Серия "Маски" 1997

Editor: This is "Masks," a painting in oil by Zeng Fanzhi from 1997. There's something both unsettling and darkly funny about it. It's like a portrait, but the guy's face is almost cartoonish, with these wide, intense eyes. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Ah, Zeng Fanzhi and his masks! They are like glimpses behind the societal masks we all wear. This isn't just caricature, but a brutal exposure of something very raw and vulnerable beneath that performative smile. He captures a kind of forced joy. Does that make sense? I see it as a social commentary, reflecting the disquiet of a rapidly changing China in the '90s. It’s more than skin deep, you know. More like bone-deep. Editor: That makes a lot of sense. The contrast between the formal attire and the almost grotesque face is really striking now that you mention the social commentary angle. Curator: The uniform, exactly! It signifies conformity, doesn’t it? But the face? The eyes with that cross shape inside. That, my friend, is pure… dare I say, existential dread cleverly disguised as social compliance. What if it’s all just for show, right? Editor: Right! So, do you think the "mask" is the social conformity or the exaggerated smile? Curator: I’d argue both are facets of the mask. He shows us a man trapped by societal expectations, smiling for the cameras – or perhaps screaming internally while doing so. And there’s such incredible control in the application of paint – loose, expressive, and contained. It’s wild, it’s calculated! Editor: It’s almost like you can feel his internal scream through that controlled chaos. Thanks, this makes me look at it in a totally different way. Curator: Precisely. Zeng is always playing with the tension between surface appearances and the messy realities underneath.