Central Park 14
Zhao Xuebing
赵学兵
Production date
2016
Object Detail
Media
oil on canvas
Measurements
120 x 180 cm
Notes
Zhao Xuebing’s ongoing series of paintings of New York’s Central Park, mostly painted from memory after his return to live and work in China, recall nineteenth century collodion tintypes or cyanotype photographs –– nostalgic and elusive, with hints of solarisation, there are slippages between the positive and negative image. They are like dream landscapes, lonely and desolate, and a little strange.
Central Park 14 (2016) depicts a field of leaf litter and fallen branches in cool bluish-grey tones. Zhao works very slowly, building up layers of thin oil paint, working with very fine brushes, in repeated tiny, feathery circular marks and lines. His monochrome palette references the subtle nuances of Chinese ink wash painting, and the tonal mastery of the literati paintings depicting ‘shan shui’ (mountain and water) scenery. Zhao’s focus is on the path less travelled; he has chosen to depict the north woods area of Central Park, remembering how the landscape was altered by a dramatic storm. This part of Central Park seems natural but is entirely an artifice of design, much like the conventions of the Chinese literati garden. Central Park’s famous designers, Olmsted and Vaux, were imitating the natural landscape formations and foliage of upstate New York. Remote, little visited, neglected and overgrown for many years until recently, it must have seemed a wild landscape to Zhao, in contrast to the orderliness of French public parks, or of the traditional Chinese garden.
Central Park 14 (2016) depicts a field of leaf litter and fallen branches in cool bluish-grey tones. Zhao works very slowly, building up layers of thin oil paint, working with very fine brushes, in repeated tiny, feathery circular marks and lines. His monochrome palette references the subtle nuances of Chinese ink wash painting, and the tonal mastery of the literati paintings depicting ‘shan shui’ (mountain and water) scenery. Zhao’s focus is on the path less travelled; he has chosen to depict the north woods area of Central Park, remembering how the landscape was altered by a dramatic storm. This part of Central Park seems natural but is entirely an artifice of design, much like the conventions of the Chinese literati garden. Central Park’s famous designers, Olmsted and Vaux, were imitating the natural landscape formations and foliage of upstate New York. Remote, little visited, neglected and overgrown for many years until recently, it must have seemed a wild landscape to Zhao, in contrast to the orderliness of French public parks, or of the traditional Chinese garden.
Accession number
2016.122