WANG GUANGYI (B.1957) & ZHANG PEILI (B.1957)

In 2007, the art historian and curator Lu Peng invited a group of Chinese contemporary artists including Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Xiaogang, Zhou Chunya, Ye Yongqing, Yue Minjun, Wang Guangyi, Mao Xuhui, Wu Shanzhuan, and Zhang Peili to gather at a resort of Sanya for a ‘brush event’. The artists were asked to explore traditional medium of ink and color using brush on rice paper in reinterpreting the most recognizable themes and imageries within their oeuvre. Like the Orchid Pavilion gathering organized by Wang Xizhi in the Six Dynasties, the Sanya gathering after 1600 years brought contemporary artists together for mutual inspiration and artist creation, reviving the great literati traditional in the Chinese history.

In this collaborative work, Wang Guangyi’s modern calligraphy in English is partly covered by Zhang Peili’s ink field. Wang straightforwardly painted a phrase with the word “art” included, unambiguously expressing the artist’s critic on the social condition towards art. On the other hand, as an approach often seen in Zhang’s previous works, the ink coverage serves as a means to create a cognitive separation of the seen and unseen, challenging a beholder’s perception of the semi-hidden visual message. In combining these two, this collaborated work demonstrates a generation of Chinese artists who concern the political and ideological power of art as well as express their own attitude on the newly formed art phenomenon in China.