artist profile
Wang Qingsong
born
1966
lives and works
Beijing, China
education
BA, Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan, China, 1993
about the artist
Hailed as the leading contemporary Chinese photographer today, Wang Qingsong collects visual media from all aspects of contemporary life and builds a body of composite imagery that satirizes and provokes life both in China and more widely. His photographs offer a powerful viewing experience—he saturates every square inch with data and detail, transporting our minds into vast, never-ending spaces he so meticulously stages. He derives inspiration from classical paintings; for example, Wang’s "Night Revels of Lao Li" is based on "Night Revels of Han Xizai" by Southern Tang painter Gu Hongzhong. Wang’s piece "Fotofest" references "The Dance" by Henri Matisse, as well as current affairs, composing his own responses and reinterpretations with an ample dosage of kitsch and gaudiness. Wang has participated in many significant exhibitions, including the canonical Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China that toured from the Asia Society Museum and the International Center of Photography in New York, USA, to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK, to the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Germany, and other prestigious venues starting in 2006 and ending in 2008. He has also held major retrospectives all over the world: Wang Qingsong: Present-day Epics traveled within Canada; China: Past, Present and Future traveled within Germany; and Follow Me traveled within Spain.