Fang Lijun
Fang Lijun: The Light of Dust (A Luz Poeirenta)
2023.03.04 - 06.11
A pioneer of China’s “Post-1989 New Art Movement”, Fang Lijun’s iconic ‘bald-headed’ figures have pioneered the “Rascal Culture” and “Cynical Realism” (Li Xianting, 1991) in Chinese contemporary art since the early 1990s. Since the beginning of his artistic career, Fang Lijun has constantly been identifying himself with “living like a wild dog”. As one of the key motifs of his art, Fang Lijun’s “Human & Figures” works deconstruct the interplay and mixture between the typical portraits and stereotypical faces of an era, capture the shared pains and feelings of the present time and life in a transcendental manner.
Using “Human & Figures” as a narrative clue, this exhibition aims to provide a classic yet fresh perspective on Fang Lijun. We have chosen to present three main sections: “Introspection: Self-Portraits”, “Mutual Reflections: Friends”, and “The Light of Dust: Human”, which strive to showcase the creative journey that the artist has taken, with a particular focus on his new experiments with a variety of media that range from traditional Chinese painting, oil painting, print, and sculpture to the virtual space of NFT during the last decade. Besides these sections, the curatorial team also attempt to elaborate on the theme of “Human & Figures” in this first solo exhibition of Fang Lijun in Macao with a temporal clue through three additional displays of “Passage”, “Video”, and “Publications”. All viewers, both online and offline, are invited to take a glimpse, through Fang Lijun’s works, into the zeitgeist of contemporary China and lend a listening ear to our own internal voices.
Using “Human & Figures” as a narrative clue, this exhibition aims to provide a classic yet fresh perspective on Fang Lijun. We have chosen to present three main sections: “Introspection: Self-Portraits”, “Mutual Reflections: Friends”, and “The Light of Dust: Human”, which strive to showcase the creative journey that the artist has taken, with a particular focus on his new experiments with a variety of media that range from traditional Chinese painting, oil painting, print, and sculpture to the virtual space of NFT during the last decade. Besides these sections, the curatorial team also attempt to elaborate on the theme of “Human & Figures” in this first solo exhibition of Fang Lijun in Macao with a temporal clue through three additional displays of “Passage”, “Video”, and “Publications”. All viewers, both online and offline, are invited to take a glimpse, through Fang Lijun’s works, into the zeitgeist of contemporary China and lend a listening ear to our own internal voices.
Fang Lijun
Fang Lijun (b. 1963, Handan, Hebei) graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Printmaking Department in 1989. In July of the same year, he resided in the Yuanmingyuan area, becoming a key advocate of the "Yuanmingyuan Artists' Village." In 1993, he established the Songzhuang studio, contributing to the formation of the "Songzhuang Artists' Village." In 2014, he founded the "Archive of Contemporary Art of China," systematically organizing the development of Chinese contemporary art. Since 2004, Fang Lijun has been appointed as a guest professor and graduate mentor at more than twenty institutions, including the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, Wuhan University, and Hubei Academy of Fine Arts.
Fang Lijun’s solo exhibitions have been held in major art institutions worldwide, including the Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Ludwig Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Japan Foundation, Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Musée Ariana, et cetera. Domestic retrospectives have been mounted at the Shanghai Art Museum, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Macau Museum of Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Hunan Provincial Museum, United Art Museum, Minsheng Art Museum, and He Art Museum, among other significant venues. Additionally, he has been consistently invited by mainstream international exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale, Gwangju Biennale, São Paulo Art Biennial, and Shanghai Biennale.
Fang's works are permanently collected by international museums, in particular the Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Queensland Art Gallery, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. Within China, his works are held by the National Art Museum of China, Contemporary Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum, He Xiangning Art Museum, and Guangdong Museum of Art.
Furthermore, through his artistic career, Fang Lijun has published over 50 monographs, including Fang Lijun: Chronological Notes, Fang Lijun: Works Catalogue, Fang Lijun: Cliff in the Clouds, Fang Lijun: Forbidden Zone, Fang Lijun Prints, and Surviving Like a Stray Dog. In 1993, his work Series Two No. 2 appeared on the cover of The New York Times.
Fang Lijun’s solo exhibitions have been held in major art institutions worldwide, including the Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Ludwig Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Japan Foundation, Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Musée Ariana, et cetera. Domestic retrospectives have been mounted at the Shanghai Art Museum, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Macau Museum of Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Hunan Provincial Museum, United Art Museum, Minsheng Art Museum, and He Art Museum, among other significant venues. Additionally, he has been consistently invited by mainstream international exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale, Gwangju Biennale, São Paulo Art Biennial, and Shanghai Biennale.
Fang's works are permanently collected by international museums, in particular the Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Queensland Art Gallery, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. Within China, his works are held by the National Art Museum of China, Contemporary Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum, He Xiangning Art Museum, and Guangdong Museum of Art.
Furthermore, through his artistic career, Fang Lijun has published over 50 monographs, including Fang Lijun: Chronological Notes, Fang Lijun: Works Catalogue, Fang Lijun: Cliff in the Clouds, Fang Lijun: Forbidden Zone, Fang Lijun Prints, and Surviving Like a Stray Dog. In 1993, his work Series Two No. 2 appeared on the cover of The New York Times.
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