artist profile
Sui Jianguo
born
1956
lives and works
Beijing, China
education
Shandong Institute of Fine Arts (currently Shandong University of Art and Design), Jinan, China, 1984
Sculpture Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China, 1989
about the artist
Having created a profoundly important body of work that offers an alternate account of China’s modernization, Sui Jianguo has become one of the country’s foremost sculptors. In his lifetime, power has switched hands from the dynastic order of the Maoist era onto the capitalist age of economic progress. Having spent a childhood in a China under Mao, Sui himself has since undergone a personal evolution that is intimately mirrored by the transformation in his art. Along his vast oeuvre, the sculptor has negotiated through internal polemics of idolatry, history, oppression, endurance, and freedom. Sui makes sculptures that retain a connection to the nation’s past yet unequivocally beckon for hope as it moves ahead in breakneck speed. Mao suits and "Made in China" dinosaurs among the most signature, his work can be found in all important collections, canonical publications and every landmark exhibition of contemporary Chinese art. Solo shows of his work have been held at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, USA; the New Delhi Culture Centre, India; the Today Art Museum in Beijing, China; and the Museum Beelden aan Zee in The Hague, Holland. Sui is currently a professor in the Department of Sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China.
Website: http://www.suijianguo.com