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M+, Hong Kong, © Estate of Antonio Mak
Man’s nature 人的本性
1972
Man’s nature is part of a body of two-dimensional works Antonio Mak began in the 1960s, which is comprised of ink and graphite drawings, mixed-media collages, and etchings. These are distinct from his better-known sculptural practice. Featuring motifs of horses, trees, books, ladders, steps, and chairs, these works are often inspired by the art and theories of Marcel Duchamp and by M. C. Escher’s fantastical perspectives and tessellations. Deceptively simple and sometimes nonsensical, Mak’s arrangements of figures, objects, and animals use visual puns and unusual juxtapositions to probe existential questions. Man’s nature is one of Mak’s earliest etchings. It consists of three seemingly incongruous elements: a tiger, a human figure, and a flight of stairs. These elements appear repeatedly throughout Mak’s works. With an animal on one side and a man-made structure on the other, the two elements may reflect man’s mastery of the two competing sides of human nature: emotions and rationality.
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