Feng Zhengjie

Feng Zhengjie (Chinese: 俸正杰) (born 1968 in Sichuan Province, China) is an artist based in Beijing and Jeju Island of South Korea. Originally a high-school and college art teacher in Sichuan, he came to Beijing in 1995.

His best-known work is his Portrait of China series, very large Warhol-style oil portraits, in a red-and-turquoise palette, of Chinese fashion model faces with vacant diverging eyes (his signature style). Critics view his work as a critique of contemporary consumer society. His early paintings were inspired by 1930s Shanghai posters. His more recent work is based on the red and green of traditional Chinese New Year art, the colors made "more acid, a representation of the flashy, commercial nature of modern China".

Zhengjie has exhibited internationally in many shows including Dialogue With Asia at the Du Store Verden! -initiated Vika Gallery in Oslo, the 2002 Korea Contemporary Art Festival in Seoul, China Femmes de Chine at Veronique Maxe Gallery in Paris, Primary Colors at the Singapore Art Museum in Singapore and New Perspectives in Chinese Painting at Marella Gallery in Milan.

Feng Zhengjie’s “exotically colorful style” is originated from a traditional drawing called “Mian Zhu Nian Hua,” which is created and used in a village in Si Chuan called “Mian Zhu.” Mian Zhu Nian Hua’s first appearance can be traced back to Song Dynasty and it becomes very popular during Ming Dynasty and reaches its prime during Qing Dynasty. It reflects people’s optimistic attitude toward life and work. In an interview, Feng said that he grew up in a very small village in Si Chuan province and the colorful traditional drawings reminded him of the memory of his childhood, which was also the main reason for him to start his unique drawing style. In his paintings, Feng loves to use very flashy colors such as pure bright red, bright pink and flashy green to draw the background and characters. Most characters in his drawings are females with sexy lips and vacant diverging eyes.

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