WANG GUOFENG

Through the use of a wide array of media, from photography to video, drawing, sound and installation to convey his conceptual perspective, Wang Guofeng is fascinated by the implications of the memory of the past historical events to the contemporary world, as he previously stated that “human beings are often in a state of amnesia, so history repeats itself again and again”. His News series manipulates pictures of events of global significance and inserts text on each image to challenge the viewers’ preconditioned perspectives and to prompt them to rethink the distance between the appearance and the truth. In another emblematic series, Pixelated, he uses different techniques like blowing up the pixels of an oversized image, blurring pictures to obscure our interpretation. Thus, we are forced to stop and truly consider what is happening in the image and its significance behind.

Wang previously had solo exhibitions at Gallery 604, Busan South Korea (2010) and at the Russian Academy of Arts, Moscow Russia (2007). His notable group shows include Bric-a-brac: The Jumble of Growth – Third Today’s Documents, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China (2016); Beyond Image, Laboratory of Light, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China (2015); Chinese Contemporary Photography 2009 – 2014, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China (2014); Mind Beating (collateral event) – Fifty-fifth Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2013); LATITUDE/ATTITUDE, Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong (2012); ATTITUDE, Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Parkview Green Gallery, Beijing, China (2012); Contemporary Art of China and Japan, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea (2010); Chinese Art Today, National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), Beijing, China (2006); New Zone Chinese Art, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2003).

Wang Guofeng is the recipient of the Award of Art China “Artist of the Year” award for photography in 2014. He was also invited by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) on two occasions in 2011 and 2012 to photograph the North Korean socialist political architecture and the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birthday respectively.

He currently lives and works in Beijing, China.

Courtesy DE SARTHE