Listening to the Sound of the Spring

2002

Listening to the Sound of the Spring, 2002. Chen Qi (Chinese, b. 1963). Multiblock woodcut printed with water-soluble ink, mounted as a hanging scroll; image only: 182 x 33.5 cm (71 5/8 x 13 3/16 in.); overall (no knobs): 245.5 x 56 cm (96 5/8 x 22 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward L. Whittemore Fund 2022.8 © Chen Qi Chen Qi is an internationally recognized print artist who represented China at the 2019 Venice Biennale. While having ventured into other media, he mostly produces monochrome prints enhanced by the subtle use of water-soluble ink, using traditional woodblock printmaking methods. Here he depicts a waterfall in softly layered and contrasting shades of bright and dark ink. With its rushing cascades of water reflecting in the moonlight, Chen gives the night scene a magic aura. The strong contrasts in bright and dark shades of ink evoke the atmosphere of a night scene immersed in moonlight.