LDX Gallery is pleased to present Shades of Red 紅影, an exhibition of selected artworks by Wang Qingsong completed in the years between 2008 and 2011. This exhibition features his latest pieces including Temple (2011), Goddess (2011) and Follow Him (2010). The exhibition will be on view May 16-June 21. The opening event will be held Wednesday May 16, 6:30-9pm at the LDX Gallery space in ArtOne, M/F Convention Plaza, 1 Harbor Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong.
Under the veil of China’s immense growth is the exhaustive proliferation of individuality and ideals. In a time where division seems to champion unity, Wang Qingsong seeks to find common grounds once again. While Wang does not provide the answers in his work, he raises questions in hopes that they will prompt the viewers to seek their own stance in these contradictions as the dialectics of the past and present, the traditional and the new, faith and agnosticism, are all part of what makes China what it is today: complementary shades of red.
Wang Qingsong is widely known for his theatrically staged and garishly colored photographs. Akin to the artist’s outlook on a rapidly changing China, his photographs are of infinite possibilities. In these richer, nuanced works, Wang assesses his own faith, sovereignty and purpose while inadvertently challenges our social dogma and limitations. Whilst societal boundaries are challenged everyday, Wang utilizes pure symbols such as gore, nudity and religious figures to accelerate such confrontations.
About the artist:
Born in 1964 in Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, Wang Qingsong grew up in the Daqiang oilfields where his parents were employed. Trained as an oil painter, Wang graduated from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 1992. A late bloomer to the arts, Wang subsequently moved to Beijing and joined the rank of artists who sought opportunity in an art scene that was beginning to attract international attention.
Wang Qingsong first gained recognition in his involvement with the Gaudy Art Group, the first yet short-lived movement that reflected on the country’s new social dynamic. Championed by influential art critic Li Xianting, artists critiqued the nation’s culture, which was then overwritten by vulgar consumerism. This theme dominated the majority of Wang’s earlier works, and in 1996, sparked his urge to turn to photography, a medium that Wang believes would more appropriately address ongoing issues in a timely and realistic fashion.
Today, Wang Qingsong’s photographs are widely collected in various institutions and museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum (U.K.), the J. Paul Getty Museum (USA), the Mori Art Museum (Japan) and the International Center of Photography (USA). The artist works and lives in Beijing.
