Self and Self - A Beginning
He Yunchang
何云昌
Production date
2009-2013
Object Detail
Media
oil on canvas
Measurements
320 x 232 cm
Notes
Self and Self—A Beginning (2013) is a large oil painting depicting He covered in bright yellow house paint and kneeling to tie his shoe, against a background of smaller images of the artist engaged in exactly the same action, looks back to a work from 1999. In Golden Sunshine, he had painted himself with yellow industrial paint and, suspended from a rope, attempted to paint the walls of a prison in Kunming with the same sunny yellow, before using a mirror to deflect the rays of the sun onto the wall. He suffered skin damage from the paint, and twice fainted whilst hanging in mid-air during the two-hour performance. This self-portrait, one of a series of paintings, represents He Yunchang’s younger self, his dreams and ambitions as yet unfulfilled. The colour yellow, traditionally the colour of imperial power and the ‘dragon robes’ worn by the emperor, entirely covered his body. He’s performances focus upon the individual, the common man, and thus are positioned against the forces of authoritarianism and the repressive apparatus of the state.
Accession number
2013.205