| JAIWEI SHEN BORN CHINA 1948 NEW SOUTH WALES |
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During the Cultural Revolution in China all art schools were closed, so Jaiwei is largely self-taught, becoming recognised as an artist in the mid seventies. He later studied at the central Institute of Fine Art in Beijing, where he was taught by Shangyi, the most famous portrait painter in China, who had a great influence on him. Jaiwei became an acclaimed history painter having his works hung in the top public collections in China, in the China Art Gallery and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, both in Beijing. He has had three solo exhibitions since 1984. Since moving to Australia in 1989 he has painted full-time and had many new successes, including first prize in the Mary Mackillop Art Award in 1995. "In my portraits I have always sought to combine skill with contemporary consciousness. "The sitters in this double portrait, Bend Tat Ee, Malaysian born of Chinese parents, and his Sydney born wife Denise are my good friends. The title Counterpoint hints at their harmonious relationship - the perfect union of two contrasting characters with quite different racial and cultural backgrounds. "The title also gave me the idea to expand the internal significance of this painting so that it contains a number of metaphors, making the painting almost symbolist. The arrangement of the subjects and the background are very subjective - they are consistent with the personalities and lifestyle of the sitters. For example, the Hans Holbein painting in the background and the contrasting Yixing teapot are the Ees' favourite possessions. "The Ees symbolise the 'counter-point' of the civilizations of the east and west in Australia - at the same time the title suggests the process which external and indigenous cultures went through from conflict to integration." JAIWEI SHEN Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 1994 finalist Rhui
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 Counterpoint OIL ON CANVAS 213 x 137 cm | |
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