Mythos of Lost Dynasties Series—Negative and Positive Characters

1984–85

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Each of these three hanging scrolls is inscribed with the characters zheng 正 and fan 反. When juxtaposed, the words can mean "correct” and “contrary,” “proper” and “improper,” “front” and “back,” “orthodox” and “unorthodox,” thus calling into question what is correct or incorrect in art or in social behavior. In all three scrolls the two characters are written one above another, starkly silhouetted in black ink against a white ground. Gu uses a variety of techniques to undermine their graphic and lexical force, including writing them backward, literally contradicting their semantic sense. The characters in the flanking scrolls are also partially obscured by dark forms that resemble standing figures. As is the case with many of Gu’s works created around the mid-1980s, conceptual interrogations of the written word are often tied to social critique.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Mythos of Lost Dynasties Series—Negative and Positive Characters
Artist: Gu Wenda (Chinese, born 1955)
Date: 1984–85
Culture: China
Medium: Three hanging scrolls; ink on paper
Dimensions: Image (each): 9 ft. 4 5/8 in. × 68 1/2 in. (286 × 174 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Lent by a private collection, Hong Kong
Curatorial Department: Asian Art