New Realism or New Pop
by Peng Feng
Dean of the School of Art at Peking University
Curator of China Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale
Art Critic Curator
When Korean artist Kim Jung hyun opened his works in front of me, my first reaction was to categorize them as part of the New Pop. The reason is very simple, because he appropriated the soup cans commonly used by Andy Warhol, a pop artist.
However, with a little thought, one can see the huge difference between Jin Zhunzhi and Andy Warhol. Firstly, on the surface, Andy Warhol's soup cans are neatly arranged. Perhaps this can indicate that Andy Warhol is cheering for the arrival of the business society. In Jin Zhunzhi's work, all the soup cans are flattened. Although the flattened soup cans often come in various shapes, they are not products neatly arranged for sale in the mall. The jars were pressed so flat that we could feel a noticeable crack in them. If Andy Warhol is catering to the business society, can we say that Jin Zhunzhi is expressing a break with the business society? Furthermore, can we say that Jin Zhunzhi is expressing a break with Andy Warhol? Breaking away from the whole Pop art tradition?
The answer is affirmative. Jin Zhunzhi said that he once made an exhibition entitled "This is not Pop art". In the tradition of Pop art, no matter what reason you give, you will be afraid of being at the end of your wits. The fact that Jin Zhunzhi dares to pick up the topic of canned soup shows that he is not worried that his works will be included in the tradition of Pop art. The reason why he uses the theme of soup cans is not to express the relationship with the tradition of Pop art, but to express the fundamental difference between Pop art and soup cans. I think Jin Zhunzhi's choice is wise, because only differences seen in the same places are the true differences.
Later, I will see Jin Zhunzhi's paintings with branches as the theme. These works initially look a bit like the plum blossoms in traditional Chinese ink painting. However, a little attention will reveal that ink plum blossom is just an illusion, just like soup can is just an illusion of Pop art. Jin Zhunzhi's paintings are actually branches, real branches, just like ready-made products pasted on a canvas. In these works, Jin Zhunzhi also demonstrated his painting intention by comparing two different painting techniques. In some works, some flowers appear to be clearly drawn, while others appear to be pasted on ready-made products. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that both types of flowers were painted on, and they were not the difference between painting and finished products, but rather the difference between the two types of paintings. Some painters paste ready-made products onto the canvas because they make the painting appear more powerful. If a painter can achieve the power of ready-made products through painting, it indicates that the painter's painting power is already strong enough. Jin Zhunzhi embezzled canned pop soup and traditional Chinese painting plum blossoms in order to demonstrate the power of his painting. His paintings seem to tell people that no matter how powerful the Pop art tradition and the plum blossom tradition of traditional Chinese painting are, they cannot hide the power of his paintings.
Although Jin Zhunzhi also expresses the conflicts between tradition and modernity, as well as between East and West, in his works, none of these contents are particularly relevant to his paintings.
