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 was born in 1963 in Handan, Hebei, China. He graduated from the Printmaking Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1989. On July 1st of the same year, Fang Lijun moved to Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace, and later the Yunamingyuan Artists' Village was gradually formed. In 1993, Fang Lijun established his studio in Songzhuang. The Songzhuang Artists' Village has steadily developed for the last two decades. In 2014, Fang Lijun established the Archive of Chinese Contemporary Art.
Fang Lijun has held exhibitions in major art institutions and galleries, including Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Ludwig Museum Koblenz, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Japan Foundation, Ariana Museum in Geneva, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Turin, Macaw Museum of Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Shanghai Art Museum, Hunan Museum, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Hubei Art Museum, United Art Museum and the etc. His participation includes the Venice Biennale, Sǎo Paulo Biennial, Kwangju Art Biennial, and Shanghai Biennial. His works are collected by The Museum of Modern Art (USA), Seattle Art Museum(USA), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (USA), Centre de G. Pompidou (France), Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst (Germany), Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam(Holland), The National Gallery of Australia (Australia), Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Japan), Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo(Japan), Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art(Japan), National Art Museum of China(China), Shanghai Art Museum (China), Guangdong Art Museum (China), He Xiangning Art Museum (China), Hunan Museum（China）, CAFA Art Museum(China). He is one of the Chinese contemporary artists with the most extensive collection by major art institutions worldwide.
He has published more than 50 personal albums and related publications, including Fang Lijun: Chronicles, Fang Lijun: Criticism, Fang Lijun: Works of Art, FANG LIJUN, Fang Lijun: The Precipice Over the Clouds, Fang Lijun: Espaces Interdits Forbidden Areas, Fang Lijun: Woodcuts, Live Like A Wild Dog, Etc. Fang Lijun has been invited as a visiting professor and graduate supervisor at more than 20 universities and colleges, including the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Xi 'an Academy of Fine Arts, etc. In 1993, his painting "Series 2, No. 2" appeared on the cover of the New York Times Magazine.
Fang Lijun has held exhibitions in major art institutions and galleries, including Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Ludwig Museum Koblenz, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Japan Foundation, Ariana Museum in Geneva, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Turin, Macaw Museum of Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Shanghai Art Museum, Hunan Museum, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Hubei Art Museum, United Art Museum and the etc. His participation includes the Venice Biennale, Sǎo Paulo Biennial, Kwangju Art Biennial, and Shanghai Biennial. His works are collected by The Museum of Modern Art (USA), Seattle Art Museum(USA), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (USA), Centre de G. Pompidou (France), Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst (Germany), Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam(Holland), The National Gallery of Australia (Australia), Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Japan), Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo(Japan), Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art(Japan), National Art Museum of China(China), Shanghai Art Museum (China), Guangdong Art Museum (China), He Xiangning Art Museum (China), Hunan Museum（China）, CAFA Art Museum(China). He is one of the Chinese contemporary artists with the most extensive collection by major art institutions worldwide.
He has published more than 50 personal albums and related publications, including Fang Lijun: Chronicles, Fang Lijun: Criticism, Fang Lijun: Works of Art, FANG LIJUN, Fang Lijun: The Precipice Over the Clouds, Fang Lijun: Espaces Interdits Forbidden Areas, Fang Lijun: Woodcuts, Live Like A Wild Dog, Etc. Fang Lijun has been invited as a visiting professor and graduate supervisor at more than 20 universities and colleges, including the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Xi 'an Academy of Fine Arts, etc. In 1993, his painting "Series 2, No. 2" appeared on the cover of the New York Times Magazine.
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