Collection Online as of June 5, 2023

Last Days of Village Wen

文村記事上卷

2011

Part of a set. See all set records

Yun-Fei Ji 季云飞

(Chinese, b. 1963)

China

Handscroll, ink and color on Xuan paper

Overall: 37.8 x 953.2 cm (14 7/8 x 375 1/4 in.); Painting only: 34.6 x 657.8 cm (13 5/8 x 259 in.)

The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2012.99.1

Location

not on view

Description

Ji Yun-Fei explores the themes of human migration and environmental change in this 14-meter long handscroll. “We risk losing ourselves even more, metaphysically, as we become more and more disconnected with nature and memory,” Ji says, alluding to the human cost of rapid development. The artist created a narrative inspired by China’s rich cultural tradition, drawing from memories of folktales and ghost stories. His imagery, both fanciful and realistic, provides metaphors for reflection on human conditions.

Inscriptions

Inscription

辛卯年季雲飛

Inscription Translation

colophon signed Ji Yun-Fei, dated 2011

Provenance

2011-2012

Collection of the Artist, New York, NY

2012

(James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

2012-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Cai, Bingqiao [蔡秉橋 = Paula Tsai], editor. Ji Yunfei: shui li gong cheng [季雲飛: 水利工程 = Yun-fei Ji: water work]. Hong Kong; Beijing: UCCA Books, 2012. pp. 134-154

Chung, Anita. "Re-emergence: New Chinese Galleries and Art Acquisitions of The Cleveland Museum of Art." Orientations vol 44 no. 8 (November/December 2013): 64-75. Reproduced: pp. 74-75, fig. 10

Exhibition history

A Terrible Beauty is Born. The 11th Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, France (September 15-December 31, 2011).

Yun-fei Ji: Water Work. Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (June 2-July 15, 2012).

Ji Yunfei: Last Days of Village Wen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-July 31, 2016).