Wang Gongyi

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Following solo exhibitions “Memories of West Lake” in 2017 and “Leaves of Grass” in 2019, Galerie du Monde is thrilled to bring Wang Gongyi to Hong Kong for the third time! Opening on 13 April 2022, presenting a new body of ink paintings created by Gongyi capturing the infinite nature, inspired by her hiking trips in Portland and expedition to Lake Tahoe.

Born in Tianjin, China in 1946, Wang Gongyi graduated from the Affiliated High School of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1962. After the Cultural Revolution, she joined the Tianjin People’s Fine Arts Publishing House as an editor. In 1978, she pursued her master’s degree in Printmaking at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now the China Academy of Fine Arts), and after graduation she stayed at the academy as a teacher. In 1986, Wang was invited by the French Ministry of Culture to study art in France. After her residencies at the Museum of Oregon State University and the Pacific Northwest College of Art, she relocated to the United States in 2001 and has since been based in Portland.

In the early 1980s, Wang Gongyi gained wide recognition in China after being awarded first prize in the second National Youth Fine Art Exhibition for her powerful suite of seven woodcuts devoted to the Chinese feminist and revolutionary martyr Qiu Jin, this work called for social reforms and represented the passion of a new generation. It has become an important work in the historical narrative of contemporary Chinese art. (View the Qiu Jin Prints in the Ashmolean Museum Collection)

Wang Gongyi’s works are in many important institutions and collections internationally, including: Ashmolean Museum, UK; China Academy of Art; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Portland Art Museum, US; The National People’s Congress, China; The National Art Museum of China; Shanghai Art Museum, China; USC Pacific Asia Museum, US; and Zhejiang Art Museum, China, among others. In 2022, Wang Gongyi’s works are being featured in Centre Pompidou’s “Women Artists of the 20th Century” program.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Born in Tianjin, China in 1946, Wang Gongyi joined the Tianjin People’s Fine Arts Publishing House as an editor after the Cultural Revolution. In 1978, she pursued a master's degree in the Printmaking Department at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now the China Academy of Fine Arts), and after graduating in 1980 she stayed at the academy as a teacher. Wang Gongyi gained national recognition after being awarded first prize in the National Youth Fine Art Exhibition for her powerful suite of seven woodcuts depicting the Chinese revolutionary martyr Qiu Jin. In 1986, Wang Gongyi was invited by the French Ministry of Culture to study art as a visiting artist, and in 1992 she went to Aix-en-Provence and Lyon to further her studies in printmaking. After her residencies at the Museum of Oregon State University and the Pacific Northwest College of Art, she relocated to the United States in 2001 and has since been based in Portland.

Wang Gongyi’s works are in many important institutions and collections internationally, including: Ashmolean Museum, UK; China Academy of Art; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Portland Art Museum, US; The National People’s Congress, China; The National Art Museum of China; Shanghai Art Museum, China; USC Pacific Asia Museum, US; and Zhejiang Art Museum, China, among others. In 2022, Wang Gongyi's works are being featured in Centre Pompidou's “Women Artists of the 20th Century” program.