WANG JINSONG

Born in Heilongjiang Province in 1963, Wang Jinsong is one of the most versatile and innovative artists in China - working in different media, from ink and oil painting to photography - who acquired a reputation in the early 1980s avant-garde movement that sprang up during a period of opening and reform. Wang graduated from the Chinese Painting Department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, in 1987, but he first became known for his edgy oil paintings in a mode dubbed Cynical Realism, which acutely and wittily comment on the malaise of the times. He also examined the contemporary issues in Chinese society through a series of photographs that are juxtaposed repetitively. Wang's current interest in traditional ink painting may seem surprising after his emphatically avant-garde work of previous years. But these beautiful and spontaneous paintings, free of any explicit social content, reveal the breadth of Wang Jinsong's cultural interests and the connection he feels with the rich legacy of China's past. His work can be seen in many museums including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, Germany.