Mask Series #7

Since his graduation from the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts in 1991, Zeng Fanzhi has emerged as one of China's most original painters. This painting belongs to his Mask series of images from the late 1990s and early 2000s that depict individual figures and groups posed artificially in front of neutral backgrounds with their faces concealed by oddly impersonal, human face masks. Initially, the mundane subject and deliberately mannered aesthetic of this painting make it seem familiar and approachable, almost like an amateur photograph of a family member or friend. However, as one becomes increasingly aware of the figure's mask, stilted pose, and distorted body parts, the image quickly takes on a more disturbing tone.

One possible interpretation of this painting is to see it as a commentary on the superficiality of modern Chinese society, in which people conceal their true identities in favor of false personae that are designed to help them win public acceptance and approval. This interpretation has been suggested for the entire Mask series by the artist himself in several public interviews. However, some critics have read works from this series as an observation on the highly commercialized nature of the Chinese economy that encourages people to conform to ever more homogeneous cultural practices and values. Others have understood the series as a critique on the repressive political climate in modern China that does not allow genuine freedom of speech and enforces obedience to a uniform party line. Still other critics have interpreted the paintings much more universally as a commentary on such fundamental existential questions as the relationship between self and other, the nature of personal identity, and the place of the individual within broader society. All of these interpretations are valid, and the multiplicity of meanings makes the painting an excellent teaching resource for Oberlin College faculty and students.