Wang Jinsong - Contemporary Art London Thursday, June 21, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist

  • Exhibited

    London, "Beijing/London," Institute of Contemporary Art, 1999

  • Literature

    K. Smith, Beijing/London exh. cat., ICA, London, 1999; K. Smith, ed., Representing the People, Manchester, 1999, pp. 60-61 (ill.)

  • Catalogue Essay

    Composed of twelve timepieces and photographs, "Clock/The Observer" is one of the conceptual artist's earliest works demonstrating his fascination with China's rapid urbanization as well as his attempts to document it through serial photography. It is also one of Wang's rare works which features the artist himself. "'Clock/The Observer' shows Wang Jinsong at his rock-star best, photographed at all Beijing's tourist sites and monuments, pinned to time and place by the hands of time affixed to the image. As the observer in the title, Wang is the witness to the changes overtaking the capital, the rapidity of the change summed up in the passage of the twelve hours that form the complete work. Whilst the black and white images themselves suggest a bygone era, the image of Wang Jinsong is definitely contemporary; (Chinese) youth stepping out of the grip of ancient over-burdening history." -K. Smith, Beijing/London exh. cat., ICA, London, 1999.

102

Clock/The Observer

1995
12 color photographs with plastic and felt-tip marker in plexiglas frame with timepieces.
Each 10 x 10 1/4 in. (25.4 x 26 cm).
Signed, titled and dated "Observer [in Chinese] 1994 Wang Tinsong [in Chinese]" and numbered of four on a label adhered to the reverse of each. This work is from an edition of four.

Estimate
£8,000 - 12,000 

Sold for £9,600

Contemporary Art

22 June 2007, 4pm & 5pm
London