Firstly Guo Hongwei is not obsessed with portraying popular culture in his art. Instead, he chooses to paint a visual autobiography of his childhood and family history. Drawing reference from his own childhood photographs, he isolates the figures and transfers them onto canvas. He is fascinated by the process and result of marks and traces left on the canvas by his brushstrokes, and he sees them as representative of his childhood memories that have been left behind by events upon the cerebral cortex in the brain.
Replicating his childhood photographs on canvas allows Guo to recollect the feelings and circumstances relating to each event. At the same time, he dissociates himself from the memory in the process, by obliterating those marks and traces left by his brushstrokes. When using oil, he avoids the conventions of heavy layering that is associated with this medium and instead, applies and dissolves each layer of oil using turpentine or water, to build and blur the figures. With the fluidity of the oil, he is able to make the marks and traces wetter and less distinct; allowing them to diffuse within the boundaries of his canvas.
Regardless of whether they are deep or shallow, true or false, these marks and traces are constantly being covered over or eroded by newer ones. With the repetitive motions of diluting his brushstrokes and hence his memory, the artist redefines the meanings of those memories, and recreates himself in the process. This represents a duel between control and the lack of it, between carefully calculated effects and chance, and mirrors both the fragility and indefiniteness of life.
Besides oil, Guo also uses watercolour as a medium with the same inquisitiveness. He does not believe in knowing exactly what the outcome of his completed work will be like; choosing instead to allow the paint to behave according to its nature, and that’s where his “art” takes form. His watercolour pieces could take the form of family portraits, as in the example of “Torn Photo No.3”, or a still-life, like “My Healthy Diet No.3”. In his still-life series, he again isolates his chosen subject matter and carefully lines them up – like children in a school assembly – on paper, with an even more minimalist approach; without any specific context or meaning. His treatment and depiction of these objects – often mundane, everyday items taken from his physical surrounding – reflect his keen sense of observation – just one of the many notable defining qualities of this highly intriguing artist.
Connoisseur Contemporary will be presenting the solo exhibition of Chinese contemporary artist GUO Hongwei this October. Our gallery has been representing the artist since 2006, and has seen him explode into the contemporary art world in the past couple of years. Born in 1982 and still considered young by age, Guo has already established himself as a serious contemporary artist, and is well sought after by well known, international galleries and foundations such as the DSL Collection founded by Sylvain and Dominique Levy and the White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney, Australia.
Born in Chengdu, China in 1982, and now based in Beijing, Guo Hongwei was – like most others in his generation – born at a time when China’s single-child policy was first implemented and has benefited from and enjoyed the fruits of China’s economic boom, the exposure to the western culture and world, as well as tremendous technological advancement. Yet, unlike many of his peers, he stands out among other Chinese artists from his generation because of his choice of subject matter – which is highly personal in nature – and experimentation with the behaviour of his medium – be it oil or watercolour – in an unconventional way.
