Dayun River
Liang Quan
梁铨
Production date
2007-2008
Object Detail
Media
ink and tea on rice paper on linen
Measurements
180 x 600 cm (pentaptych)
Notes
Dayun River (2007) is a five-panelled work that exemplifies the artist’s meditative process. The division of the composition into separate panels creates an experience for the viewer akin to the slow unrolling of a scroll, to be carefully examined, section by section, by a group of scholars during a ‘yaji’, an elegant gathering. Almost completely neutral, from a distance the work appears white and pale grey, apart from widely spaced areas of green, rose and blue and the occasional area stained by tea. Close-up, the rhythmic variations created by the deeper ink at the edges of each strip of paper are revealed as a pattern of horizontals and verticals intercut with diagonal shapes. The work suggests an aerial view of a misty landscape — a mosaic of bare winter fields, perhaps, or a view of landscape alternating with streams and pools of water. It’s expansive and restful, like a river seen from the deck of a moving boat, a sequential unfolding. In Liang Quan’s practice, all inessential elements are stripped away in a process of slow, deliberate reflection. There is no excess, nothing gestural or flamboyant. This is painting reduced to its essence. ‘When things disappear into non-existence,’ he says, ‘this is the condition of Zen.’
Accession number
2010.031