Thursday, May 2, 2013

Cold Mountain

4/8/13: “Cold Mountain” by Bryce Marden
This piece marks the beginning of a journey as well as a beginning for his set of six masterpieces known as the Cold Mountain series.  In this piece, both his artistic journey from monochromatic, multi-panel beeswax paintings and his journey towards the elegant glyphs seen in the Cold Mountain series.  The painting receives its name from the book containing the works of a 6th or 8th century Chinese poet.  It combines both imagery and calligraphy using the image of the poem as a skeleton.  The artist drew inspiration from a picture of Matisse working on drawings for a chapel.  His idea was that by distancing one’s self from the painting, one becomes more close to it because even the tiniest stroke made shows.  The work as a whole pays respect to Jackson Pollock’s style of “drawing into painting”, and when prompted, Marden responded that “One of the things I wanted to do in these Cold Mountain paintings was to lose myself in the same way that I lose myself when I am drawing.”  The work is statement of transformation, both fro the artist in his style of thought and art, but also the transformation of the work words to form.
More on the work:
Interview with the artist on the work:
meet the artist:
Hanshan, or “Cold Mountain”:

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