OCAT Shanghai is pleased to present media artist Wang Gongxin’s solo exhibition, Present · Being – the video works of Wang Gongxin over 20 years. By avoiding the usual dual structure of “curator & artist” in the making the exhibition, the artist is given the full freedom to create the context between the exhibition space and his works of art. This exhibition is a continuation of OCAT Shanghai’s supportive attitude of media art, its historical inquiries and encouragements of proactive experimental spirit.

Wang Gongxin, born in 1960, Beijing, is one of the first and most representative artists to adopt media art as his primary creative medium in China. He was also the founder of “Loft”, the first media art center in China. His work has maintained a fierce inquisitive spirit and experimental conscience, for which the artist has instinctively chosen the most familiar and historical significant visual material to iterate the impact of “causality” within the contemporary condition and the state of people’s lives in contemporary society. Trained in oil painting, Wang Gongxin kept a sensibility and nostalgia for works on canvas and an emotional drive to roam between works on canvas and media art, meanwhile revealing the control andtension executes in both medium.

It has been twenty years since Wang Gongxin made his first video work. This exhibition will present the artist’s new works and archival materials – three series of multi-channel video installation and one series of documentary photographs –to show the beginning and the current status of the artist’s artistic practice. His photographs of The Sky of Brooklyn are a series of photographs documenting the creative process, state of completion and the exhibition site for the video work created in 1995 of the same title. It is also a work that marked Wang Gongxin’s transition from works on canvas to media art; Whose Studio (2014) appropriates the scene and structural elements of the French realist painter Courbet’s The Painter’s Studio, using multi-mediavideo projection to construct a similar scene of the artist’s studio, transforming the studio into a contemporary reality, and “displacing” it into the exhibition space; The Story of Lei Feng (2014) is a photograph that attempts to provoke imaginations of the infamous imagery of Learning from Lei Feng. The iconic representation of Lei Feng reading a book is appropriated with figures of various race, age and identity. As the artwork is being played, these figures are synced with the original image at certain time to show their joy, anger, sadness and happiness; Bloodstained Auction (2014) gradually reveals the figures and scene in Wang Shilang’s Blood Stained Shirt, are presentative painting of “revolutionary realism” in the 1950s. Wang Gongxin reassembles the compositional elements and primary figures of Blood Stained Shirt with scenes of art auction in our contemporary life, the five-screen large dimension video installation constructs a “real space” that is “over lapping” yet “disorderly” in order to render the “presence” of the “vision”.

Wang Gongxin’s works explore the depth and tension in the language of media. His use of the media language allows him to permeate his inquiries of reality, and presents us the rupture between memories and illusions, reality and sensibilities, emptiness and existence, viewing and hindrance. By adopting the three significant works of art in the history of art, revolutionary and revolutionary art as the points of entry, he deconstructs “image”, “icon” and “phenomenon” in the progression of history. In other words, the logic of time between the new work and the “appropriated” images is not only a matter of “cause and effect”, Wang Gongxin’s unique perspective creates a critical distance to the “originals”, by which he has established his own style in the deconstruction and reconstruction between the traditional and the modern, East and West, painting and video art. Thus the exhibition Present · Being, aims to allow the viewer to discover Wang Gongxin’s creative clues over the last two decades, and appreciate his new works through revisiting history (the history of images and the history of the artist’s practice).

Artist’s Statement:

Working of a media artist is marked by my first work in the mid 1990s, The Sky of Brooklyn where I dug a well in my house and set the video of Brooklyn sky, this tied my destiny with “video” art. Twenty years flashed by, it has always been the primary component of my artistic practice. From my initial curiosity of the new medium, my infatuation with the technology, to my inquiries and establishing control on its language, until today, this language has become my means of expression to communicate with my friends and the general public; it provokes uncertainty, contemplation, excitement in my life, while I grow to be increasingly reliant on it! I am not sure whether I will grow “sick of it” in the next twenty years? Alas! Or, will I “age” with it?

The three new multi-channel video installations presented in this exhibition are introspections, reviews and contemplations on my creative practice over the last two decades. They encompass my re-thinking and experiments on the meaning of “reality” and “representation” in terms of artistic expression. All three works appropriate three artworks that have been deeply ingrained in my visual learning: the nineteenth century French realist painter Courbet’s The Painter’s Studio; a photograph of Learning From Lei Feng during the Cultural Revolution; and the BloodStained Shirt by the Chinese “revolutionary realist” painter, Wang Shilang. The purpose of appropriation is to discover the “ingrained” components in my memory: of the vivid “scenario” of the past, the traces of honed “composition”, and the overlap of these “objects” in my mind. These works not only examine the presentation of “real spectacles” constructed by fictional “image” and “illusion”, at the same time, the constructed time and space synced with the videos explore the possibility of representing “reality” and “presence of astate of mind”.

In the last twenty years, I am pleased to have shared my fascination with video art through learning and perseverance with old and new friends. Having come a long way, we lived through joy and hardship! There of, I would like to give special thanks to OCAT Shanghai for its support and confidence in my work, for providing me this great opportunity to exhibit my works. Thank you to all my friends’ assistance and support in realizing this exhibition. At the same time, I would also like to thank Sony China for its support for this exhibition.

Jan. 2015

Wang Gongxin

About the exhibition

Duration: 21 March–24 May

Venue: OCAT Shanghai

Opening: March 20, 18:00-21:00

About the artist

Wang Gongxin

BORN IN BEIJING, CHINA 1960

BACHELOR OF ART, CAPITAL NORMAL UNIVERSITY,CHINA 1982

VISITING SCHOLAR, SUNY AT CORTLAND ANDALBANY, NY, U.S.A 1987

GUEST PROFESSOR, CENTRAL ACADEMY OF FINEARTS, BEIJING, CHINA 2002-2007

HONORARY DOCTORAL DEGREE, SUNY, USA 2014

CURRENTLY WORKS AND LIVES IN BEIJING AND NEWYORK CITY

2014

“Wang Gongxin: Video Artist”, National Gallery of Victoria, Victoria, Australia

"LANDSEASKY", IHN Gallery, Korea; OCAT Shanghai, China; Griffith University Art Gallery and MAAP SPACE, Brisbane, Australia

2013

Group Show at Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, Hong Kong, China

New Sights in Chinese Contemporary Art,VIVACOM Art Hall, Sofia, Bulgaria; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania

“Move on Asia: Video Art in Asia2002 to 2012”, ZKM Media Museum, Germany

“Wang Gongxin Solo Show”, MediaArt Asia Pacific Space, Australia

Nominated as Olivier Award for Video Awardfor Best Set Design for Wild Swans, London, UK

2012

“My Sun - Wang Gongxin solo show”, Asia Society and museum, New York, USA

“It’s about Ya, It’s about China -Wang Gongxin Video installation art", Red Line art center, Denver, USA

“Until the End of the World”, Tang Contemporary Art Beijing, Beijing, China

“Conceptual Renewal: A Brief History of Chinese Contemporary Photographical Art, Sishang Art Museum,Beijing, China

“The 7th Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale”, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal(OCAT), Shenzhen, China

2011

“Moving Image in China 1988-2011”, Minsheng Art Museum, Shang Hai, China

“Social mobility in motion”, Jerusalem University Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel

“Out Of The Box” , Time Art Museum, Guangzhou, GuangDong, China

“Almost Tangible”, Arario BeijingSpace, Beijing, China

“The Couple Show”, ShanghaiGallery of Art, Shanghai, China

“Light from Light” , Shanghai City Library , National Library of China in Beijing, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

2010

“Relating–Wang Gongxin soloshow”, Platform China, Beijing, China

“Shan Shui 2010: H2O”, Beijing Center for the Arts, Beijing, China

The Constructed Dimension–2010 Chinese Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing,China

“JUNGLE–A Close-up Focus on Chinese Contemporary Art Trends”, Platform China, Beijing, China

“Reshaping History: Chinart from2000 to 2009”, China National Convention Center, Beijing, China

“Video and animation from China”,Australian Art Institutions, Sydney, Australia

2008

“Half life of a dream: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Logan Collection”, SFMoMA, San Francisco, USA

“Where Are We? “, Tian An Time Art Center, Beijing, China

“Beijing–Athens: Contemporary Artfrom China”, Grace Contemporary Art Center, Athens, Grace

“Drawn in the Clouds”, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland

“Christian Dior Chinese Artists”, Ullence Foundation, Beijing, China

2007

“All about Laughter” – humor incontemporary art, Mori art Museum, Japan

“ The Real Thing” contemporary artfrom China, Tate Liverpool, UK

“ Art in Motion” Long MarchSpace, Beijing, China

2005

“Electro Scape”, Zhengda Museum ofmodern Art, ShangHai, China

“Between Past and Future”, Victoria and Albert Museum, UK

“The New Works of Wang, GongXinLin, TianMiao” Courtyard Gallery Annex, Beijing, China

“About Beauty” , Haus der Kulturender Welt, Berlin, Germany

“Soul”, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Bruges

2004

“All under Heaven”, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

“Le moine et Le demon” , Museum of Art Contemporary Lyon, France

“2004 WWVF. ” Post CS, Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Between Past and Future”, ICP and Museum of Asia Society, New York, USA

“Visual Performance”, WalshGallery, Chicago, USA

“Dialogues…” , Gu Dexin, Wang Gongxin and Zhang Peili at Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China

“Officina Asia”, Gallery d’ArteModerna, Bologna, Italy

“Concrete Horizons”, Adam ArtGallery, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

2002

“Metropolitan Iconographies” 25th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil

The Project “Welcome to The LOFT in Beijing”, “PAUSE” 4th GwangJu Biennial, Korea

“Sorry for the inconvenience”, Bangkok University Art Gallery, Bangkok. Thailand

“Wang Gongxin from Beijing”, Solo Exhibition, Contemporary Art Center of South Australia, Australia

“Shanghai Biennial 2002”, Shanghai ArtMuseum, China

“Guangzhou Triennial–2002”, Guangzhou ArtMuseum, China

“Taipei Biennial–2002”, Taipei Art Museum,Tai Wan

“Under construction”, Opera City Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

“Synthetic Reality”, East modernart center, Beijing, China

“Moist” MAAP–2002 in Beijing, Theart museum of China millennium monument, China

“ChinArt”, Museum Kuppersmuhle, Duisburg, Germany

“Beijing Afloat” Beijing–Tokyo artproject, Beijing, China

2001

MAAP.2001.Festival, IMA, Brisbane, Australia

"Non-Linear Narrative", The Gallery of China Academy of Fine Art, Hangzhou, China

"My Sun". Art Space, Sydney, Australia

"Dream", Atlantis Gallery, London,United Kingdom

"Living in this time", HamburgerBahnh of of National Museum, Berlin, Germany

"Translated Acts" Haus DerKulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany; Queens Museum of art, New York, USA

“Re: Duchamp, TravellingExhibition” 2001 Venice Biennial. Venice

“Made in Asia?” The DukeUniversity Museum of Art, USA

"The Edge" EARLLU Gallery, Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore

"The New Works of Wang Gongxin and Lin Tianmiao" The Loft New Media Art Space, Beijing, China

2000

"Documentation of Chinese Avant-GardeArt in 90s", Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. Japan

"At the new century" 1979-1999 China contemporary arts works, Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum, China

"The home?” , Contemporary art project,Shanghai, China

18th WWVF. (World Wide Video Festival), 2000. Amsterdam

MAAP (multimedia art Asia Pacific) 2000Festival, Power House, Brisbane, Australia

"China and Hong Kong video festival", Museum of Site, Hong Kong

1996

"Phoema and Image video art", China National Academy of Fine Art Gallery, Hangzhou, China

"The Balance", IFA Gallery in Bonn, Germany

"Art as Gift", The Bronx Museum of Arts, New York, U.S.A

1995

“BIAO” Solo Show, Halle 10.Ludwingsburg, Germany

“Digging a Hale in Beijing” Solo Show, NO.12 House of Arts, Beijing, China

“Contemporary Art from China”, Santa Monica Art Center, Barcelona, Spain

Courtesy of the artist and OCAT Shanghai, for further information please visit www.ocatshanghai.com.