Wednesday, June 20, 2007

"Two Figures in Bathroom" (2006) by Yang Qian

"Two Figures in Bathroom" (2006) by Yang Qian. Oil on canvas. 59 x 79 in. (149.9 x 200.7 cm).

From an auction. Please note that it's a painting, not a photo.

Femmes à leur Toilette: Paintings by Yang Qian

A woman at her bath or “toilette” has been a persistant theme in Western art and Christian iconography. It refers to the most intimate ablutions—cleanliness and thus Godliness—of a woman's daily life. Related to the Jewish idea of the Mikvah, the theme is also a meditation on sacred and profane love, hence good and evil.

Yang Qian (“Yahn Chen”) updates these images for the contemporary viewer with steamy showers and bathrooms yet with a certain inherently oriental reticence.
A veil of steam “mist-ifies” the body as it provokes erotic desire; conceals as it reveals. Chinese modesty about the naked female body combined with the artist's skill is the source of the compelling sublety and beauty in these paintings.

– Michael Berger, 2005

Yang Qian lives and works in Beijing, China.

(source)

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