his character. This very forceful effect is taken directly from traditional Chinese paintings. Zeng's brush strokes are also strongly influenced by traditional Chinese water and ink brush strokes. Large single strokes with wide brushes create an abstract feeling while narrow brush strokes are used to create strong, emphatic lines reminiscent of Chinese calligraphy.

"Portrait Series" is a masterpiece from this series of works. The lone individual is dramatically placed in the center of the canvas, powerfully capturing the viewer's gaze while demanding our attention. Vividly isolating the figure, which is floating in empty space, Zeng captures the full terror of his protagonist in an alienating and vacant world. This painting is important in that the character closely resembles one of his entities from his "Mask" series both in pose and dress. However, lacking his mask, the emotions are stronger, more painful and more alarming.

Dressed in a long sophisticated overcoat worn over highly tailored clothes, the individual is the epitome of the stylish, urbane youth of contemporary China. Standing tall and poised, the classy image he wants to portray is negated by his vacant, staring eyes, and by the almost raw wounds on his face and hands masterfully evoked by the expressionistic fleshy colors. The elongation of the body, particularly the neck, which appears weak and brittle, is reminiscent of a victim of the rack, which was used to torture people through stretching in the Middle Ages. As with this torture machine, the primary purpose of which was to extract confessions, Zeng seems to be provoking his individual to reveal his inner turmoil and angst as he tries to stay poised and confident.

While the protagonists of the "Mask" series keep their emotions and feelings checked behind masks in a cool and cold way, the figures of the series from which our work comes, are forced to display their inner torment with a powerful rawness. The staring eyes are almost dead-like, as the individual tries to bury the boiling cauldron of feelings within. The yellow of the eyes creates a vacancy, which is both haunting and profound. Although we want to turn away our gaze, our eyes are locked to those of the protagonist as we are empathically drawn to share his anguish. The exaggerated features of the face, the ears, the nose, add poignancy to the suffering. The fleshy chin seems to tremble with feelings as the figure tries hard to keeps his emotions below the surface. The stretched hair, which shimmies above the head, is evocative of steam rising, as the heat generated by uncontrollable feelings escapes from the head.

Zeng isolates the character in an empty background evoking the great use of empty space of traditional Chinese paintings. This nothingness demands that we focus on the protagonist, and forces us to concentrate only on that individual. The lack of details, such as on the clothes, contributes significantly to directing our attention to his gaze, which once we meet, we become entranced by. The subdued colors likewise force our attention towards the face. Zeng is unique among contemporary Chinese painters in his psychological portrayals. For thousands of years, Chinese art ignored the individulity, and portraiture is practically non-existent in its long history. Zeng has emphatically embraced many facets of traditional Chinese painting into the genre of portraiture focusing the viewer's attention on the psychological turmoil going on within.

"Portrait Series" is a seminal masterpiece in Zeng's oeuvre. Painted late in the series of unmasked protagonists, it is representative of the unmasked masked urbanite of his acclaimed "Mask" series. Zeng's works are indicative of his own inner turbulence and angst. In the 'Mask' series of the 1990s, that inner turmoil was too difficult to confront, hence the cool and cold masks. In the early 2000s, he was able to start portraying the raw power of alienation and its psychological consequences. In his "Grass", "Sky" and "Landscape" series begun in 2004, he found a way to expressionistically and abstractedly portray psychological turmoil through representing that chaos with wild and strong grasses. As he grew more comfortable examining and portraying the darkness within, he was finally truly able to unmask the masked young professional, resulting in our magnificent painting.