"Standing: Gobi 1KM no. 3" (2009) is a visually arresting color photograph from the Series "Gobi 1 KM" that documents the artist Wang Lin (China, b. 1974) in midst of a larger performance piece, in which he has traversed 1 kilometer of the Gobi desert while nude and has hand-painted a line of red pigment paint across its snowy surface, upon which he lies, stands, or kneels. The red line, of course, had many meanings here--the color of Communist China, as well as the artist's generational blood line, his heritage, and as a nod to centuries of Chinese history, art, tradition. The artist stands directly upon this line with arms outstretched, literally connection his own birth and life cycle to this red 'life line" and to China itself and also demands to be recognized as an individual. By looking strictly forward past the picture plane, the artist comments on China's unknown future, as well as his own. This work measures 39.36 x 39.36 inches (100 x 100 cm) is from an edition of 8 and is in excellent condition.

Wang is one of the most notable and important artists on the emerging Chinese Contemporary art scene, whose performance pieces and photographs are receiving critical acclaim amongst both Museums and Collectors alike. The use of the artist's own body as canvas first appeared amongst Chinese Avant Garde artists such as Zhang Dali and Zhang Huan. The younger generation of Chinese performance-based artists, to which Wang Lin belongs, openly use their own body as canvas and as a vehicle to deal with conflicting desires to be recognized as an individual aware of their own self-identity, as well as to the pride felt in the traditional culture and heritage of China itself.