Untitled

Qiu Anxiong

2008 · Portfolio of twelve woodblock prints; ink on paper · Asian Art

Inspired by Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing), an ancient encyclopedic cosmography that described a myriad of strange or imaginary creatures, Qiu began to develop his New Classic bestiary around 2004 in a series of designs that simulate a traditional woodblock-printed text with accompanying illustrations. Presenting modern machines and weapons as fantastic beasts, each image bears a title with the creature’s name—a thinly veiled phonetic equivalent of its name in English—and an enumeration of its salient characteristics. Qiu’s designs also appeared in his 2006 video of the same title.

Artist

Qiu Anxiong

Date

2008

Medium

Portfolio of twelve woodblock prints; ink on paper

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2013