Cyran Fan is a painter living and working in Hong Kong. Fan also works as a computer illustrator and graduated from the Hong Kong Art School with a diploma in Fine Art in 2004. Fan has exhibited in groups and solo in Hong Kong.
Fan’s paintings focus on figures. He combines the smooth, unnatural sheen seen in Chinese propaganda posters from the Mao era, but instead of smiling, happy countrymen and women, Fan presents heavily distorted figures, with tiny feet and bloated bodies, jowly and drooping. Although the figures may appear joyful, as in The Red Balloon, the eyes and body language of Fan’s figures, often leaned or slumped over, portray a deep lethargy, rooted in the continued endurance of life, a smiling mask plastered over immeasurable unease. Even when figures are depicted dancing, there is no sense of movement or joviality, as Fan’s backgrounds are just that – backgrounds – of flat, neutral shades of black, grey, and brown, reminiscent of dark, foreboding Baroque backgrounds and ensuring the viewer focuses solely on the figures.
Fan’s characters serve as a warning sign to the viewer; getting caught up in the stream of life might result in a fate like theirs. In a joint exhibition with painter Beverley Cheng, Fan sought to inspire viewers to remain positive and maintain an assertive attitude to prevent city life from grinding them down. With this in mind, Fan’s figures can be seen in another way – despite their monotonous, dull backgrounds, they embrace what they have and celebrate it by dancing and blowing up balloons, indulging themselves instead of trying to escape the inescapable repetition of life. The duality of Fan’s work gives the viewer ample room for interpretation – Fan’s use of the colour red and reference to the style of Maoist propaganda posters is a poignant reminder.
