Untitled D
Chen Chunmu
陈春木
Production date
2006
Object Detail
Media
watercolour on paper
Measurements
51 x 37 cm
Notes
Chen Chunmu often credits his hometown, where he spent his childhood exploring the lush, misty mountains nearby and gathering various species of wild plants, as his source of inspiration. Chen’s surrealist paintings typically feature intriguing supernatural creatures with mysterious organs and body parts. His flowing brushstrokes and use of thinned down ink and acrylic paint reflect his interest in traditional Chinese calligraphy and ink and brush painting. In his ‘Untitled Series’, sprouting branches, buds and leaves, beaks and feathers, hair and scales, wings, claws and genitals are all merged to become singular imaginary creatures. Some of the works depict a playfully erotic being, flying and dancing in a dreamy yellow-blue mist. Others depict an emaciated bird with multiple breasts on its neck, and gangly limbs jointed to a pair of large claws. Chen Chunmu says, ‘If you use language to explain my works, they will become incomplete or distorted, or alienated from their source. Just as with musicians, the best explanation is the music.’
Accession number
2007.018