Image: Jacky Tsai, 'The Chinese Gamble', 2014 (detail), courtesy Eyestorm, London
Twenty early and rare artworks by Jacky Tsai have been made exclusively available through Eyestorm Private Sales from a private German collection, according to an announcement issued by the London-based art business. The selection brings together works from several of the Chinese artist’s best-known bodies of work, including his floral skull imagery and oversized playing-card series, alongside pieces addressing politics, commerce and cultural exchange.
A leading work in the offering is ‘The Chinese Gamble’ (2014), a unique screenprint with paper collage on a 120-by-120-centimetre wood panel. Tsai layers screenprinted imagery of the rising houses of worship, from Macau to Las Vegas, over a collage of fictional banknotes. Eyestorm describes it as one of a series of five, each with unique backgrounds.
Another highlight, ‘Destroy the Four Olds II’ (2014), combines screenprinting on wood with a collage of vintage posters. The 80-by-100-centimetre work depicts Mao Zedong against imagery connected to China’s Cultural Revolution. Eyestorm’s description presents the piece as a humorous and subtle form of political commentary, in which the background’s torn posters suggest perspectives that differed from official campaigns to eliminate “old ideas, culture, customs and habits”.
The selection also includes ‘Floral Skull (Lime Green)’ and ‘Blue Skull’, both from 2011 and described as among Tsai’s earliest adaptations of the floral-skull motif. The former is a signed and numbered screenprint on silk, measuring 85 by 120 centimetres and issued in an edition of five. ‘Blue Skull’ is a signed and numbered screenprint measuring 100 by 130 centimetres, also in an edition of five. The images combine skulls with flowers, butterflies and a cockatoo in sharply contrasting colour schemes.
According to Eyestorm’s artist material, Tsai first developed the floral-skull image in 2008 during an internship at Alexander McQueen in London. The artist’s broader practice combines traditional Chinese techniques and references to Western Pop Art, using media that include guohua painting, screenprinting, silk embroidery, cloisonné lacquering, sculpture and painted porcelain. Born in China in 1984, Tsai studied at the China Academy of Art before moving to London to complete an MA in Illustration at Central Saint Martins, graduating in 2008.
Other works named in the private-sales selection include ‘Stained Glass Skull’ (2013), a six-colour screenprint on Somerset Satin paper from an edition of 60; ‘Flying Tiger’ (2012), a giclée print from an edition of 30; and ‘Sanctuary Skull (Queen of Club)’ (2015). The latter is a double-sided, seven-colour screenprint on die-cut museum board and belongs to a suite of 15 unique oversized playing cards, running from ace to king with two jokers. Eyestorm’s announcement directs collectors seeking images or further information to its client-services team.
