Feng Zhendgjie

Immediately, I was struck by the futuristic, cyborg like impression of these paintings but, was I wrong?

From viewing several of Feng Zhendgjie's work I noticed that all of his subjects are depicted with irises focused in opposite directions basked in an ora of light framing the head and sometimes shoulders.

Often his work is contrast with a dark backdrop or an eye catching bright hue of color framing the face. Each work has a different expression which makes me believe that each subject was a real person of striking substance and in a focused mode of thought to be reflected in the subjects face.

Below is a quote taken directly from Phillips de Pury and Company Gallary:

"A female face with the irises located at the extremities can almost be regarded as a trademark of Feng Zhengjie’s paintings. We feel, of course, something strange when facing these paintings: we can’t understand what she is looking at, or what she is thinking. We say, in Japanese, that 'the eyes tell more than the mouth' which means that the expression of the eyes is decisive. The artist, first hid their eyes’ expression by using sunglasses, then he found that he could do it, more effectively, by locating the irises at the extremity of the eyes. This is a discovery and a surprise. Moreover, this solution gives us a bizarre impression as if the girls have no eyes, although their eyes are actually depicted.On the other hand, the lips are painted vivid rouge. The color seems even gaudy to some people. If you look at these lips closely, you will find that they are all individual with different shapes and expressions. They are all charming and attractive, more or less, appear from the gaudiness of the color.Their lips make a remarkable contrast with the dehumanized look in their eyes," (C. Shigeo, “These Girls Are Looking At? Feng Zhengjie’s Paintings,” Feng Zhengjie, Italy, 2004, pp.108-109).

See more of Feng Zhengjie's work or to read about him visit:http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/feng_zhengjie.htm