Gratified Young Man is a landmark work within Shi Chong’s oeuvre, winning the silver medal at the 3rd Annual Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition. The painting leaves a profound impression on the viewer, with the naked body of the young man coated in a layer of pallid white makeup, sitting numbly with an eerily bizarre smile spread across his face. In his bare hands he presents a blood red bird. In the conception of this piece the artist entered into an artistic process of “act first, paint after”. The artist initially exhibited the concept in the form of performance art and based the later painting from selected and edited photographs of the earlier performance. This method of working thereby marries together the body used in contemporary performance art and the language of classical painting, using hyper realistic characterisation as a means to convey the artist’s whole concept.

In its final form as a painting, Gratified Young Man allows Shi Chong to venture into various mediums of contemporary artistic expression, as well as providing a successful example of a transformation of the conventional approach to easel-based art. Critic Yin Jinan commented that: “the installation and performative works of Shi Chong are more or less interrelated with contemporary culture and society and have a contemporaneity synchronised with personal feeling. The painstakingly meticulous execution of the oil painting reflects the artist’s masterful craftsmanship and expresses the “classicism” of the medium. He commands two distinctly different natures within one system, creating a focal point of conflict.”

(Edited by Lijie Wang & Miao Zijin, 2019)