Cyano-Collage 191
Artist
Wu Chi-Tsung
(Taiwanese, born 1981)
Date2023
Mediumcyanotypes on Xuan paper with acrylic gel on brushed aluminum
Dimensionspanel: 225 × 60 cm (88 9/16 × 23 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineMuseum purchase through the Chapin Riley Fund at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation
Object number2024.1
Label TextWu’s work knits together the long-standing Chinese shan shui landscape tradition with what he calls “a dialogue with Western art in the spatial dimension.” Shan shui paintings, or “mountain-water-pictures,” typically lack a fixed perspective. Rather, they seek a contemplative connection to the landscape through balance, composition, and open brushwork. Inspired by his training, Wu presents viewers with a contemporary, global approach to shan shui using cyanotype and aluminum, both European inventions.
Wu embraces chance as a central tenet of his practice. He begins by crumpling light-sensitive cyanotype paper and exposing it outside for varying amounts of time in ever-changing light conditions. The paper is developed in a waterbath, dried, and then collaged onto an aluminum mount. Recalling his work on Cyano-Collage 191, Wu wrote, "I think the day the paper was exposed was sunny…The high intensity of sunlight [results] in sharp colors and high contrast...and the subtle color gradients within the composition indicate the paper was in shadow.”ProvenanceSean Kelly Gallery, NYOn View
Not on view
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