Easily mistaken for a photograph, "What If No. 9" (2012) is a stunning, large-scale surrealist oil painting by rising star, emerging Chinese Contemporary female artist Zhao Shushi (Xi'an, China, b. 1980). What If no. 9" depicts a tower of traditional Chinese wooden tables placed precariously one atop the other for an unknown reason but with a powerful and exciting visual and spatial effect. Zhao's surreal composition makes this more than just a pretty picture. This work belongs to her latest and critically acclaimed "What If" series of realist oil paintings where everyday household objects, such as scissors, tables, and clocks are rendered in a highly realist manner and stripped from any context, literally tipping and floating through the empty space of the canvas, usually off-kilter. This painting measures 59 x 47.25 inches (150 x 120 cm), is in excellent condition, and comes to this Sale directly from The Studio of the Artist, China. 

 

This exciting depiction of a romanticized everyday object is combined with the artist's passion for classical Chinese literature and philosophy, here expressed in the ethereal elegant details and soft hues. She uses the principles of illusion and deception to explore new methods of visual expression. Zhao's understanding of both Western and Eastern cultures develops a new spirit of painting as a reaction to life and nature that reflects emotions and psychology of the both the artist and the viewer. 

 

Zhao is of the finest Contemporary realist painters of her young 1980's Chinese generation. She is knowledgeable of Western art trends and movements, such as surrealism, conceptualism and spatialism, learned after studying in New Zealand and France, as well as China. The artist studied Chinese painting and calligraphy as a child, and received her Master’s Degree in Art and Cultural Marketing at University of Montpellier, France with honors in 2010. In 2005 She was invited to participate in the first Biennale de l'art Contemporain Chinois de Montpellier, which initiated the Chinese contemporary art movement in France. The artist currently lives and works in Beijing, China.
 

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