Wang Guangyi

This book presents a selection of paintings by Wang Guangyi (born 1957) never exhibited in the West, made from 2013 to today. It includes the series Daily Life (2013–14), Ritual (2015), Obscured Existence (2018–20) and The Shadow of Memory (2021), together with self-portraits and other paintings.

Wang Guangyi’s art is significant not only in China but across the world: this book investigates his artistic path from a new perspective. For any reader interested in understanding contemporary Chinese culture and art, this book provides a unique viewpoint: it approaches the story of a Chinese contemporary artist from the perspective of the history of ideas and art rather than that of news and politics. It adopts methods and approaches easily understandable by Western readers in order to draw them closer to the enigma that Chinese contemporary culture represents.

Huang Zhuan (Wuhan, 1958) is currently a professor at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts where he also serves as executive director of the OCT Contemporary Art Terminal. Since the early 1980s his essays, which have recently been collected in the book Ideas and Action in the Art World (Beijing University Press, 2010), have had a strong impact on the Chinese artistic scene.

The first monograph conceived for the international market devoted to one of the most important Chinese contemporary artists. Known throughout the world, above all for his cycle Great Criticism, in which he juxtaposes images of Chinese propaganda with the most famous Western brands, and later for his installations on the theme of the Cold War, Wang Guangyi is considered one of the emblems of new China because his work underlines, through new language forms, the deep social changes the country is experiencing. This monograph includes more than 400 color images, an essay by the curator, and an anthology of the most important writings by and on the artist, revealing for the first time the entire œuvre of Wang Guangyi, whose works are in the collections of the most important museums and foundations in the world.

Demetrio Paparoni, critic and curator, has edited numerous monographs and contributed to catalogs of artists such as Anish Kapoor, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, and Edward Hopper.