If You Dare to Look Close
Phantom Landscape II – No. 1 demonstrates how Yang Yongliang simultaneously embraces and subverts the imagery and philosophy of traditional landscape painting. The composition of this work was taken from Qu Ding’s Summer Mountains, a hand scroll from the Northern Song Dynasty. With this recognizable infusion of history, the work expresses an apocalyptic foreboding for the China of today. [1] Because he was creating works primarily for Chinese audiences, this direct reference to the work of an ancient master would make his work all the more jarring for his audience. Yang causes viewers to initially misunderstand the work as a traditional Chinese landscape, and only after looking more closely do they discover something else. [2] When viewed from a distance, the work mimics the tranquility and contemplative nature of the original work; viewers are initially drawn into the traditional imagery. Yet in Yang’s interpretation, all of the figurative elements have been altered. Instead of rock and vegetation, viewers find skyscrapers and construction cranes. The monochrome values evoke the diluted black ink of Qu Ding’s scroll, while also reminding the modern Chinese citizen of the ever-present smog in China’s cities. [3] Yang even reinterprets the appearance of stamped seals and calligraphic poetry, replacing the former with images of manhole covers and street grates, and the later with a list of Shanghai subway stops. Yang replicates the arrangement of a landscape painting by presenting a unified composition, yet the familiar elements are composed of man-made elements, transforming the initially tranquil imagery into something more sinister.
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[1] Julia Tanski-Gilbert, “Phantom Metropolis,” ArtAsiaPacific 76 (2001): 118.
[2] “Schoeni Art Gallery, In Conversation Series Part 9, Yang Yongliang,” Youtube video, 7:22, posted by “Schoeni Art Gallery,” April 11, 2013.
[3] “Bio,” White Rabbit Collection, 2013.