20 Nights

Considered as one of the most anticipated emerging female artists, Song Kun is acclaimed for her distinctive and sentimental oeuvre that embodies her psyche. Born in 1977 in Inner Mongolia, Kun graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2006 and currently resides in Beijing.

Song Kun belongs to the generation born in the 1970s who experienced for the first time - after years of a community oriented culture - the loneliness, the absence of siblings, and questions of a single child. Her paintings are more than just mere depictions but expressions of her psyche through characters she relates to or even herself.

Song Kun often expresses her reflections with a mature yet delicate style, but has decided to experiment with new artistic languages when it comes to expressing the sentiments that prevail among the 70's youth. Song's work is unique in that it not only presents female touches and tenderness but also exhibited subtle edginess with the use of powerful brushstrokes. Song's brazen brushstrokes, the hallmark of Expressionism, are the result of years of study on Classicism figures as well as lighting and illumination. As if making a piece of jade, Song spends years shaping a raw jade stone into bi (flat jade disc), inventing new artistic expression with her refined taste and techniques.

Song creates a surreal observing space based on her investigation into human figures and identities. Her work is painted on synthetic leather, with which fake and industrial texture magnifies a sense of aloofness and desire depicted in the present lot. 'The language is the content and the material finds itself as the piece develops, based on what message needs to be delivered,' Song once said. The painting reflects the artist's dexterity and her passion for continuous experiment.

While we in the West often hear about China’s industrial development and growing urbanization, Song’s paintings of familiar scenes emphasize universal experience and a sense of spiritual searching.