Artwork Description

Title: Black Bridge – one of the sunset clouds
Artist: Min Huang
Date: n.d.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 180 x 150 cm (70.9 x 59.1 in)

1. Artwork Identification
This large-format painting Title:d Black Bridge – one of the sunset clouds by contemporary Chinese artist Min Huang presents a vivid urban scene awash in contrasts—between natural beauty and human neglect, intimacy and alienation, color and darkness. A scooter carrying two figures glides into the vanishing point of a sunset street, flanked by darkened buildings and tangled wires. On one side, luminous clouds and palm silhouettes glow; on the other, a heap of refuse disrupts the scene with jarring realism. The work offers a searing and poetic document of everyday life at the edge of urban modernity.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Executed in thick impasto brushwork and expressive coloration, Huang’s piece fuses social realism with emotional saturation. Her palette—especially the incendiary pinks and indigos of the sunset—evokes cinematic melancholy, while the blunt presence of waste foregrounds the social critique that runs throughout her oeuvre. Her practice, informed by academic training at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and exposure to European contemporary trends, engages a hybrid language between East and West, documentary and painterly fiction.

3. Historical Context
Min Huang (b. 1975, Sichuan) rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a leading voice in China's post-socialist realism. Her 2015 participation in the influential China 8 exhibition in Germany brought her international acclaim. Through series like Figure Album and People, she has articulated the complex emotional and material fabric of modern China, particularly through the lens of women's experiences and urban transformation. This painting belongs to that same spirit of social engagement, offering a snapshot of infrastructure, inequality, and resilience.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact. Huang Min’s works have been exhibited at L-A Gallery (Frankfurt), Forbidden Gallery (Beijing), Art Basel, and the Beijing International Gallery Fair. Her paintings are held in both private and institutional collections across Asia and Europe.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition. The surface is stable, with no visible cracks, tears, or discoloration. Pigments are fresh and the canvas is properly stretched and conserved. Minor surface texture variations are consistent with the artist’s technique.

6. Artistic Significance
Black Bridge – one of the sunset clouds is a striking example of Min Huang’s social consciousness and artistic sensitivity. It merges documentary attention with lyrical transformation, capturing the contradictions of everyday life in the Chinese periphery. As such, the work resonates across cultural contexts, making it a powerful addition to any collection concerned with contemporary realism, urban studies, or Chinese visual culture.