Where the Truth Lies: The Art of Qiu Ying

Mixing ancient Chinese instrumentation—qin, guzheng, and pipa—with modern synthesizers, drum machines, and field recordings, the soundscape complements this presentation about authenticity and illusion.

Few artists in Chinese history have proven as enigmatic as the great Ming dynasty painter Qiu Ying (c. 1494–c. 1552), whose life and art reveal a series of paradoxes. Though one of the most famous artists of the Ming period, almost nothing is known about his life. He is said to have been illiterate, yet surviving evidence demonstrates elegant writing. He is said to have had few followers, yet he was the most copied painter in Chinese history. Where the Truth Lies grapples with such issues as artists who cross social boundaries, literacy, and the importance of connoisseurship in determining quality and authenticity.