Chasing the Sun, Zhao Yannian

Artwork Overview

Zhao Yannian, Chasing the Sun
Zhao Yannian, Chasing the Sun
Chasing the Sun
1992
1924–2014
Chasing the Sun, 1992
Portfolio/Series title: Myth Series
Where object was made: China
Material/technique: woodcut
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 400 x 560 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 472 x 612 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 15 3/4 x 22 1/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 18 9/16 x 24 1/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 24 x 32 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: R. Charles and Mary Margaret Clevenger Fund
Accession number: 2001.0082
Not on display
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Archive Label 2003: In his most recent work, such as the Myth Series, Zhao has departed from his earlier focus on social criticism to explore wider philosophical issues. In Chasing the Sun he affirms his belief in the overpowering regenerative force of nature. Exhibition Label: "Selections for the Summer," Jun-2006, Mary Dusenbury In the 20th century, China experienced revolutionary zeal, brutal violence, the affirmation and rejection of tradition, fear, hope, despair, and dizzying radical changes. The four artists whose work is shown here interpreted the life of their times in very different ways: Ding Cong’s handscroll is a biting political satire; Zhao Yannian, another daring social critic, used his rough-carved woodblock prints to aid and celebrate the revolutionary cause; Zhao Shao-ang’s ink paintings evoke the past and the timeless beauty of nature and at first seem unrelated to the realities of contemporary Chinese life; Xu Bing plays with Chinese ideographs to comment on meaning and the distortion of meaning. In the late 1990s, Zhao departed from his earlier focus on social criticism to explore wider philosophical themes. In Chasing the Sun he affirms his belief in the overpowering regenerative force of nature.