Artists at Play

Artists at Play

Wang Guofeng, Zhou Wendou, Ma Sibo, Wang Lijun, Tian Qi, Sun Yitian

ARTWORKS

Zhou Wendou Zhou Wendou was born in 1970 in Beijing. In 1998, he went to Spain to study painting. In his ten-year learning and artistic career in Spain, his creative process went from painting to “installation + photography�, and finally pure installation, as his works went through a natural transformative process. After returning to China in 2008, his Western style of creation gave him a different perspective on Chinese contemporary culture. This perspective is reflected both through the subjects of his works and the manner of their creation.

He often examines aspects of Chinese contemporary culture through an international lens, both contrasting with and sometimes echoing the opinion of the general population.

Zhou Wendou 15째 Slope 2004 Giclee print mounted on diasec 47.5 x 55 cm Edition of 9

Zhou Wendou Restoration - “The Decameron” 2003 Book, stainless steel wire 25 x 15 x 3 cm

Zhou Wendou Restoration - “Love in a Fallen City” 2003 Book, stainless steel wire 25 x 15 x 3 cm

Zhou Wendou Restoration - “Wuthering Heights” 2003 Book, stainless steel wire 25 x 15 x 3 cm

Zhou Wendou Table Tennis Bat No. 1 2009 Table tennis bat, sponge, imitation leather 25 x 15 x 8 cm Edition of 9

Zhou Wendou Table Tennis Bat No. 2 2009 Table tennis bat, sponge, imitation leather 25 x 15 x 8 cm Edition of 9

Zhou Wendou Bookworm Series 2 2009 Book 25 x 41 x 4 cm

Zhou Wendou Basketball Sketeton 2006 Basketball 25 x 12 x 15 cm Edition of 5

Zhou Wendou Mobile Branch No. 1 2004 Tree branch, wheels 56 x 16 x 7 cm

Zhou Wendou Mobile Branch No. 2 2004 Tree branch, wheels 48 x 25 x 27 cm

Zhou Wendou From Fig Leaves to Marijuana Leaves 2004 Giclee print mounted on diasec 55 x 46.5 cm x 2 Edition of 9

Zhou Wendou Baguette 2004 Giclee print mounted on diasec 37.5 x 60 cm x 2 Edition of 9

Zhou Wendou Meat Mickey 2004 Giclee print mounted on diasec 60 x 46.5 cm Edition of 9

Zhou Wendou Fragile State - Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, White, Yellow 2004 Neon light, basketball net, aluminium board 37 x 37 x 50 cm x 8 Edition of 8

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Sponge 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Arm 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Brain 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Pacifier 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Blow Bubble 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Skull 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Potato Chips 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Pills 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Balance 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Head in The Sand 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Feet 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Face to Face 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Tongue 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Apple Pit 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Pregnancy 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Reading 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - One Person on The Seesaw 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Bomb 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Clip 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Ear 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Struggle 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Car 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Human And Book 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Baby 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Zhou Wendou Sponge Pop - Toilet 2006 Sponge 9 x 6 x 4.5 cm Unique

Wang Guofeng Wang Guofeng was born in China’s northeasterly Liaoning province, currently residing and working in Beijing.

He uses the medium of photography to explore contemporary society, particularly our interaction with media and the news in the digital age. Through his works, he interrupts the viewer in their usual approach to looking at a photograph; through blowing up the pixels of an oversized image, including text over the images, blurring images to obscure our interpretation, and so on. Through these methods, Wang Guofeng makes the point that in our daily lives, we have become so inundated with images from the media on various technological devices that we simply glance at them for surface information before moving on. By interrupting this process, we are forced to stop and truly consider what is happening in the image, what is the meaning behind the image, and what specifically is Wang Guofeng communicating via each individual work? Wang Guofeng’s work is both thought provoking and culturally relevant, capturing one aspect of the dark side of the technological age.

Wang Guofeng North Korea 2013 No. 4 2013 Giclee print mounted on diasec 68 x 300 cm Edition of 6 plus 2 AP

Ma Sibo Ma Sibo was born in 1979 in Tianjin, China. He studied painting and calligraphy in China, before spending four years in France specializing in fine art. His principle references in painting are the great masters of impressionism, for their hazy and imperceptible transitions between shadow and light, Mark Rothko, for his fluidity of colors and the “silence” of his large colored surfaces, and Edward Hopper, for his piercing light and representations of the loneliness of urban life.

Ma Sibo often wanders through Beijing, where he lives and works, taking photographs of hidden corners amongst the buildings, sheltered from the frenetic energy of the city. These photographs serve as inspirations and models for his painstakingly worked oil paintings. As they are gradually faded, stratified and retouched by the paint, these landscapes take on the dreamlike atmosphere of the unreal. A strange mixture of reality and imagination, Ma Sibo’s luminous visions recall Baudelaire’s Windows: closed to the outside world but lit from within by a dazzling and vivid candle, revealing the poetry of our dreams.

Ma Sibo Carousel 2011 Oil on canvas 100 x 100 cm

Ma Sibo Corner 2015 Oil on canvas 150 x 140 cm

Ma Sibo Raft 2012 Oil on canvas 140 x 150 cm

Wang Lijun Born in Hunan, China in 1982, Wang Lijun studied sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). His work evolved from representing animals and human beings to a more conceptual production. The playful and colorful sculptures of Wang Lijun are made with mixed materials. Recently he has been exploring the material of chalk, the artist is striving to give a shiny look to the ordinary, transforming a simple wood panel into a rainbow or creating a green forest with only chalks and screws. Wang Lijun’s recent projects involve in space and memories. For his project ‘Fairytale’ in 2015, he colored his entire childhood home with chalks. For him, coloring is a process of “defamiliarization”. Immersing in his installation, the audience enters a pastel world, reconnecting with childhood memories.

Wang Lijun Look 2009 Resin, acrylic 78 x 60 x 38 cm Edition of 2

Wang Lijun Remodel 2015 Installation (wooden furniture and chalk) Size variable (500 x 697 cm)

Tian Qi Tian Qi was born in 1987 in Hebei, China. Recently graduated from CAFA, Tian Qi mixes thread and acrylic paints to create refreshing compositions. Sensitive to life’s simple things, she transforms the repetitive everyday of ordinary people into colorful canvases. The surrealist atmosphere that emerges from Tian Qi’s paintings conveys different feelings. At first sight, the audience attracted by vivid colors can find the works quite playful but getting more deeply into the artist’s world might completely change their first impression.

Characters like the Clown or the Rabbit-Girl give an absurd touch to the story behind the general chromatic aspect of Tian Qi’s paintings. Exploring different sides of her personality, the artist identifies to the casting she creates through her artistic practice.

Tian Qi Onwards M 2015 Acrylic and thread on canvas 60 x 80 cm

Tian Qi I Don’t Know You, But I Know Your Shadow 2015 Acrylic and thread on canvas 50 x 40 cm

Tian Qi Soldier Holding The Gun No. 1 2015 Acrylic and thread on canvas 50 x 40 cm

Tian Qi L. C. 2015 Acrylic and thread on canvas 50 cm (Diameter)

Tian Qi Green Cotton Candy 2015 Acrylic and thread on canvas 60 x 60 x 60 cm

Tian Qi Pink Cotton Candy 2015 Acrylic and thread on canvas 90 x 90 cm

Tian Qi Music 2015 Acrylic and thread on canvas 40 x 30 cm

Tian Qi Onwards ISS 2015 Acrylic and thread on canvas 60 x 80 cm

Sun Yitian Sun Yitian was born in 1991 in Wenzhou, China. She belongs to a new generation of artists. Born in the 90’s, she grew up in a world surrounded by moving images and flashy colors. Currently studying at CAFA, Sun Yitian explores the relation between the body and nature. Erotic flowers and love dolls populate her canvases.

Influenced by the pop movement, the artist feeds her creativity with thousands of images she can access everyday on the social media. As the states: ‘There was nothing to hide, every image could be a monument’.

Expressing her feelings on the canvases, she gives her compositions more density by adding fabric, plastic or other materials to her works.

Sun Yitian Galactic Cone 2015 Acrylic on canvas 100 x 67 cm

Sun Yitian Give me a Cuddle 2015 Acrylic on canvas 100 x 67 cm

Sun Yitian Doll Factory 2015 Acrylic on canvas 20 x 20 cm

Published on the occasion of de Sarthe Beijing exhibition:

August 15 - October 16, 2015

北京市朝陽區草場地藝術區328-d 328-d, Caochangdi, Chaoyang District, 100015 Beijing, China T. +86 010-84182441 | E. beijing@desarthe.com

香港中環雪廠街16 號西洋會所大廈 8樓 8/F Club Lusitano, 16 Ice House Street, Central Hong Kong T. 852 21678896 | F. 852 21678893 | E. hongkong@desarthe.com www.desarthe.com Catalog: © 2015 de Sarthe Beijing © Wang Guofeng, Zhou Wendou, Ma Sibo, Wang Lijun, Tian Qi, Sun Yitian Design: Willis Lam, de Sarthe Gallery