2003.3.1
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Fang became famous in the early 1990s for a series of paintings featuring bald-headed men whose expressions were difficult to read— some were either screaming or yawning, others staring blankly or maybe menacingly out at the viewer. This image, too, is ambiguous: the man in the center is clearly exerting himself, but it remains unclear whether he is swimming or being pulled under by the violent waves around him. Fang may be making a commentary on contemporary society and the struggle of the individual to stay afloat within it, but the ultimate meaning of this image remains defiantly unclear.
Artwork Details
- Title: 2003.3.1
- Artist: Fang Lijun (Chinese, born 1963)
- Date: 2003
- Culture: China
- Medium: Seven-panel wood block print; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image (each): 13 ft. 1 1/2 in. × 48 in. (400 × 121.7 cm)
Overall 13 ft. 1 1/2 in. × 27 ft. 11 1/2 in. (400 × 852 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Lent by a private collection, Hong Kong
- Rights and Reproduction: © Fang Lijun
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art