Fan Anxiang’s paintings create a type of unpredictable mysteriousness, separated far from the noisy reality – distancing oneself from reality, starting from one’s personal experience has became a point of departure in the work of artists born in the 1970’s. As the market economy has destroyed China’s former economic structure and order, it has also brought about drastic changes in social structure, lifestyle and values. The unstoppable post-modern is restructuring everything we see, the direction in which Chinese contemporary art is developing is changing accordingly: on the one hand, we are walking away from realist artistic language; the simple pursuit of realism in technique remains only within the system of academic education; concept has become the most important force guiding contemporary Chinese art. On the other hand, the pursuit of a grand narrative has also gradually become extinct, individual voices have replaced the sound of the formal collective. In contrast with the 85 New Art Movement, which was characterized by the formation of collectives, albeit varied in many other aspects (they were often more like all sorts of groups), contemporary Chinese artists have now completely disintegrated into unique individuals. The Chinese reality, with its alarming speed of change, has provided each artist with completely different individual experiences, true multilateralism have induced unprecedented yet complex and flourishing phenomena in contemporary Chinese art.However problems also arise from this. Even at the founding of the People’s Republic, realist art had already had a fundamental influence on artists. The decline of realism means is only apparent in the artistic form, its influence on methodology is still rather profound – artists are still proposing questions that arise from certain issues in real life, or portraying certain particular experiences in their surroundings, or targeting the superficial reflection of a certain reality. They often neglect the individual experience that’s beyond reality, and thus remain at the surface. Thus even those works that emerge from individual experience appear to be rather weak, moreover, because what is portrayed is only the temporal effect of reality it appears to be of less value – this is also why certain works only move some people, but are unable to move everyone.Fan Anxiang’s work avoids the hidden trap of realist methodology. He has opened the channel between his work and ancient Chinese scholarly painting in his pursuit of the same kind of spirit, transmitting ancient and mysterious topics, making himself heard at the undefined and mysterious border.Whether praising the harmony of the world and its people or using painting to escape from reality, ancient scholars exerted a tremendous amount of effort in portraying nature, the branches and swallows shown in their images produced a consensus with others through their symbolism, the purposefully imbued nature is no longer their original appearance, but a conduit for a desired outcome of the artist. At the same time, they followed traditional Chinese painting’s composition structure – for example, the bird’s eye perspective – in becoming excellent works that can be enjoyed over time.Fan Anxiang, living in this contemporary world, is perhaps unable to completely comprehend the meaning of the ancients. However, its components and symbolic meanings have been passed on through traditional Chinese culture. Fan Anxiang uses dancing trees, motley wildgrass, and lonesome birds to successfully create a warm yet mysterious ambiance. Perhaps their life experiences are different, but what they attempt to express must be similar – painting a soft dwelling to temporarily hold their souls in the midst of loneliness and confusion.Fan Anxiang’s inner realm comes from China’s constantly accelerating modernization, the curse of “striking down whatever’s backward” is constantly pushing us to strive for a better material future, yet, more and more we come to realize material abundance cannot compensate for our internal void. The man dressed in style in Fan Anxiang’s painting is not facing the audience, but towards the soft dwelling of his own creation – unable to leave, only by leaving the sleek city behind can one enter a dreamland in the comfort of nature, or even attain a wish that these trees and grass – representing warmth – will become one with the self, to attain that momentary peacefulness. This is the projection of Fan Anxiang himself, at the same time, it is also the condensation of a typical contemporary.In his recent works, Fan Anxiang has purposefully elongated the latitude of historical periods, speeding the process of urbanization, and endowing terms such as “time passes, things change” with a sense of speed. What is just appearing before one’s eyes can be instantly forgotten, Fan Anxiang uses shattered details to enforce the passing of time, the desolate scene dispersed in wildgrass, this time has lost its mysteriousness of soft dwelling, what’s left is only confusion in destitution. As traditional elements merge with modern objects in one image, the disparity between history and reality creates certain illusions. Fan Anxiang uses fictional hues, in a seemingly decorative style of refined strokes and lines, to assemble completely different matters – all form an unfathomable maze, leading us to an unknown border of mystery – here, we are not pressed for time, all meanings are suddenly paused before the motley vegetation, rationales are abstracted, so are ideals, what is necessary at this moment is only a feeling, to be savored.