Wei Dong is trained in the art of traditional Chinese landscape painting, which he fuses with Western painterly techniques of the human figure. In Snapshot, the background is painted in the style of an historical Chinese scroll painting, while the two human figures appear as trespassers in the sacred realms of nature and tradition. One sleeps while the other gleefully counts the money in his hand.
Rich in luminous colour and texture, the figures languish in a state of undress. Chillies, biscuits, tea, postal stamps and a high-heeled shoe with nails in its heel are scattered around the small exhausted party.
The use of such portentous symbols is characteristic of Wei’s practice. He reflects on the collision between China’s historical respect for nature, and its past, and the burgeoning influx of personal material wealth in Chinese society.
Wei’s painted characters satirically communicate a hedonistic revelry involving lust, power and economic gain. China’s recent determination to enter the global market has produced a rapidly growing consumer population, eager to believe in the possibility of democracy in an era of diminishing Communism. Wei critically addresses this phenomenon in his work.
