Obsession with fish

Detail, Harvest 1, 2004, Li Jin; courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angles; The East West Bank Collection; promised gift of East West Bank.

Fish figure frequently in the work of by Tianjing-based Li Jin and in this video profile you can watch him expertly scaling, slitting and frying one. The fish looks delicious sizzling in hot oil. Although we tend to forget in this age of gluttony and gourmandise, the painter's commentary reminds us that obsession with food can be a result of deprivation and need. This theme is picked up in a powerful and disturbing work titled "Starvation" by Zhi Lin, another of three artists born in China featured in the show.
"Banquet: A Feast for the Senses" opens in two weeks