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Books Flying Bird is Motionless, Forms of Exchange | ||
Wang Jian-wei was, b. 1958, Sichuan Province, China, and is based in Beijing, China
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Education and early life
In 1975, towards the end of the Cultural Revolution, Wang Jianwei was sent to the countryside for ‘re-education’. In the absence of any culture or entertainment – there was no TV, no films, no books – the eighteen-year-old discovered that ‘art was like a drug, a resistance to that boredom’. Following this experience, Wang was drafted into the army. He was thirty when he left: ‘I felt my life was broken off. My whole experience had to be discarded. I had to learn everything anew.’ Returning to his home province, he worked in a factory and as a storekeeper at the local art school. Eventually he was able to enrol at the prestigious China Art Academy in Hangzhou, and graduated in 1987.
Work
Wang Jianwei has been a pioneer in the Chinese contemporary art scene since the 70s. ‘Connection’ and ‘relationship’ have been the key phrases in Wang’s vocabulary. His work could be interpreted as an attempt to discover and expose the connection between beings, matters and concepts that may seem random on the surface. What he aspires to achieve is a kind of integration of knowledge in many fields that gives rise to his distinctive approach as an artist. Although he is known for his video work, in order to convey these complex networks of ideas, he is widely experimental with his mediums, and the ways in which the work exists.
Exhibitions
Wang Jianwei has shown extensively both within China and internationally. Over the years his work has been exhibited in leading international art events such as (Documen¬ta, Venice Biennale, Gwangju Biennale and São Paulo Biennale). He also participated in critically acclaimed group exhibition such as; ‘Cities on the Move’, ‘China Now’ at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, and ‘China Power Station (Part 3)’. Solo exhibitions of the artist have been held at various renowned institutions including Guggenheim Museum New York, Walker Art Centre, USA, Today Art Center, Beijing, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, and Asia-Australia Arts Center, Sydney.
Notable projects
1. Guggenheim Museum: Wang Jianwei: Time Temple, 2014
Wang Jianwei: Time Temple is the artist’s first solo exhibition in North America. This exhibition comprises installation, painting, film, and a live theater production.
2. ‘China Now’ at the Museum of Modern Art, 2004
Honors and Awards
1.FCA grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, 2008.
2.Wang Jian-wei represented China in the 50rd Venice Biennale, in 2003.
