Biography: Guo Wei

Guo Wei is one of the community of artists from Chengdu, Sichuan province. The art of these artists is lyrical and subtle. They are almost all investigating the individual, the personality, the development of the self in the new liberalising China.

Guo Wei concentrates on scenes from everyday life in his paintings, focussing on the individual rather than on grander social issues. The isolation of the individual as subject is a predominant element in the Chinese avant garde. Since the communist system heavily favours the collectivity and, formerly, the only “individuals” of interest were those ideal peasants and workers of the communist propaganda machine, this focus on the individual is an expression of contemporary artistic liberty as well as being a novelty yet to be fully explored. Guo Wei says one of the things he explores is the restless nature of teenage children. He is searching for the expression of an emotion as well as an image.

*Source: ChineseContemporary. com

Biography

1960
Born in Sichuan Province, China

1989
Graduated Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts

Currently lives and works in Sichuan Province, China

Selected Exhibitions:

2006
Brothers, Cheng Xindong Contemporary Art Space, Beijing
Pay Attention to the Undercurrent, Robert & Li Art Gallery, Tainan
The Naked Truth, Tang Gallery, Bangkok
Unclear and Clearness, Heyri Art Foundation, South Korea

2005
Web Notes, Beijing Art Now Gallery BANG (solo)
Unspeakable Happiness. A Selection of Contemporary Art from China, Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexico
No Looking back on Tomorrow, Guandu Gallery, Taibei
Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Modern Art Gallery, Chengdu
Dreaming of the Dragon’s Nation: Contemporary Art from China, Irish
Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin
Biennale del’art contemporain Chinois, Montpelier
Contemporary Chinese Art, Seoul Art Centre, Seoul
Contemporary Art from Greater China, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, USA; London, United Kingdom
Born in China, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York & London

2004
Living in Chengdu, Shenzhen,China
Face to Face. Six Artists and One Time, Robert & Li Art Gallery, Tainan, Taiwan
In Between, Tang Gallery , Bangkok
Living in Chengdu Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen
So Near, So Far Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester
Indoor With Mosquitoes and Moths, LOFT Gallery, Barcelona
Shaping, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
4+1, Art Centre of Asia, Taipei, Taiwan

2003
L’Art Contemporain Chinois, Foundation Culturegest, Lisbonne
From China with Art, Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
New Painting 2003, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China

2002 – 2003
First Guangzhou Triennale, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangdong Province, China

2001
On the Edge of the Millenium, Goedhuis Contemporary, London, United Kingdom
Chinese Modernity, Armandao Alvares Penteado Foundation, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Paris-Pekin, L&rsquoEspace Cardin, Paris, France
Six Contemporary Chinese Artists (Leferink Collection), Reykjavik Art Museum at Kjarvalstadir, Reykjavik, Iceland
Fundacao Oriente, Macau (solo)
Works by Guo Wei, Gallery of Temporary Exhibitions-Casa
Garden Orient Foundation, Macau
The Modernity of China, San Paulo, Mexico
The Paintings of Guo Wei and Guo Jin, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York
Guo Jin and Guo Wei, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing
The lst Triennial of Chinese Art, Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou
Paris-Peking, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris

2001 – 2002
Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu

2001
Next Generation, Passage de Retz, Paris
Contemporary Art, Christie&rsquos, Taipei
Rouges, Galerie Loft, Paris
Guo Wei and Guo Jin, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, London
China Avant Garde, LIMN Gallery, San Francisco
China Avant Garde, Frumkin/Duval Gallery, Santa Monica
Dream . 2001 Chinese Contemporary Art, Red House Foundation, London
The First Biennale of Chengdu, Modern Art Museum, Chengdu
Frumkin Duval Gallery, Los Angeles (solo)
LIMN Gallery, San Francisco (solo)

2000
FUTURE Chinese Contemporary Art, Macau
Door of the Century, Modern Art Museum, Chengdu
LOFT Gallery, Paris, France (solo)
The Chengdu Movement, Canvas International Art, Amsterdam
Guo Wei and Guo Jin, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing

1999
Bound States Guo Wei’s Works, Taiwan Shanmei Gallery, Gaoxiong
14th Asian International Art Exhibition, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka
Art China! Limn Gallery, San Francisco
Liberation, Chinese Contemporary, London
Representing the People, Laining Art Gallery, Newcastle

1998
Confused…Reckoning with the Future Contemporary China, Amsterdam
Black & White, Chinese Contemporary London
5000 + 10, Chinese Contemporary London, Bilbao
East Meets East in the West, Limn Gallery, San Francisco
China Now, Tokyo
Guo Wei and Guo Jin, Flanders Contemporary Art Gallery Minneapolis
The Guo Brothers, Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore
World Art. Serieuze Paintings and Photography, Amsterdam
Binding Up, Taiwan

1997
East and East meets West, LIMN Gallery, San Francisco
Chinese Art,Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong
8+8-1, Selected Paintings by 15 Contemporary Artists, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
The First Invitation Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong
China Now, Kulturprojekte, Basel

1996
Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, Munich
1996 Elevenses, The Avant-Garde, Hong Kong
Today. hinese Art Exhibition, Bassel
Elevenses the Avant-Garde, Taikoo Place, Hong Kong

1995
The Urban Idealist. New Art from Sichuan, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
History of Chinese Oil Paintings, From Realism to Post-modernism, Gallerie Theoremes, Brussels

1994
The Strange Environment 1994, Sichuan Art Museum, Chongqing

1993
The First Biannual Exhibition of Chinese Oil Paintings, China Art Gallery, Beijing

1992
Oil Paintings from the 90’s, The Guangzhou Biannual, Guangzhou
China’s New Art Post-1989, Hong Kong
The First Beijing Oil Painting Biennale, China Fine Arts Gallery
The Guangzhou Biennale: Oil Paintings from the 90’s, Guangzhou

1988
Six-Man Exhibition, Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Chongqing