76 - 34 (Nothing)
20th century
Maki Haku is known primarily for his inventive transformations of Chinese characters into abstract works of art. Maki rejects the traditional art of calligraphy and instead employs Chinese ideographs as purely visual design motifs. The artist uses embossing to create surface texture, over which he prints his distorted characters in pitch-black ink, often punctuated by one or two bright spots of pure color. This work transforms the character for "nothing" into a form of great presence.
Screenprint with embossing
Gift of Frances and Thomas Blakemore
98.53.93
