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Sun Yitian, Image of Jesus, 2024 Open a larger version of this image in a popup. (This link opens in a new tab).. (This link opens in a new tab).

Sun Yitian Image of Jesus, 2024

Acrylic on canvas

59,7 x 49,7 cm (unframed)
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The work depicts a Christian devotional image leaning on a shelf.

Sun Yitian is drawing on the history of Chinese adaptation of Christian imagery. The artist grew up in the southern city of Wenzhou where Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism and Christianity are all very popular. Its density of Christian churches ranks first in all of China with a proportion of Christians as high as 15%. There are various reasons for this: The city began as a trading port at the end of the 19th century, and missionaries began actively preaching in the Wenzhou area. Secondly, Wenzhou is one of the regions in China with the most developed private economy, and the rapid economic development and commercial prosperity have provided a material basis for religious beliefs. Devotional images are wide-spread.

Yet, when the artist traveled to Europe, she noticed the difference between Western and Chinese depictions of Christian imagery. Here the religious aspects is put in the foreground: where does the holiness reside? This observation became part of her exploration of what an image is and how the Chinese appropriation of Western representations (or consumer objects) functions. In this context, she draws also on what Han Byung-Chul discusses in his book “Shanzhai – Chinese-style Deconstruction”: “Shanzhai” is not simply copying or imitation, but a kind of “Chinese-style deconstruction” with profound cultural connotations and creativity.

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