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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