Gordon Cheung UK, b. 1975
Promise Land, 2009
Financial newspaper, ink, acrylic gel, spray on salt cloth
90 1/4 x 192 1/4 x 1 3/8 in.
(229 x 489 x 3.5 cm)
(229 x 489 x 3.5 cm)
9257
Promised Land exemplifies the central importance of science fiction to Cheung’s work. At the centre of the image stands the iconographic figure of pre-dawn man, borrowed from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001:...
Promised Land exemplifies the central importance of science fiction to Cheung’s work. At the centre of the image stands the iconographic figure of pre-dawn man, borrowed from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Cheung explains: “Pre-dawn man has understood the power of violence and by exerting it; it can control the ‘pool of life’ and secure survival for his tribe.” The artist’s reference to this prehistoric domination as well as filmography occurs within a Technicolor landscape, suggesting that the evolution of pre-dawn to space age mankind is intertwined with violence.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions Transfer of Power, C-Project, Los Angeles, USA (07/23/2021 to 08/14/2021) Pavilion of Republic of Azerbaijan, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (05/09/2015 to 11/22/2015) The Promised Land, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA (03/19/2009 to 04/18/2009)