Guanlan International Print Biennial is an international academic exchange activity, permanently held in the Guanlan Original Printmaking Base, jointly organized by Chinese Artists Association, the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Management Committee of Longhua District, and People's Government of Bao'an District, Guanlan International Print Biennial is held every two years, since the first Biennale, held in 2007.

The international exhibition of 2013 has collected 3965 pieces from 2667 artists from 80 countries and regions, of a better quantity and quality than in previous years. With a rigorous examination and appraisal by the jury composed of experts from the printmaking circles of China, France, Belgium, Poland etc., 285 prints are selected from the 845 works of the finalists, including 15 pieces that won the “Guanlan Printmaking Awards”, embodying the latest look and academic achievements of the development of k international printmaking art. It is especially gratifying that many young artists’ works are selected.

Liu Libin wrote in the Preface for the 4th Guanlan International Print Biennial that after the end of the Cultural Revolution, the “times” of printmaking gradually retreated, though the “regional” was still an important feature of printmaking, such as Wu Changjiang of Tibet, Su Xinping of Inner Mongolia, Wang Huaxiang of Guizhou, Chen Qi of the Yangtze River, as it appeared to loom into the consciousness of language, the “regional” was no longer a primary issue. A few major features performed an exploration during this period: firstly, to highlight the characteristics of various types of languages of print, to push the operation of some types of printmaking language to the extreme, such as the lithograph of Su Xinping, and the Woodblock of Chen Qi, etc. of the 1980s; secondly, a printmaker shows his or her interest into the abstract formal language, and even towards abstraction, such as Tan Ping. At the same time, a lot of questions come are asked about “the consciousness of language”, for example, many printmakers are fascinated with the printed history or meet the transcendence of printmaking language (performance of skill), a lack of rational knowledge, which made it popular. In fact, printmakers began digging, and reflecting the features of printmaking language from the 1980s, such as Xu Bing, who understood and used the “plural” of print again. Today, there must be a relationship between the fascination of language and the core issues of creation, such as the printmaker Kang Jianfei, who emphasizes that everyone is an artist, makes the subject of the artist absent; Yang Hongwei expands the shape and form of printmaking to the extreme, where the subject goes onto the screen. They begin to expand the extension of the prints on the basis of their creation over the years. Overall, the Guanlan International Print Biennale features the works, which have highlighted these results, but the addiction problems have never been eliminated.

The economic development affects the cultural development, which affects the artistic development, and finally the development of the category of art, it’s a bottom-up relationship, instead of top-down, the most important revelation given by the Guanlan International Print Biennial.

The List of Prize Winners

Hosts: Chinese Artists Association, Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Circles, Shenzhen Longhua New District Administrative Committee, Shenzhen Bao’an District People’s Government

Organizers: Printmaking Committee of Chinese Artists Association, China·Guanlan Original Printmaking Base, Shenzhe Longhua New District Guanlan Subdistrict Office

Duration: May 15th – June 15th, 2013

Venue: Guanlan Original Printmaking Base, Shenzhen (Exhibition Hall 1), Guanlan Art Museum, Shenzhen (Exhibition Hall 2)

Partically translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO