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| Artist : | Wang Keping |
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| Date : | 27 November, 2002 - 10 February, 2003 |
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| Press Release |
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ATTN ART EDITORS:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WANG KEPING, ONE OF THE “STARS” IS BACK
ACCLAIMED CHINESE SCULPTOR EXHIBITS HIS WORK at 10 CHANCERY LANE GALLERY
-HONG KONG, NOVEMBER 2002- “Wang Keping works with wood to create forms which breathe a living sensuousness. The polished end-products bear such titles as Back of a Man, Bottom, Breast and Couple: they are the sort of exhibits you feel compelled to stroke when the gallery staff aren’t looking.”*
Wang Keping is one of the group of artists which stimulated the entire contemporary arts movement in China! In the fall of 1979, a group of young artists commanded the attention of local authorities and the art world in a daring confrontation with Beijing’s artistic and political establishment. Calling themselves STARS (in Chinese: xing xing, they envisioned themselves as pinpoints of light in an endless night), for a few weeks they turned the Chinese art establishment on its head. Desperately wanting to show their works and not finding a way in the tightly-controlled art world they placed their works on the gate in front of the National Fine Arts Museum in Beijing, attracting approximately 30,000 people over Ten days. One year later their show was transferred to the interiors of the National Museum for the “Second STARS Exhibition”. One of the leading organisers was Wang Keping, a young self-taught sculptor who was also one of the group’s most articulate spokespersons.
Following the inevitable backlash, Wang, like many of his fellow STARS, settled in the West, where he has lived and worked freely in France since 1984. Wang Keping is today the true heir of traditional Asian sculpture. As Michael Sullivan says in his book, Art and artists in twentieth century China, “...The work of Wang Keping shook Chinese sculpture once and for all free of conventions it had labored under since it had first become a recognized art form in China. This new freedom stimulated young sculptors, liberated some of the established ones and opened the way to a vast enlarging of the range of style and expression.”
Currently, Wang’s work is less political and more elemental. Made of wood, he searches for the soul inside each piece finding the roots and knots that evolve into form. He speaks of allowing his works to evolve and alter themselves. His pieces flow in their sensual smoothness and are inspired by the unity of philosophical Taoism where man and beast belong to the same realm.
His powerful works have reached international acclaim. In 1999 he was selected as one of the few sculptors for the exhibition, “Les Champs de la Sculpture,” where 8 of his works were shown on the Avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris. A few of his public collections include, The Olympic Games Park (Seoul), Museum of Modern Art (Taizhong), Aidekman Art Center (Boston), Museum of Contemporary Asian Art (Fukuoka), International Park of Sculpture (Pu-Yeo), Collections de la Ville de Paris (Collections of the City of Paris), Guerlain Foundation Private Collection (Paris).
So forceful is Wang Keping’s conviction of his artistic integrity that he states boldly, “I believe my works hold a remarkable place in art history despite the limited audience at the present moment. I think my understanding of sculpture in these recent years, the way I perceive the prospect of sculptural creation, is unrivaled, I do think I am outstanding.”
Recent works by Wang Keping will be opened on
Wednesday, November 27, 2002, from 6:00-9:00 p.m.
at “10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Katie de Tilly Contemporary Artists”
on 10 Chancery Lane (just behind the Central Police Station).
The exhibition runs until January 11, 2003.
(TOUCHING ALLOWED)
Wang Keping will be in Hong Kong late November and will be available for interviews. Prior phone interviews can be arranged. Additional photos of Wang Keping’s work can be emailed.
For further information and transparencies and for details regarding an interview with Wang Keping please contact:
Katie de Tilly
Tel: 2810-0065, 2812-9434
Mobile: 9802-4337
email: info@10chancerylanegallery.com
www.10chancerylanegallery.com
*Fionnuala McHugh, South China Morning Post, 20/11/97
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