Self-portraiture and emerging artistic consciousness in Dafen
Dafen is a village surrounded by the thriving metropolis of Shenzhen, and the origin of most of the world’s reproduction oil paintings. In the popular imagination Dafen’s artists produce anonymous works for unknown customers, operating no differently than a faceless factory churning out counterfeits, replicas and nothing close to what would be considered art.
REGIONAL productively collaborated with the otherwise commoditized community in Dafen by asking selected individuals, some for the first time, to imagine themselves in their professional medium. The final works show the technical, creative, and professional facets of the artists identities subsumed by the styles and relationships they maintain with specific famous artists. The hybrid result of original subject with derivative style comments on originality, global cultural production and REGIONAL’s cooperation with emerging enterprise forms that are internationalizing the village.
The product of the collaboration are sets of images (seen below) comprising a digital photo of the artist in his studio, an indicative painting of their usual output and an original self-portrait. While the final works contain both the creative signature of the original masters and the emergent self-consciousness of the Dafen artists, it is equally important to note that they derived great fulfillment from using their talents freely, and were remunerated at a rate commensurate with the unique international nature of the project.
The series operates as a comment on iconicity in cultural reproduction and consumerism as well as posits strategies for enabling and activating creativity that would otherwise be absorbed by routine production. The works produced with the talent of DAFEN are part of a continuing series of our international collaborations that seek to engage and encourage untapped creative, cultural and economic opportunity around the world.
The paintings seen below are to be featured in galleries worldwide in the coming year.
Xiao Keman (b. 1980), Shanxi Province, PRC. Painter of DaVinci. Self-Portrait: 72cm x 72cm
Yang Guoyin (b. 1956), Hunan Province PRC. Painter of VanGogh. Self-Portrait: 72cm x 72cm 
Zhong Min (b. 1976), Jiangxi Province, PRC. Painter of Renoir. Self-Portrait: 72cm x 72cm
Zhang Fei (b. 1981), Hunan Province, PRC. Painter of Zhao Wuji. Self-Portrait: 72cm x 72cm
Xu ZanPeng (b. 1987), Yunnan Province, PRC. Painter of Russian Baroque (Иван Николаевич Крамской). Self-Portrait: 72cm x 72cm
He Weidong (b. 1975), Jiangxi Province, PRC. Painter of Zhang Xiaogang. Self-Portrait: 72cm x 72cm
April 18th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Absolutely beautiful! Great to see such personal expression from artists with great talent.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:03 am
That is a terrific idea for a project. I really enjoy how the artist uses the style that he is accustomed to copying to make a self portrait. Bravo!
April 19th, 2008 at 9:42 am
It’s amazing to see nearly spot on appropriation of the different styles…I wonder if these artists will receive more publicity and encouragement for their own works as opposed to their reproductions. ty for sharing this…
April 19th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Wow. Really great!
April 19th, 2008 at 11:07 am
it is so touching to see these beautiful people and their honest self portraits; a sacred glimpse of the humanity behind all of this…
April 19th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
wow, this is really stunning. I am wondering if years of churning out reproductions have helped them in some way – reproducing each brush stroke form the masters may have given them insight into their thinking, or at least made them technically better. I hope they will use thisexposure to make themselves real artists, since they have the heart and soul for it.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
wonderful! I would love to see more of this program and work… These artists are amazing, (and obviously completely overlooked) and I’d love to see even more personal expression from them, as well as a way to purchase their (personal) work…
April 19th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I would love to see an exhibit with both the copied works and original works by these artists.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
you inspire the whole world with your talents.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Stunning work. amazing to see how their technique has developed along with the style of the artist they are duplicating.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Truly talented artists. Would love to see additional material by them and their colleagues.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Wow, those are so nice. Definately very talented people.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I never took a moment to consider, who,what,when,where, or how. I’ve sadly taken these great talents for granted. The thought of them,leaves me in awe. Thank you for taking off my blinders. WOW!
April 19th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Simply incredible, I would say to these artisits, express yourself more!
April 19th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Such amazing artistry that we take for granted in our thirst for consumerism. We give little thought to the artists who create these objects that fill our lives, our homes. Thank you so much for sharing this with the world.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Fascinating, and fabulous. I only wish there was more portraits to see. All the artists featured are wonderfully talented – oftentimes even moreso than those who simply do their own works. Ever tried to accurately copy a masterwork? It is much, much harder than one would think. That was how master painters were created, actually – young apprentices were set to copying existing works, to learn and master the techniques. Hopefully all of these artists branch out and employ what they have learned, expanding upon it.
My best to them, and a big thank you for helping beautify the world, one brushstroke at a time.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:01 am
Gwendolyn and Joshua, you guys told me about this project when we met in Shenzhen. Dafen is crazy and I kept on wondering how this turned out – I love it, very interesting on so many levels. Good luck with it all.
July 11th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
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September 10th, 2009 at 11:06 am
[...] OFFICE design group. Self-portraiture and emerging artistic consciousness in Dafen.2007. REGIONAL OFFICE commissioned self-portraits of the Dafen artists [...]
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