Scope and Contents

Huston Paschal prepared this gallery guide for the exhibition. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents This book was published to coincide with an exhibition at the Sackler Gallery. Library Journal: "At the culmination of his art career in China, Xu Bing (who now lives in the West) spent months inventing more than 1200 characters that mimic Chinese characters but have no known meaning. At once familiar and strange, they evoke confusion, wonderment, and even hostility in viewers. Xu Bing printed them in books with traditional formats, on wall posters, and on giant billowing sheets, which he installed in exhibition galleries to form a ceiling or sky. He cagily argues that any explanation of his art is superfluous because the books have no meaning. However, while the books themselves may be unreadable, they have a great deal to say about what their creator thought about Chinese art and culture after the Cultural Revolution. Issued in conjunction with his current exhibition at the Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian, this catalog describes the artist's early years in China and his...