Gu Wenda (b. 1955) Wind and Sand from the Phrase Series, 2003 Ink on paper 38 x 35 inches (96.5 x 88.9 cm) (image) Signed and titled in Chinese with two of the artist's seals along lower edge PROVENANCE: Private collection, New York. NOTE: Gu Wenda studied ink painting under modern master Lu Yanshao at the Chinese Academy of Art in Hangzhou. In the early 1980s, he began taking traditional ink-brush technique in new directions with large, near-abstract paintings and installations. Much of this work plays off ancient Chinese calligraphy and poetry. Gu Wenda is best known for monumental pieces based on pseudo-Chinese ideograms—although depicted as if they were traditional characters, these ‘words' are actually meaningless. Moving to New York in the late 1980s, he began the United Nations project, a series of installations involving banners, curtains and large-scale forms made from human hair, often featuring unreadable text in fictitious languages. To date, he has created more than 25 site-specific installations in the series. Gu Wenda's work has been exhibited in museums around the world including Mexico, Australia, Korea, England, Israel and the United States. HID03101242017