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拍品专文
Wang Keping is one of the most outspoken and prominent non-conformist artists of The Stars group in China. Best recognised as sculptor, his notorious portrait of Mao Idol shown at the 1979's The Stars Exhibition encapsulates the commotion and the intense sense of rebellion against the then political situation that is at the core of Wang's practice as an artist. His sculptures from that period are mainly political works that protested against the extreme isolation and oppressed regime. After The Stars group dissolved, like many avant-garde Chinese artists, Wang moved to France in 1984, in search for more the artistic freedom that couldn't be had in China at the time. Since then his works have moved away from overt political commentary and begin instead to resonate more with the self-reflection and philosophical thinking of the artist.
Wang Keping's wooden sculptures since 1980 embody a more simplified organic form with smooth rounded features that accentuate the characteristic of wood. He lets the grains of wood guide him as unveils the inner beauty that inspires him to sculpt. This method of creation is akin to the tradition of Chinese jadeite carving, where the shape, colour and grains of the stone dictates and inspires the sculptor and the final form. This gestural and self-reflective method, working with the flow of nature and direct experience, is more than a poetic inspiration to re-connect to the natural world; rather, it is Wang's method of meditative process to reinvent both representation and sculptural figuration. As such each of Wang's sculpture is the crystallisation of philosophical aesthetics, rooted deeply in the Chinese literati tradition. At the same time, Wang's simplicity of forms reminds us of the vigor and primitive beauty of French Vorticist sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska's Red Stone Dancer and other modernists, with its abstracted shape and subtle treatment of planes, showing the influence of Cubism and Futurism. Wang's sculpture does not however rest in a simple primitivist aesthetic; he ventures deeper into more philosophical perspective, demonstrating the flexibility of Chinese literati practice across time and genre. Through his unique visual language Wang successfully modernizes the Chinese literati tradition from an intangible thinking into a gestural and physical form, yet his works invite the viewer to re-connect with and reconsider his place in the natural world.
Wang Keping's wooden sculptures since 1980 embody a more simplified organic form with smooth rounded features that accentuate the characteristic of wood. He lets the grains of wood guide him as unveils the inner beauty that inspires him to sculpt. This method of creation is akin to the tradition of Chinese jadeite carving, where the shape, colour and grains of the stone dictates and inspires the sculptor and the final form. This gestural and self-reflective method, working with the flow of nature and direct experience, is more than a poetic inspiration to re-connect to the natural world; rather, it is Wang's method of meditative process to reinvent both representation and sculptural figuration. As such each of Wang's sculpture is the crystallisation of philosophical aesthetics, rooted deeply in the Chinese literati tradition. At the same time, Wang's simplicity of forms reminds us of the vigor and primitive beauty of French Vorticist sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska's Red Stone Dancer and other modernists, with its abstracted shape and subtle treatment of planes, showing the influence of Cubism and Futurism. Wang's sculpture does not however rest in a simple primitivist aesthetic; he ventures deeper into more philosophical perspective, demonstrating the flexibility of Chinese literati practice across time and genre. Through his unique visual language Wang successfully modernizes the Chinese literati tradition from an intangible thinking into a gestural and physical form, yet his works invite the viewer to re-connect with and reconsider his place in the natural world.