Sanzi

散⼦：1965年⽣，油画本科学历，祖籍江苏扬州。曾游历于⾹港、纽约、巴黎、北京等 地，现居上海；散⼦先后于⾹港、上海、迈阿密、纽约、台北、新加坡、吉隆坡等地举办 个展，当地媒体皆有专题报道，尤其是散⼦提出的“四⼗岁之前是儒、四⼗岁之后是道”的 ⾔论已深⼊⼈⼼并⼴为论道；散⼦深厚的⼈⽣阅历和感悟最终选择其以“⽼庄哲学”为创作 主题，其作品独特的表现技巧和画⾯仙风道⾻般的唯美！从⽽拥有不少知⼰藏家；伦敦 “宝龙”、北京“保利”等著名拍卖公司拍卖其作品皆以超百万元⼈民币成交；维基百科、百 度百科、⾕歌等等均有散⼦名典。并且散⼦是美国太格⾥齐-达姆画廊(Taglialatella Galleries)⽬前代理的唯⼀⼀位中国艺术家。蜚声国际的波普艺术家安迪-沃霍尔(Andy Warhol)、杰夫-昆斯(Jeff Koons)、怀伤艺术家安德鲁-怀斯(Andrew-Wyeth)都是出⾃该画廊 （毕加索初来纽约时也是与该画廊合作）；在2011年12⽉举办的迈阿密巴塞尔艺博会上， 散⼦作品与安迪沃霍尔、昆斯、怀斯等作品同台展出，在当地获得了强烈反响，散⼦⽤绘 画的形式推进中国道家⽂化在国际上的认知树⽴了先河

Born in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, he is part of China’s earliest generation of academically trained painters. In his early life, Mr. Sanzi worked blue-collared jobs in order to support his artistic career: what was considered “government jobs”, or “iron bowls” (铁饭碗), in China, in the 80s. In the early 2000s, Sanzi was able to achieve a major breakthrough in his career as his work received critical acclaim by collectors in Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia. 

Sanzi is one of the few Chinese artists currently represented by the famous Taglialatella Galleries, and in Art Basel Miami, 2011, his work was displayed on the same stage as artists such as Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Andrew-Wyeth as part of Taglialatella Galleries’ exhibition. 

Styles and Motifs

“Little people'' is a motif used in many of Sanzi’s works. In his own words, these characters represent all of us seeking the way of life in this world. Through these “little people '', Sanzi tries to tell us, regardless of who and where we are in the world, different people’s actions made up the “Tao ''. Sometimes these characters represent ordinary tales of madness, and some represent the passersby simply making up part of the scenery. Everything we do, at any given moment, consists of our past experience, our ideation of the future, and our reception of the current reality.

That is Tao. 

The word “Zi” in Chinese carries the meaning of mentors, the person to spread a certain school of thoughts. It means, and is pronounced the same as the end syllable in names such as “Confucius" or “Lao Tzu”. A master of thoughts, and someone who devotes his life to teaching others. As for the word “San”, it presents a kind of mentality in the world of Taoism. A free-flowing state of wandering, and being amongst the environment as one. Combined together, Mr Sanzi tries to use his artistic persona to teach us his ways, it’s the way of Tao, but it’s also the way of life. 

This state of wandering, walking without a purpose, understanding life as a zero-sum game, but still remaining passionate about the little things, and being a real human being, that’s what Taoism calls “Xiao Yao Xing”.

逍遥行

The best translation for this idea may be “a state of free wandering in life”, but it doesn’t even portray a third of what this concept is about. What is free? Taoism thinks that absolute freedom is also based on restrictions of our reality, even our emotions, but to be truly free of such things, doesn’t make us seek things outside of this world, or fall into a state of occultism. More importantly, we are simply doing the best we are able, based on the reality we believe to be true, and live out that livestyle. That is the state of Xiao Yao (逍遥).

Taoism is a religion with multiple deities, which means that there’s not one true God among the superior existence. The word “散” （San), also refers to the untitled deities amongst men. The ones spreading the world of God, but living among the beings. 

Relating back to his blue-collar background, in many ways, this is precisely the kind of ideology Mr. Sanzi seeks to spread amongst us, and that is to define our own reality and act accordingly, be the master of our own action, but most importantly, be just, the best we can. 

And, that is also, the way of Tao.