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ILLUSTRATED:

Guo Jin was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, in 1964. He graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 1990 and stayed as a teacher.

Child figure is often used in Guo's work. They appear in various living situation with various body condition and behavior and in different incidents－elder or younger, all kinds of children; joyous or serious, vicious children, children playing, children sitting or posing, children who are freshly dress-up, children climbing, swinging, crouching, children twisting their bodies, making faces, children in gape, children in deep thoughts－just the kids, either in duo, or in groups. As for handling the image, Guo tries hard to avoid indigenous colors and insists on a fixed light source. He adds on rusted and peeling-off effects to the objects and gets the unique results. In his works, chairs often appear with the children, guiding their conscious and their behavior. Comparing with the children, chairs force us to bend our bodies politely and to obey the provided order. When following these orders, children may get the food that they need or may achieve some of their goals.

Guo's work is trying to depict the incredible innocence that we have in our childhood, our self-assurance and sincerity. It also explains another spirit that we have in this period of our lives－that is: the way that we live regardless of moral standards and this nature beyond good and evil. Guo said his work is about the reflection and meditation of the human innocence. When painting these children, he tries to recover the wonderland of idealism, which we no longer percept but have experienced. Most of his creations remind us of the good times of our childhood, which have been cast down by the heavy burden of adulthood. To another extend, in the process of westernization, with the influence of commercialization and materialism, many have lost their faith-and that is due to the failure to meet the anticipation for their own country and for the commodity society.