Appearances of Crosses（十示）

Creator(s)

Yi DING 丁乙

Preview

Date

1994

Format

Postcard

Exhibition Event Title

Next Generation Art Contemporain D'Asie

Date of Exhibition Event

June 27 - September 9, 2001

Location of Exhibition Event

Passage de Retz, Paris, France

Materials

Chalk and charcoal on canvas

Dimensions

140 x 160 cm

Description

The symbols "x" and "+" (two forms of crosses) are omnipresent in this work; the work indeed is composed by an orderly permutation for these two symbols. Exploring the semiotics of the crosses, DING Yi claimed an oppositional duality of the meanings embedded in the crosses - "meeting" and "un-meeting"; communication and withdrawal. On one hand, DING wishes the crosses could speak for the vortex of cultural merges (Western with the Eastern) occurred in the art realm back then. Simultaneously, however, DING Yi also asserts his self-awareness amid a cultural chaos by defining the crosses also as "meaningless", that he would not be overwhelmed by the tantalizing confusions and ambiguities the art world encountered. Art persists on its own. (Sotheby's (quoted from the catalogue of the work), 826: Ding Yi -- Appearances of Crosses, available on https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/the-ullens-collection-the-nascence-of-avant-garde-china-hk0373/lot.826.html)." (The first image is displayed in the form of postcard, while the other ones are images from the catalogue Ding Yi - Appearances of Crosses)(Jerry Wu'23).