Artwork Page for My Left Hand (with Young Mao)

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My Left Hand (with Young Mao)

2004

Qi Sheng 盛奇

(Chinese, b. 1965)
Framed: 99.1 x 68.6 cm (39 x 27 in.)
© Qi Sheng
Impression: 7
Location: 230 Photography
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Description

In 1989, a pro-democracy protest in Tiananmen Square was brutally quashed by government forces, followed by suppression of avant-garde art activities and exhibitions. Performance artist Qi Sheng chose self-imposed exile when he could not continue making his art. Before leaving, he cut off the little finger of his left hand. He buried it in a flowerpot so that when his body went to Europe, his soul would remain rooted in China. Returning after ten years away, he photographed that hand cradling tiny portraits. This image of Mao Zedong suggests the origins of the political forces that led him to such a desperate act. “I am not only an artist,” said Qi, “I am an observer and recorder of history.”

My Left Hand (with Young Mao)

2004

Qi Sheng

(Chinese, b. 1965)
China, 21st century

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