Abstract
The Work of Lantian D.
One of the most basic things to understand about Lantian D.’s work is that it is born out of an acute awareness of the weaknesses inherent in contemporary art. The sorry state of the contemporary artworld is even the theme of one her earliest paintings, Crime and Punishment, which contains some suggestive depictions of artists and intellectuals who may bear some responsibility for the present situation: Jacques Derrida, Marcel Duchamp, Tracy Emin, Michel Foucault, Clement Greenberg, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Charles Saatchi, and Andy Warhol are all depicted as witch-like creatures from one of Francisco Goya’s black paintings, alongside contemporary works by the Chapman brothers, Ron Mueck, and so on. A more recent portrait touches upon the same theme. Decline portrays a young boy guarding the precious Wallace collection of European art in London. The moth on the window behind the boy suggests that the collection is like an old garment that is no longer worn: tucked away in a stuffy environment, and out of tune with the surrounding culture, which, as the title suggests, is in decline.
One of the most basic things to understand about Lantian D.’s work is that it is born out of an acute awareness of the weaknesses inherent in contemporary art. The sorry state of the contemporary artworld is even the theme of one her earliest paintings, Crime and Punishment, which contains some suggestive depictions of artists and intellectuals who may bear some responsibility for the present situation: Jacques Derrida, Marcel Duchamp, Tracy Emin, Michel Foucault, Clement Greenberg, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Charles Saatchi, and Andy Warhol are all depicted as witch-like creatures from one of Francisco Goya’s black paintings, alongside contemporary works by the Chapman brothers, Ron Mueck, and so on. A more recent portrait touches upon the same theme. Decline portrays a young boy guarding the precious Wallace collection of European art in London. The moth on the window behind the boy suggests that the collection is like an old garment that is no longer worn: tucked away in a stuffy environment, and out of tune with the surrounding culture, which, as the title suggests, is in decline.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Department of Visual Studies, Lingnan University |
| Publication status | Published - May 2018 |
Publication series
| Name | Lingnan University - Artists-in-Residence Programme Exhibition Catalogue |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Department of Visual Studies, Lingnan University |
