John Shen
The Artist and His Mother, 2024
Silver Gelatin Direct Positive Photographs (Selenium Toned on Fiber Paper)
80 x 48 inches
4 x 3 Array of 20 x 16 inch panels
4 x 3 Array of 20 x 16 inch panels
SHEN016
From the Artist: Titled in homage to Arshile Gorky’s The Artist and His Mother, this work reflects on memory, childhood, and the passage of time. Encountering Gorky’s painting at the...
From the Artist:
Titled in homage to Arshile Gorky’s The Artist and His Mother, this work reflects on memory, childhood, and the passage of time. Encountering Gorky’s painting at the Whitney left a lasting impression on me, the way it was painted over many years but based on a single photograph captured the complexity of remembering the past. Echoing its composition, my work contemplates an evolving and changing relationship with my own mother as I get older. The subjects’ frontal gaze and full-body presence also engage in dialogue with Chinese Ancestral Portraits, such as Portraits of Shi Wenying and Lady Guan at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.