Being a contemporary artist full of ideological paradox, Wang Guanyi regained his thinking in the earlier period of his career: what does “new religion” really mean? Wang Guangyi has not given us a definite answer, maybe “new religion” is a continuation of myth which has been secretly implanted, although we’ve say farewell to the past myth, is there anything which to make up the vacuum it brought to us, or assume similar social function? Perhaps the answer lies in his works. “Great Illusion”, fills us with through and differentiated sensibility, however it does not attempt to convey any definite meaning and value. Obviously, the array of dirt is not a poetic utopia, but the disgusting and unavoidable reality. Though the visual experience of squat toilets give us a strong stimulus, which prevents us to go back to the past. Even we are back to the empty nest of ideology, our lives have been wrapped by these cements and dirt, and these narrow visual spaces reshape our sensibility day after day. Maybe this is the great illusion Wang Guangyi needs. While this is still regarded as a real illusion, it is not false and it is intertwined with our bodies closely. Usually, these true feeling are subconsciously repressed and forgotten, until you are forced to watch them so far. The word “illusion” itself indicates: the noblest values in the universe are about to collapse.
Wang Guangyi, Great Illusion, 2011; photography, 1200x320cm
Wang Guangyi, Concern (New Religion), 2011; oil on canvas, 400x400cm
The artist did not directly give his reply, but he opened the gate of thinking to the audience through his works: the human society develops in such thinking and behaviors.
About the exhibition
Date: Jan 12, 2016 - Feb 12, 2016
Opening: Jan 12, 2016, 19:00, Tuesday
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art (Singapore, Singapore)
Curator: Lv Peng
Courtesy of the artist and Museum of Contemporary Art, translated and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO.
