![Wood Houses in the Mountains, 1964](/sites/default/files/styles/max_1300x1300/public/2021-09/5904.PG2017_8_182.jpg?itok=uhbjGYka)
Wood Houses in the Mountains, 1964
Lui Shou-kwan
China, 1919–1975
Wood Houses in the Mountains, 1964
Ink and color on paper
Promised gifts of the Foundation Ink
Based on Lui Shou-Kwan’s Wood Houses in the Mountains, Background Story is one in a series of works by Xu Bing that recreates modern and historical ink landscape paintings in light-box installations. Though Background Story appears as a peaceful, idyllic landscape from the front, a look behind the piece reveals that it is composed of trash and natural debris, contrasting the historical landscape with allusions to the contemporary polluted environment.
© Helen Ting, photo: Maurice Aeschimann, Geneva