Untitled 1
Su Xinping
苏新平
Production date
2015
Object Detail
Media
pastel and charcoal on paper
Measurements
12 pieces, installed 330 x 320 cm
Notes
A focus on potent allegorical imagery characterises Su Xinping’s work. Untitled No. 1 (2015) depicts gigantic clasped hands, rendered in white chalk pastel on red paper in twelve separate panels. The hands loom out of the black charcoal background like a monumental sculpture. Is this a gesture of prayer, of supplication, or of patient resignation? The image is melancholy, conveying a sense of sorrow and isolation. The artist says these hands, roughened by hard work, are his own: hands can convey profound meanings, but it is finally up to the viewer to interpret their nuances. Yet Su Xinping shares this imagery of the hands with many others in Chinese art. Images of hands have often been used as a visual symbol in China – from the many gestures of Buddha, to palmistry in Daoism, to the waving gestures of Chairman Mao and the raised fists of workers and soldiers in Communist propaganda posters.
Here, in Untitled No. 1 and other works in the series, Su Xinping has applied western realist techniques to depicting the hands and faces of the common people of China, representing shared humanity in the face of suffering, and as a mute witness to the unstoppable forces of social change. In their sculptural clasped form, these hands also evoke the mountainous landscapes of Chinese traditional painting, suggesting a connection between man and nature that the artist fears may be lost in today’s urbanised world.
Here, in Untitled No. 1 and other works in the series, Su Xinping has applied western realist techniques to depicting the hands and faces of the common people of China, representing shared humanity in the face of suffering, and as a mute witness to the unstoppable forces of social change. In their sculptural clasped form, these hands also evoke the mountainous landscapes of Chinese traditional painting, suggesting a connection between man and nature that the artist fears may be lost in today’s urbanised world.
Accession number
2015.561