Yangjiang Group

Last updated

The Yangjiang Group is a Chinese artist collective founded in 2002 by Zheng Guogu (born 1970), Chen Zaiyan (born 1971), and Sun Qinglin (born 1974). The group's name takes after their hometown in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province. The Yangjiang Group's works have been exhibited in Europe and Asia. Their works show a strong attachment to a sense of place in their hometown.

Contents

Themes and practice

The collective method of work follows other Chinese art groups such as the Big Tail Elephants. The Yangjiang Group's works are noted for their apolitical content, non-representational method of expression, and unabashed refutation and criticism of political analysis of Chinese contemporary art. Xiao Fengxia attributed the aniconism of their works to a degree of political autonomy from Beijing in Guangdong Province: "Far away from the hierarchal chronotope of Beijing, southern China drifts away from the center…the local people's innovative spirit, lifestyles, and political feelings are unique, and do not completely follow Beijing... Southern China's economic boom, especially in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta Region... led to unprecedented growth in prosperity that overturned orthodox Socialist thought". [1]

The Yangjiang Group work primarily with calligraphy, but also other mediums such as video and wax sculpture. The group frequently combines various mediums that engages many different senses, and with special attention to the relationship among the work of art, the audience, and the gallery space. Their works are often done impromptu, to erase the distance between a work of art and the lived experience, where "life itself becomes an integral part of their art". [2]

The Yangjiang Group draws from classical Chinese practice of experiencing works of art where audience participation is essential, as noted by Lisa Catt. [3] The group also addresses the issue of commoditization of art that enables a work of art to take on a new meaning, and lose its ability to dictate culture as a result. The group continue to work in their hometown in Yangjiang, where they promote the local art scenes in southern China to counterbalance the financial potential of contemporary art from Beijing and Shanghai. [2]

Works

Wax Series

The Wax Series comprises Waterfall (2002), Pond (2003) and Garden of Pine – Also Fiercer than Tiger II (2010).

Made almost entirely from wax, Zheng Guogu explained that the dripping movement of wax shows the infinite dimension of physical objects. In addition, the work calls into question the comparative meaning of wax in Chinese and Western culture. The work combines calligraphy written by ordinary people to show the kinetic nature of the art of calligraphy. [4]

Yangjiang Group: Actions for Tomorrow

Yangjiang Group: Actions for Tomorrow was a show in 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Chinatown, Sydney, over the period of the 2015 Chinese New Year. Reflecting on the exhibition's content, curator of the centre Melissa Chiu said, "Guangzhou has neither the political centrality of Beijing nor the economic history of Shanghai. Guangzhou's location is determined solely by opportunity for economic prosperity". [5] Works which debuted in this exhibition included:

Exhibitions

Related Research Articles

Guo Moruo

Guo Moruo, courtesy name Dingtang (鼎堂), was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official.

Zhang Xiaogang

Zhang Xiaogang is a contemporary Chinese symbolist and surrealist painter. Paintings in his Bloodline series are predominantly monochromatic, stylized portraits of Chinese people, usually with large, dark-pupiled eyes, posed in a stiff manner deliberately reminiscent of family portraits from the 1950s and 1960s. Recently, he also created sculptures, translating for the first time into three dimensions many characters of the sort seen in his "Bloodlines—Big Family" portrait series. These sculptures have featured in many exhibits and continue his work as one of China's leading, and most highly sought-after, contemporary artists.

Miao Xiaochun is an artist and photographer based in Beijing.

Zheng Guogu is an artist based in Yangjiang in the Guangdong province of China, one of three artists in the artist collective known as Yangjiang Group. In 1992, he graduated from the printmaking department of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.

Shang Yang is a contemporary Chinese painter based in Beijing and is considered one of the most important painters of the life-stream movement. Known for his oriental humanist thought he believes landscapes are living things and puts their spirit into his brushwork. In 1965 he graduated from the Hubei Art Academy, where he then taught for several years. He received his masters from the Hubei Art Academy in 1981. Yang became the Associate President in 1989. Shang Yang became a Professor and the Officer-in-Charge of Fine Arts at the Research Institute of South China Normal University in 1993. Also in 1993, he became the Vice President of the Chinese Art painting Society. Shang Yang has exhibited extensively in China since the 1980s, including at Shanghai Biennale in 1996, and has shown internationally at galleries in London, Paris, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, and Helsinki. Shang Yang's work often appropriates images from traditional Chinese landscape painting, which are screened onto the canvas by a machine; he then distorts the image with graffiti or obtrusive geometrical designs. His works combine avant-garde exploration and solid artistic skill to create unique works of expressionism oil painting.

Han Han Chinese professional rally driver, author and singer

Han Han is a Chinese professional rally driver, best-selling author, singer, creator of Party, One and China's most popular blogger. He has published five novels to date, and is represented by the Hong Kong-based Peony Literary Agency. He is also involved in music production. In May 2010, Han Han was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In September 2010, British magazine New Statesman listed Han Han at 48th place in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010". In June 2010, Han Han was interviewed by CNN as China's rebel writer who has become the unofficial voice for his generation.

Zuoxiao Zuzhou Musical artist

Zuoxiao Zuzhou, real name Wu Hongjin, (吴红巾), is a Chinese musician and artist.

Wu Junyong is a Chinese artist born in Putian, a city in Fujian province, China. He graduated from The China Academy of Art were he studied in both the Prinmaking and New Media departments. He now lives and works in Hangzhou. His predominant medium is paintings done on paper and animated films, though in recent years he has become infatuated with doing graffiti on the body and impromptu tattoos.

Jean-Marc Decrop is a specialist of Chinese contemporary art. He is one among the art collectors/dealers who have contributed to the discovery, the recognition and the influence of Chinese contemporary art abroad.

Zheng Lianjie is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in performance art, installation, photography,contemporary ink and video art. Zheng Lianjie is a representative figure in Chinese contemporary art. He is part of a generation of artists who grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution and in the 1980s turned from traditional forms of painting to installation art and performance-based work

Pan Deng is a Chinese contemporary artist and painter. He is the chairman of Yang Jianhou Foundation and a member of Arts Mid-Hudson.

Chen Danqing is a Chinese-American artist, writer, and art critic. He is well known for his realist paintings of Tibetans. Chen graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts. Because his grandfather moved to Taiwan with the Nationalist government, he also had citizenship in the Republic of China. He moved to the United States in the 1982 and became a citizen there.

He Chengyao is a Chinese artist residing in Beijing, China. Her artwork explores nudity, mental illness, memory, and mother-daughter relationships through performance, photography, and video. He's work has been widely exhibited in China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States. She is well-known for her performance pieces Opening the Great Wall (2001) and 99 Needles (2002).

Chen Ke is a Chinese artist. She currently lives and works in Beijing. Having participated in numerous international and domestic exhibitions, Chen Ke has worked in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture and fashion design. Chen Ke is recognized as the most representative artist of the New Generation of Cartoon of China.

Li Xinmo is a Chinese feminist artist, art critic, and teacher. She graduated from the Department of Chinese Painting, and received her master's degree from Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in 2008 and now resides in Beijing. She is a member of the German IO culture institution, vice president of Chinese and Germany culture communication organization. Li is mainly devoted to feminist theory and contemporary art criticism research. Her creation involves a series of issues such as gender, ethnicity, environment, and national politics. Her artworks are based on a variety of media, especially performance, photography and painting. Her works have been exhibited in major art galleries such as the Louvre in France, the National Museums of World Culture in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Bonn Women's Museum in Germany. She also participated in Toronto Photo Biennial and Prague Art Biennial. Many museums such as the Taida Museum and the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Sweden have some of her works.

Xing Danwen

Xing Danwen is a contemporary Chinese artist and photographer. She is known for the images she made during and after her MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York, exploring ideas of dislocation as well as the form and psyche of contemporary living.

Wang Huangsheng Professor at China Central Academy of Fine Arts

Wang Huangsheng is a Chinese-born artist, curator and educator who is currently residing in Beijing. He used to serve as the director of China Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum for eight years. As an artist, he is most known for his ink paintings as well as installations. He is currently a Professor of China Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Cao Yu is a contemporary artist whose work span a diverse range of media that encompass installation, sculpture, Photography, video and performance and painting. With her distinctive interdisciplinary practice，sharp and bold artistic language, she has become one of the most important representatives of young artists in the field of Chinese contemporary art. Born in Liaoning province, she lives and works in Beijing.

Love Song 1980 is a 2020 Chinese romantic drama film written directed by Mei Feng, starring Li Xian and Chun Xia. Won the best film award in the "Developing Film Project" section of the 3rd Pingyao International Film Festival and was once again nominated for the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival - Tokyo Premiere 2020" unit. The film is adapted from Yu Xiaodan’s novel "The Lover in 1980". It tells the story of young people in the 1980s, facing the fate of the times and social waves, using love as a guide, seeking spiritual truth.

Hu Zhiying is a contemporary Chinese avant-garde artist and art educator. He works within the areas of painting, installation, video art, and conceptual art. His artworks are displayed worldwide, and he has taught painting and calligraphy at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and South China Normal University.

References

  1. ↑ Guo, Yanlong. "Translation of "Yangjiang Group: Actions for Tomorrow"". Diancang·Dutianxia (ARTCO CHINA).
  2. 1 2 3 "上海民生现代美术馆 MINSHENG ART MUSEUM". minshengart.com. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ Catt, Lisa (2015). "Yangjiang Group: Actions for Tomorrow". Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art . 14: 99–109.
  4. ↑ Holmes, Ros (2013). "Translating Wax: An Interview with Zheng Guogu and the Yangjiang Group". Oxford Art Journal . 36m (1): 127–35 – via Oxford Art Journal.
  5. 1 2 Guo, Yanlong (2015). "Translation of "Yangjiang Group: Actions for Tomorrow"". Diancang·Dutianxia (ARTCO CHINA).
  6. ↑ "Tales of Our Time". Guggenheim. April 4, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.