Abstract
Can a painting such as one shown here (fig. 1) say anything at all? In Western academic settings questions like this either appear to be wornout commonplaces that induce yawns or are suspected to be quibbles, equivocation and play on different senses of word say. In a different institutional universe, however, these same questions may carry frightening implications. In March 1974 a group of painters in China, specializing mostly in traditional ink painting, were charged by Ministry of Culture with blaspheming the Socialist system-meaning state.' Their paintings were put on public display in China's National Art Gallery in Beijing, as so-called Black Painting Exhibition. The organizers' captions constituted a de facto indictment of artists' subversive political intent. Among paintings showcased, centerpiece was Huang Yongyu's Owl (fig. 1),2 which shows a squat owl perched on a sparsely
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