Raft, 2009
Financial newspaper, archival inkjet and acrylic on polyester
150 x 200 x 5 cm
59 1/2 x 78 1/2 x 2 in
59 1/2 x 78 1/2 x 2 in
The stock market features prominently in Cheung’s work, in the listings that Cheung collages onto the surface of the canvas, and in the motifs and mood of the paintings. His...
The stock market features prominently in Cheung’s work, in the listings that Cheung collages onto the surface of the canvas, and in the motifs and mood of the paintings. His fascination with the topic was fuelled by the unprecedented 2007-2008 Financial Crisis, the subsequent loss of faith in financial systems, and widespread fear of their failure. Raft (2009) captures these sentiments with the bleak apocalyptic scene of floating off into the void, after Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa (1818-1819), originally based on a real shipwreck off the coast of Mauritania, as desperate survivors on a makeshift raft resorted to cannibalism.
Exhibitions
Altered States: Paintings by Gordon Cheung from the Stéphane Janssen Collection, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, USA (09/01/2010 to 10/04/2010)The Promised Land, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA (03/19/2009 to 04/18/2009)