Winding its way through the space here like some kind of neomythical snake, Richard Purdy’s Progeria Longaevus, 1989, comprises a 365-foot scroll of handmade paper whose copious illustrations in gouache form a metaphorical chain of being. Purdy’s creation, through meticulous documentation, manipulates real history, both Asian and Western. Looking at the details, the cartoonlike drawings, we sometimes sense a greater authenticity in Purdy’s ephemeral reproductions of cultural artifacts than in actual historic documents, so persuasive are his visual fictions. There are long passages depicting the