Hao Liang

Ink and colour on silk
89 x 89 cm. 35 x 35 in.
Stamped with artist’s seal on lower right
Hao Liang
Studied after the contemporary ink master Xu Lei,the post-80 artist Hao Liang is the figurehead of the neo-gongbi generation. Hao transcended his understanding of traditional Chinese paintings and devised an interface with contemporary context,producing works of refined and exuberant quality. Xu Lei once commented Hao’s oeuvres,“Incorporating metaphysical narratives in realist strokes,which turns archaic hue into visual argument,presenting a sophisticated worldview in an alternative vocabulary.”
Gongbi figure：Side View of a Boy is one of the works in the artist’s early series. This series,often set in a form of soliloquy,communicate between tradition and contemporary. Hao instilled his reverence for classical Chinese paintings and perceptiveness of Song court paintings in the form of self-portrait.
Hao’s meticulous delineation and colouring bring forth vividness to the piece. The finely-cut boy is the artist himself. Accompanying the figure are meticulously depicted flowers on lower right. The traditional stroke of the ripple lines arrayed in the background has a touch of Song style,reminding one of Water Wave scroll by Ma Yuan from Song Dynasty,while the head of a dabbling duck appeared in the upper left hand corner adds a sense of fun a