Zhou Yan Contemporary Chinese Art Archive 周彦当代中国艺术档案
Preview
Date
11-1994
Format
Photograph
Materials
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
140 x 140 cm
Description
Composed at the center of the picture is a large, opened red scissors. Its reflective -- potentially metal -- surface is highlighted by the white pigment appended upon the red color of the scissors. In the dark, chaotic, almost cosmic background painted by convoluted black and white brushstrokes, a few quotidian objects loom; their presences are only marked some outlines -- their translucent bodies are occupied by the work's background. Among the objects, we can identify a glass bottle, a plate (empty or not) of pills, a key (by the top-left corner), a back chair... These objects are all frequent subjects of Mao's artworks made in the 80s' and 90s'. Mao could have adopted these everyday objects to play symbolisms of "power", and the artist may as well wished to communicate his entangled feelings to the very notion of "power" -- fear, pity, sublimity, and may they be others. (Zhou, 毛旭辉的“时间复调”—反复吟唱的热爱, 2018, Mann Art, available on http://www.maanart.com/index.php/Home/Article/detail/id/78) (Jerry Wu'23).