Tempus Fugit: Metamorphosis of Beauty Painted in: Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Published in: La Chine au présent (French language edition of the magazine China Today) 42nd year, n. 4, April 2004 (pages 51,52,53 with interview with Director Hu Chunhua and Canadian journalist Louise Cadieux). Author's comment: From Latin (Time flies: metamorphosis of Beauty) Unlike "The General", who avoids your condemning look, in "Tempus fugit: Metamorphosis of Beauty" the Lady looks at you straight in your eyes, as if she had something important to convey to you, maybe to teach you. The intense contrast between the body of the maid and the putrescent one of the old lady (observe, particularly, her lips' nuances) compel people to a moment of reflection on life's ephemerality... ------------------------- Comment: "At the end of the 1980’s, a change can be noticed in the artist’s work and it is evident in "Tempus Fugit: Metamorphosis of Beauty”, where the delicate theme of vanitas is developed: the mystery of beauty and of time that passes ruthlessly on a discovery of the passage from beauty to its relentless decline. In “Panta rei” *, the healthy and inviting body of the young woman contrasts her dull wrinkled face and aging features. The tragedy of life’s transience is enhanced by the bright tones of a green cloak enveloping the shape, like a premonition of death". (Dr. Sabrina Falzone) * from Greek "Panta rei" everything flows According to the famous Greek philosopher Heraclitus’ teachings, everything flows. |
