Diao Deqian (David Diao)(b. 1943) Barnett Newman: the Paintings in Scale acrylic and vinyl on canvas executed in 1991 198 x 335 cm. (78 x 132 in.) EXHIBITED David Diao Solo Exhibition, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, 27 August - 25 September 1994 LITERATURE David Diao Solo Exhibition Catalogue, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, 1994 p.45, David Diao Works 1969 - 2005, Timezone 8 Publication, Hong Kong, 2005 FURTHER DESCRIPTION A Chinese artist in New York, Diao Deqian’s artistic career has spanned four decades, from the early abstract paintings to the rational geometric abstract paintings and, more recently, textual combinations. The transition between each phase has earned the praise and acclaim of Western art critics and he has been hailed as the “legendary master of modern abstraction”.
In his new series from the 1990s, text and narrative were the key structural elements in Diao Deqian’s work, even though his focus was not on text works. The paintings in which he used geometric shapes to depict text brought a new possibility between painting and text. Barnett Newman: The Paintings is a work based on Barnett Newman (1905-1770), master of colour-field painting and minimal art. The piece is an interpretation of the master’s concept of abstract painting and at the same time a comparison against Diao Deqian’s own creative history. The artist took a series of statistics related to the numbers, titles and market data of Newman’s artistic creations, and used light blue geometric symbols against a dark blue background to produce an “objective” rendering of Newman’s creative history, at the same time contrasting it with his own upbringing and career path. The self-reflection involved therein can be described as the artist’s ultimate collation of the different stages of his creative path; it is also a good representation of Diao Deqian’s creations in the 1990s. PROVENANCE Originally from collection of YAGEO Foundation, Taipei NOTE Lot 0366, 20th Century and Asian Contemporary Art Sale, Christie's Hong Kong, May 2005