HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s has been an innovator in the field of contemporary Chinese ink paintings and works of art, holding auctions and selling exhibitions worldwide. From 8-24 November, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery will present Labyrinths - A Selling Exhibition of Contemporary Ink Paintings by Zeng Xiaojun, featuring 22 extraordinary ink paintings of Zeng’s superb renditions of vines, roots, trees and works of art in wood which are exquisite in taste and powerful in spiritual content, incarnations of the 1,300-year-old Chinese literati tradition. Zeng is a contemporary literati who reinforces the importance of Chinese ink paintings as an iconic art form. His debut solo exhibition at Sotheby’s presents new, psychologically charged works. Stemming from the roots of nature, the artist takes a journey of self discovery.

Zeng Xiaojun said, “I would like to thank Sotheby’s for this precious opportunity to present the exhibition of my pursuance and discovery of authentic nature at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery, in the city of concrete jungle where information and technology are rapidly advancing. My creations represent my interpretations of the philosophy of our ancients - the harmony of heaven, earth and man. The concept can be limitlessly universal, but also intimate. It is the conversation between humans and nature. I would like to make people return to the authentic relationship with nature again in the illusionary civilisation.”

Mee-Seen Loong, Sotheby’s Vice Chairman, Chinese Art, said, “This selling exhibition offers a chance to be drawn into the labyrinthian Imagination of Zeng Xiaojun, the Beijing-based artist, scholar and collector, this is expressed in his enchanted paintings in ink of wildly spirited roots, meandering vines and twisted trees. It is an extrapolation of classical painting drawing upon iconic and ancient subjects in a striking new visual vocabulary and seen through the brilliant eyes of a present day literati.”

Zeng Xiaojun
Born in Beijing in 1954, Zeng Xiaojun graduated from Beijing’s Central Art and Craft Academy of Fine Arts in 1981. Connoisseur of classical Chinese furniture, collector of scholar’s rocks and all things wood, and furniture maker himself, Zeng is a contemporary exemplar of the traditional scholar artist who not only paints but studies and collects subjects that have survived the vicissitudes of man, nature and time. Drawing inspiration from the literati tradition, his paintings of old, twisted organic objects are portraits of specific characters from mother nature. Having exhibited his works internationally, his paintings are currently in the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and other major private collections across Asia and the United States. His recent featured exhibitions include Shuimo / Water Ink at Sotheby’s New York S|2 Gallery in 2013, Rochers de lettrés at Musée des arts asiatiques Guimet, Paris in 2012 and Fresh Ink: Ten Takes on Chinese Tradition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2010.