Zheng guogu biography of michael

Zheng Guogu in conversation with Aaron Seeto

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  • Zheng Guogu, who received the

    • ZHENG GUOGU

    Born in 1970 in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, China
    Lives and works in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, China

    Zheng Guogu, who received the Chinese Contemporary Art Award in 2006, is one of the leading young Chinese artists who emerged in the nineties in the context of profound shifts in a People’s Republic opening up to a globalized world. He started his work with series of photographs mounted as contact sheets, documenting the lifestyle of young people in his native city in the South of China, Yangjiang. Working with photography, painting, video and installation, he is very close to the conceptual group of artists The Big Tail Elephant Group, active in Guangzhou since the beginning of the nineties, who encouraged him to experiment performance and a more conceptual approach. Zheng Guogu is particularly interested in the influence of consumer culture on Chinese traditions. His fascination for mass media led him to produce a series of prints and paintings that may recall calligraphic scrolls. As in, brightly coloured Chinese and English scripts taken from entertainment magazines or advertising logos are displayed on more traditional backgrounds.

  • A presence in Chinese

    • Biography

    Yangjiang Group is an artistic group founded in 2002 by Zheng Guogu (b. 1970, Yangjiang, China), Chen Zaiyan (b.1971, Yangchun, China) and Sun Qinglin (b.1974, Yangjiang, China). Yangjiang Group takes its name from their hometown where the artists are based. They use the unique medium of Chinese calligraphy to develop a diverse contemporary practice.

    Rather than rebelling against the tradition of Chinese calligraphy, Yangjiang Group gets its inspiration from the origin of the “long river” of Chinese calligraphy – the ancient days when painting and writing forms were not divided. For Yangjiang Group, the momentum of modern society is calligraphy coming to life and the process of creating calligraphy becomes a way for the artists to reflect the world. Combining calligraphy with the unknowable dynamics of life force, the art of Yangjiang Group forges a unique style – I make calligraphy therefore I am. Known for their playful attacks on traditional calligraphy and attempts to subvert socio-cultural conventions and values, their works explore many different formats such as painting, multimedia installation, and performance and use materials such as wax, food and foam. Audience participation is a significant component of their work, ordinary events such as eating, tea drinking are vital to their convivial working process and cultivation of community-based exhibition experiences. Elements from everyday life - news talks, gambling, soccer games, discount sales etc.- give birth to a new approach of making calligraphy. Time and materials are transformed into a comprehensive situation by the fermentation of interaction with wine, tea, discourses and daily situations.

    Their recent solo exhibitions include: Yangjiang Group:Are You Going to Appreciate Calligraphy First or Measure You Blood Pressure? at N3 Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2018; Yangjiang Group: Calligraphy is the Way to Communicate with the Most Primal atMMCA, Seoul, 2016-2017; Yangjiang Group:

      Zheng guogu biography of michael

    Zheng Guogu. Visionary Transformation

    VW (VeneKlasen/Werner) is pleased to present Visionary Transformation, an exhibition of new works by Zheng Guogu. This is the artist's first solo exhibition in Berlin and features sculptures, paintings, photographs and the 20 minute film Mind Acts Without Attachments, all created between 2011 - 2015.

    Zheng Guogu is one of China's most versatile contemporary artists, recognized more by his thematic approach rather than any particular medium. His practice reflects the contemporary world's connection with today's media but also utilizes an intimate knowledge of traditional Chinese, Buddhist and Daoist art.

    This exhibition features works from different series which are bound together by a narrative trait. Computer Controlled by Pig's Brain alludes to the impact of commercial mass media and the fictive nature of images. The history of Chinese painting is dissected and its methodology reflects Guogu´s questioning approach to established associations and symbols. The Brain Nerves are not only abstract portraits of the mental space of artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Beuys, but also measure the sensibility of the brains of the portrayed subjects. The works of the Visionary Transformation series are reminiscent of Buddhist Thangka paintings, yet Guogu aims to distill the essence of the iconographic subject and to transform the material energy of the painting into a mirror that opens up a personal search for truth. The aesthetic resonance of Chakra series is based on the artist´s exploration of the seven chakras. These series of paintings share the will to resonate the energy between the space of the painting and the energy centers within the viewer.

    In 2000 Zheng Guogu created The Age Of Empire, now called Liao Garden, as his independent living and working space, facilitating a multi-disciplinary practice that is open to critical observations. The film Mind Acts Without Attachments, presented in the gallery´s cinema, part

  • Stella Rosa McDonald met with member