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M+, Hong Kong, © Szeto Keung Estate
Szeto Keung 司徒強
The Divine Comedy 神曲
2001–2003
Created through trompe l’oeil and collage techniques, this mixed-media work reflects a philosophical enquiry of human existence. The painting borrows its title from an eponymous poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and 1320, which narrates the poet’s imaginary journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. Here, pieces of paper and a heavy impasto of red and black acrylic define the abstract forms in low relief, alluding to a fiery hellscape. An illuminated light bulb is connected to the canvas using several thin wires, perhaps representing a long, arduous spiritual passage through a turbulent terrain. Keung painted this work late in his career while he was residing in New York. Like many of Keung’s works of this period, The Divine Comedy is created in the artist’s unique language of collage and paint, playing with abstraction and representation. The painting of an allegorical journey perhaps illustrates Keung’s experiences and emotions at the time.
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