Chen Jiao's November 7th is named after a date, but features an industrial building, sketched lightly against a square grid. More than the building itself, its form stands out against the blank background, with perspective points and the foreground's boundary clearly visible. Against the front building's side, a slogan is available: “safe production,” painted in bold red characters. The final two characters are each drawn backwards, giving a clue that this is image is not actually meant to be a precise rendering of an actual structure. The markings of light color washes are visible in the background, and the work is dotted with Chen's calculations, leaving building measurements and calculations visible. But Chen is no architect. Trained in oil paiting at the Sichuan Fine Art Institute, Chen leaves the calculations visible as a means of voicing the utility and design that goes into the sketch, asking which meanings remain when the building is described in only its signs.

A word from The Artist

I was born in a “satellite city,” a place with lots of factories and warehouses for kids to play in. During my idle time (which was most of the time during my childhood) I wandered around the silent corners a lot, whiling away my days. At the granary, for example, I would watch the farmers drying grain on vast fields, and then wait for the sparrows to come and eat it; I would find two pieces of flint from the shoolyard’s rockpile to bring home; or I would take long walks along newly discovered trails and then try to find my way home before sunset… I loved killing time like this. But I never imagined that that such an idle childhood would help me construct such a rich inner world. The deserted riverbank, the playground corner, the shade under the trees - those places were paradise in my mind.

I want to recreate that paradise in my paintings, without any disguise, glorification or mystification, just the bare truth. And I hope that this truth will move those who share my experience.