All in One, 2021, Kunststein, 35,5 x 12,6 x 12,6 cm, © Studio Chen Wenling

"Chen Wenling is an outstanding artist in the field of contemporary Chinese art, and since he has a very unique artistic style, his art is by no means easy to categorize. Chen Wenling is commonly referred to as a contemporary sculptor, but his sculptures are also presented as installations, and he even uses readymade objects to create large-scale, cross-media artworks. The vast majority of his works can be considered "sculpture-installation art." With his strong humanistic sensibility, most of Chen Wenling's artworks are based on a profound consideration of social reality, giving his art a sophisticated quality of realism. However, due to the non-representational design, his artworks always have a striking surrealistic quality. Chen Wenling is a formalist and a conceptualist in equal measure. His works are characterized by humanistic sensibility and rational criticism. The artist strives for diversity rather than monotony, he crosses boundaries and breaks rules, and he makes a good faith effort to diversify" (Wang Duanting).

The Osthaus Museum is exhibiting approximately 100 works by this important Chinese artist: Sculptures, manuscripts and photographs.

"Chen Wenling's solemn humor runs through all media. Chen Wenling is such a contemporary artist who has a deep insight into human nature, with a joking and mocking presence, his art represents a comprehensive and solemn spirituality, and such artistic expression and value are precisely the mission and responsibility of all righteous artists" (Wang Duanting).

About the artist

Chen Wenling is a contemporary Chinese Neo-Realist artist. Chen Wenling was born in 1969 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Sculpture Department of Xiamen Academy of Art and Design, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. His artworks have been collected by China Art Museum, National Gallery of Korea, Denver Art Museum and Arox Art Museum etc. In 2011, he was awarded the Most Popular Award in the International Sculpture Exhibition at Aarhus City of Denmark; in the same year, he won the Public Art Prize in the 7th of the Sculpture by the Sea at Perth, Australia. He continues to exhibit around the world and lives and works in Beijing, China. 

About the exhibition

Dates: 10 July-28 August, 2022

Venue: Osthaus Museum Hagen

Opening: 9 July, 16:00

Courtesy of Osthaus Museum Hagen.