VARIANT:

VARIANT:If You Dont Die I Fucking Will

Dimensions

Image: 48 x 65 cm, Paper: 87 x 65 cm.

Material

Photogravure and chine collé on Hahnemühle 350 grams paper.

Date

2019

A life and death struggle rages in If You Don’t Die, I Fucking Will, one of the Ten Drawings originally created in 2016. Animals regularly feature in Mu Pan’s work, with savage encounters often used to reflect on human behaviour. In this case, a white tiger — one of the Four Auspicious Beasts of Chinese mythology — sinks its teeth into a large bear. Bright red blood splatters add dramatic effect to a scene whose original dynamism is elegantly conserved in this photogravure print.

VARIANT:OctopusMu

Dimensions

Image: 48 x 65 cm, Paper: 87 x 65 cm.

Material

Photogravure and chine collé on Hahnemühle 350 grams paper.

Date

2019

Sea creatures are a common theme in Mu Pan’s work and OctopusMu sees the artist cast as a tentacled monster locked in battle with a giant squid. The struggle takes place mid-air, with a boat and blue waves far below, adding even further dynamism to the scene. Meanwhile, Mu Pan’s characteristic sense of humour is evident in the “Awesome seafood” label, the squid tattoo and the ice cold beer in one of his hands. Wit and violence combine in this photogravure print of an original work from the artist’s Ten Drawings Series created in 2016.

VARIANT:The Last Struggle of a Mid-Aged Man Whose Dreams Are Dead

Dimensions

Image: 48 x 65 cm, Paper: 87 x 65 cm.

Material

Photogravure and chine collé on Hahnemühle 350 grams paper.

Date

2019

Two of Toho Studios legendary kaiju come in for a makeover in The Last Struggle of a Mid-Aged Man Whose Dreams Are Dead. The artist portrays himself as the giant insect, Mothra, sitting atop Godzilla, calmly smoking a Cuban cigar while a battle rages below. The piece forms part of Mu Pan’s Ten Drawings Series (2016) and was created using ballpoint pen. In this photogravure print, the quality of Mu Pan’s original linework is clear, whether in the lightness of the moth’s wings, the scaly coarseness of Godzilla’s skin or the gesture of our unlikely protagonist, Muthra.

VARIANT:The Series is Over

Dimensions

Image: 48 x 65 cm, Paper: 87 x 65 cm.

Material

Photogravure and chine collé on Hahnemühle 350 grams paper.

Date

2019

Countless micro battles between insects and reptiles come together in The Series is Over, originally created in ballpoint pen as part of Mu Pan’s Ten Drawings Series. The work references The Five Deadly Venoms, a cult Hong Kong martial arts film created in 1978, which relates the adventures of five kung fu fighters who have unique animal styles: centipede, snake, scorpion, lizard and toad. In this photogravure print, the viewer can almost feel these creatures slithering and creeping across the work, while a humorously defiant label reads, “Mu is the best!”