GUAN WEI FROM STARS TO SOUL
GUAN WEI
FROM STARS TO SOUL 5 - 29 March 2015
MARTIN BROWNE CONTEMPORARY 15 HAMPDEN STREET PADDINGTON NSW 2021 TEL: 02 9331 7997 FAX: 02 9331 7050 info@martinbrownecontemporary.com www.martinbrownecontemporary.com GALLERY HOURS: TUESDAY - SUNDAY 10:30AM - 6PM
© Martin Browne Contemporary © All images copyright Guan Wei This catalogue is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. COMPILER: Dean Andersen COLOUR SEPARATIONS: Spitting Image, Sydney PRINTING: Oxygen, Sydney Cover Image: Extension 12, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm (triptych)
LIST OF WORKS Yellow Square 1, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 87 x 46 cm
To The Origin 8, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Yellow Square 2, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 87 x 46 cm
Up In The Clouds 1, 2014, bronze, 61 x 105 x 113 cm, Ed. 1/3
Yellow Square 3, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 87 x 46 cm
Up In The Clouds 2, 2014, bronze, 130 x 84 x 48 cm, Ed. 1/3
Yellow Square 4, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 87 x 46 cm
Up In The Clouds 4, 2014, bronze, 122 x 70 x 54 cm, Ed. 1/3
Blue Like Sky 1, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Extension 1, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Blue Like Sky 2, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Extension 2, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Blue Like Sky 3, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Extension 3, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Blue Like Sky 4, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Extension 4, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Blue Like Sky 5, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Extension 5, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Blue Like Sky 6, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Extension 6, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 106 cm (diptych)
Blue Like Sky 7, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Extension 7, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 106 cm (diptych)
Blue Like Sky 8, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Extension 8, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 106 cm (diptych)
To The Origin 1, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Extension 9, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 106 cm (diptych)
To The Origin 2, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Extension 10, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm (triptych)
To The Origin 3, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Extension 11, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm (triptych)
To The Origin 4, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Extension 12, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm (triptych)
To The Origin 5, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Enigma Space 1, 2013, acrylic on board and stone, 30 x 200 cm, 8 panels
To The Origin 6, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Enigma Space 3, 2013, acrylic on board and eaves tile, 40 x 250 cm, 8 panels
To The Origin 7, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Enigma Space 5, 2013, acrylic on board, 35 x 170 cm, 8 panels
FROM STARS TO SOUL
Whenever it is summer in Beijing, I return to my Sydney home to spend a winter here. I do this to escape the heat and to be able to paint in peace and quiet. Last winter in Sydney I painted this collection of works which I have entitled From Stars To Soul. When I face these black shadows, which look like Chinese calligraphy strokes, and these symbols, which look both familiar and strange, I am filled with all kind of mixed emotions. So, I give a sly smile, I even find them very funny. And I think, “isn’t creating something from scratch a kind of life experience, of rebirth?”. This constant travelling, flying between Australia and China, Sydney and Beijing, has put me in a state of “illusion”. The world is no longer real; my own identity is even more unclear. From Play on the Beach in 2011, in which I focused on geographical representation, through 2012’s Twinkling Galaxies in which I investigated the transformation of space-time, to this From Stars To Soul exhibition, I have paid more and more attention to my own inner being, experiences and emotions. This has been a subliminal transformation process: from the outside to the inside, from the concrete to the abstract and, above all, from the material to the spiritual. Reality is like a multi-layered, interwoven tapestry, from matter to body, mind, soul and spirit. All things and events in the world are intertwined with everything else, and ultimately everything is surrounded and nourished by the Spiritual, God, the Tao, the Brahman and the Absolute. In Hinduism and Buddhism there are three states of existence: the coarse world (matter and body); the subtle world (mind and soul); and the world of the self (spirit) – from the material to the spiritual. Enlightenment and tolerance constitute the best form of existence, but transcending the space-time dimension, attaining spiritual freedom, being unrestrained, benevolent, amiable, and joyful, also enables you to be in touch with every soul.
I used black and white as dominant tones in these paintings – as well as death and life, black and white commonly symbolize void and plenitude, darkness and light, reality and illusion. Unbroken black lines and portrayals are reminiscent of Chinese calligraphy. For me, they emerge from an unconscious thought process originating in my life experience and give expression to inner feelings. At a certain stage, after I achieved a particular level of spirituality, I found that the cultural images and symbols that used to jostle in my mind, such as fish, birds, lotuses, the representation of native flora and fauna, boats, numbers and geometric figures, were transformed into my new artistic language. As I was creating this series of works, I understood that it was very different from what I had done before. I often need to capture the transient images of my subconscious, and I completely rely on recording my inner inspiration at the time about the ineffable experience that is existence. Inner perception is a joyful and wonderful thing. I hope the visitors to this exhibition will not only see everything that is expressed in these works, but that they will also experience what I have experienced, the inner dynamic process arising from, and constituted by, these images. Albert Einstein one said, “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.�
Guan Wei, February 2015
从星空到心灵 每个北京的夏天，我都会回到悉尼的家里，在这里过一个冬天。一是为了避暑，二是可以安静的画 画。一个冬天过去了，终于诞生出了这套“延伸”的作品。面对这些黑色的影子，像是中国书法似的线 条，和一些既熟悉又陌生的符号，我是感慨万千，会心一笑，甚至觉得很好玩。这种从无到有，又何 尝不是一次生命经历和新生呢？ 澳大利亚 - 中国，悉尼 - 北京，两地间的不断游走，我始终处在一种“梦幻”的状态之中。世界不是那 么的真实，自己的身份也更加的不清。从2011年的“沙滩上的游戏”到2012年的“繁星闪耀”，从关注于 时空转换和地理表象的呈现，到这次的从星空到心灵。我更加关注于自我的内心体验和感受。这种变 化是一个从外到内，从具象到抽象，更是一个从物质到灵性升华的过程。 现实如层叠交织的锦绣图，从物质到身体，心智，灵魂及灵性。世间的每件事物和事件都与其它的所 有事态相互交缠，而所有事物最后又被灵性，神，道，梵和绝对自身所环抱，涵养。 在印度教和佛教中，成为三大存在状态，一，粗钝界（物质和身体）。二，微细界（心智与灵魂）。 三，自性界（灵性），从物质，心智到灵性。 灵性的开悟，与一种宽容的心灵，最佳的存在方式，另一方面是超越时空层面的释放，灵性自由，得 以自在，以善意，亲切，喜乐接触每一个灵魂。 作品以黑白为基调，黑与白象征着虚与实，阴与阳，真实与梦幻，以及生与死这个普遍的意义。黑色 的线条与头像，连绵不断，宛如中国的书法，是一种无意识的心灵轨迹，源于对生命的一种体悟，和 内心感觉的一种抒发。平时存在大脑之中散乱的各种文化形象符号，如：鱼，鸟，莲花，土著的动植 物图像，船，数字和几何图形等等。在自己某个充满灵性的时刻，转化为个人一种新的艺术语言。自 己在创作这批作品时，感觉与之前自己的作品非常不同，我时常需要捕捉我潜意识中的转瞬即逝的意 象，完全凭借我内心的灵感记录下我当时的对生命，存在的一个无法言说的体验。内心的感受是欢快 的，奇妙的。这里希望观众不仅看到完成了的作品中那些被表现出来的东西，而且体验到我所体验过 的，画面出现和组成的内心动态过程。 爱因斯坦讲：“我们所能有的最美好的经验是奥秘的经验。它是坚守在真正艺术和真正科学发源地上的 基本感情。 关伟 2014年10月
Yellow Square 1, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 87 x 46 cm
Yellow Square The Yellow Square paintings talk about the conflict between rationality and sensibility. Rationality is always useful to create an order and a kind of logic with which to frame feeling and emotion.
黄方块 在探讨一种理性与感性之间的关系。在神话和寓言中，任何事物都可以转变成另一些事物。在那里由深刻的 情感所触动，就可能把一个物质变成最不同的另一个物质。但是在现实中理性总是要建立一种秩序，一种逻 辑，把情感拉回来。放到一个框架里......
Yellow Square 2, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 87 x 46 cm
Yellow Square 3, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 87 x 46 cm
Yellow Square 4, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 87 x 46 cm
Blue Like Sky 1, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Blue Like Sky 2, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Porcelain Porcelain has a long tradition. It carries within this narrative many cultural codes, histories and legends.
陶瓷 陶瓷有着悠久的历史。它本身就承载着很多文化密码与历史的传说。
Blue Like Sky Blue like sky, shining like a mirror, thin as paper, sound like chime stone. This is the highest state of the art of Jingdezhen Blue and White Porcelain. Here, with Western style astrological images and my own visual symbols, and using the historical techniques of Jingdezhen Blue and White Porcelain, I have created mysterious, floating worlds.
青如天 青如天，明如镜，薄如纸，声如磬。这是景德镇青花瓷追求的最高境界。这里用西方式的天宫 形象和自己的符号，在有着悠久历史的景德镇陶瓷工艺上制造出了一种更加神秘，飘然的意 境。
Blue Like Sky 3, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Blue Like Sky 4, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Blue Like Sky 5, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Blue Like Sky 6, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Blue Like Sky 7, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
Blue Like Sky 8, 2014, porcelain, 44 x 29 cm
To The Origin 1, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
To The Origin 2, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
To The Origin Chaotic and overloaded modern life brings anguish, confusion and exhaustion to people. It is time to free our hearts from this increasingly frenetic life style, and go back to the origin. Like the stars in the sky, let us experience infinite freedom and happiness.
原点 纷乱，繁杂的现代生活把苦闷，迷茫，疲惫带给了现代人，在日益缩小的生存空间中如何使心 灵得到释放与解脱，回到人的一种自由自在的本源状态。进入宇宙星空中得到一种无限的快 乐。
To The Origin 3, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
To The Origin 4, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
To The Origin 5, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
To The Origin 6, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
To The Origin 7, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
To The Origin 8, 2014, porcelain, 46.5 x 27.3 cm
Up In The Clouds 1, 2014, bronze, 61 x 105 x 113 cm, Ed. 1/3
Up In The Clouds I wish I could live up in the clouds - leisurely, leisurely! To me freedom is a cloud habitat in the mountains or above the sea. Clouds move to where there is no resistance nor struggle; where it is quiet, where there is nothing to achieve, and nothing to lose. Clouds just enjoy the presence of inaction, celebrating the joy of the moment. I have tried to express these feelings and ideas through my Up In The Clouds sculptures. Clouds often appear in my paintings as well. They are my personal visual symbols. My art echoes the same idea – the eradication of sadness and worries in pursuit of a happiness that originates from a pure heart and body. Clouds combine together to reveal pictures of nature and harmony, lightness and joy. The body can stretch freely and joyously on the cloud, expressing a rejection of the political, social and commercial constraints with which all systems seek to bind the liberty and individuality of man. 云之上 我希望自己能向云一样的生活，悠哉，悠哉！自由自在，象一朵云栖息在山上，海上，地 上，风吹到哪里，云就飘到哪里，没有抗拒，也无有争斗，安安静静，没有什么事情要达 成，也没有什么东西可以失去，只是享受无为的存在，庆祝当下的喜悦之情。我尝试用雕 塑“云之上”表达我的情感和思想。云也是我长期在绘画作品之中使用的一种很个人化的视 觉符号。这里提出的就是让人们解脱烦恼之苦，追求身心清静之乐。同时身体在云上自由 快乐地伸展，也传到了一种反对一切来自政治，社会，商业等各种体制对人的自由和个性 的限制与束缚。
Up In The Clouds 2, 2014, bronze, 130 x 84 x 48 cm, Ed. 1/3
Up In The Clouds 4, 2014, bronze, 122 x 70 x 54 cm, Ed. 1/3
Extension I’ve used metaphoric and symbolic imagery to create the Extension paintings. In them I have emphasized the written marks of pen and ink – marks which are much valued in Chinese calligraphy. I found this a very good way to express the strong feelings – and often mixed emotions – I have about my recent years of living in two very different cultures.
延伸 作品通过意象，暗喻和象征的手法去创作，特别是把中国书法艺术，强调笔墨，书写所留下的印 记，一种非常东方的抽象形式，用来表达我强烈的内心情感。驳杂的知识结构及对生活的把玩，“延 伸”这组作品是在探求一条通向高级智性的情趣之路。 飘若流云，行似清风。
Opposite: Extension 1, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Extension 2, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Extension 3, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Extension 4, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Extension 5, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 50 cm
Extension 6, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 106 cm (diptych)
Extension 7, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 106 cm (diptych)
Extension 8, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 106 cm (diptych)
Extension 9, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 106 cm (diptych)
Extension 10, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm (triptych)
Extension 11, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm (triptych)
Extension 12, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm (triptych)
Enigma Space What the East privileges in its study of, and aspirations for, art is style, comprehension and enjoyment from contemplating. The poetic nature, meaning and level of a work of art is what is most prized. The main meaning of a work of art is to give people a new perspective and look afresh at a world we have become accustomed to. A night of rain with falling flower petals. The water in the garden full of flower fragrance. Light willow catkins dance just like a dream; drizzle in spring just like endless sadness. The moon in the water and the flower in the mirror. Elegant, connotation, implicit, indirect, hazy moonlight, mysterious, quiet solitude, mental spaciousness, profound and lasting, dimly discernible, seemingly, poetic, mysterious. 《谜•境》 随笔
* * * * * *
东方在艺术上的研究和追求是, 讲究气息, 体悟, 赏读, 他们更注重作品的 诗性, 意味和境界。 艺术创作的重要意义是提供给人们一个新的观看角度，重新审视我们习以为 常的世界。 一夜落花雨, 满园流水香 柳花轻似梦，春雨细如愁。 水中月, 镜中花。 优雅, 含蓄, 委婉, 间接, 朦胧, 幽深, 神秘, 冷寂, 空灵, 深远, 缥缈, 恍若, 娇揉，幽玄
Enigma Space 1, 2013, acrylic on board and stone, 30 x 200 cm, 8 panels
Enigma Space 3, 2013, acrylic on board and eaves tile, 40 x 250 cm, 8 panels
Enigma Space 5, 2013, acrylic on board, 35 x 170 cm, 8 panels
GUAN WEI SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 2014 2014 2014 2013 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2009 2009 2008
Panorama, Art of Guan Wei, Jia Pingwa Cultural Museum of Art, Xi’an, China How Far, Heiser Gallery, Brisbane Archaeology, ARC One Gallery, Melbourne From The Water To The Sky, Glasshouse - Port Macquarie Regional Gallery, NSW Twinkling Galaxies, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney The Enchantment, ARC One Gallery, Melbourne Spellbound, He Xiang Ning Art Museum, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China Bird Island, Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore Play on the Beach, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney The New Classic of the Mountains and Seas, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing Cloud in the sky, Water in the bottle, Shumu Art Space, Beijing Cloud, ARC One Gallery, Melbourne Fragments of history, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney Longevity for Beginners, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong Zodiac, Turner Galleries, Perth
GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2014-2015 2015 2015 2015 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014
Inspired by Buddhism, Nan Tien Institute Gallery, Wollongong, NSW Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, Perth ANZAC Commemoration Exhibition, Casula Powerhouse Art Centre, Sydney Crossing Boundaries - A Celebration of Asian Australian Art, Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Mud Maps, Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney The Gathering II - A Survey of Australian Sculpture, Wangaratta Art Gallery, VIC Global Chinese Painting & Calligraphy Exhibition, The Cultural Palace of Nationalities, Beijing Chinese Whispers, Goulburn Regional Gallery, NSW Transforming China - Australia Contemporary Art Exhibition, Meijiang International Art Gallery, Tianjin, China Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney Celebration - 60th Anniversary of Beijing Capital University, National Art Museum of China, Beijing Seeking, Ewart Gallery, Sydney China - Chinese, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing Paper Being, Tianjin Art Museum, Tianjin, China The Un-officials, Art Before 85, Boers-li Gallery, Beijing Myh /History, Yuz Collection of Contemporary Art, Shanghai Conflict - Contemporary Responses to War, The University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
GUAN WEI BIOGRAPHY
Born 1957, Beijing, China. In 1989, three years after graduating from the Department of Fine Arts at Beijing Capital University, Guan Wei came to Australia to take up an artist-in-residence position at the Tasmanian School of Art. He was invited to undertake two further residencies: one at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney (1992), the other at the Canberra School of Art, Australian National University (1993). Since then he has been awarded many grants and residencies, including the Australia Council’s Greene St studio in New York (2003), the Cite International des Art, Paris studio in 2007 and Fellowship in 2008-2009. In 2010 he was an artist-in-residence at The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, USA, in 2011 he was artist-inresidence at He Xiang Ning Art Museum, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, and in 2012 he was artist-in-residence at the Ah Ming studio in the Jing De Zhen Ceramic city. In 2014 he took part in the Artists’ Camp, “Looking for Spirits” in Lipo Guizhou. A survey exhibition, Panorama: The Art of Guan Wei, is currently on view (January-March 2015) at Jia Pingwa Cultural Museum of Art, Xi’an, China. Guan Wei lives and works in both Beijing and Sydney.
Guan Wei’s work has a profoundly felt, if implicitly ironic, moral dimension. In their complex symbolic forms, his subjects potently embody current social and environmental dilemmas. They are equally the product of his rich cultural repertory of symbols and his informed socio-political awareness and art-historical knowledge.
Guan Wei has held more than 55 solo exhibitions world-wide. He has also been included in numerous important international contemporary exhibitions, including the Shanghai Biennial, 2010; 10th Havana Biennial, Cuba, 2009; Handle with Care, 2008 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia; Face Up: Contemporary Art from Australia, Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, Berlin, 2003; Osaka Triennial Contemporary Art, Osaka, 2001; Man and Space, Kwangju Biennale, 2000 and the 3rd Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1999.
In 2006 Craftsman House published a monograph on Guan Wei. He has won several awards, including the 2002 Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales. He has also completed several commissions in Australia including a mural for the foyer of the Folkestone Leighton Joint Venture at 700 Collins Street Melbourne in 2004 and a mural featured in the foyer of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s new building in Sydney, 2013. His works are held in major public collections and numerous university, corporate and private collections throughout Australia and internationally.