Wang Jie

Biography

Wang Jie's 2002 series titled Teen Spirit blended memories of growing up with feelings of alienation in a fantasy-like painting style. Having received an academic education for many years, Wang is naturally equipped with a solid foundation in painting. Beginning from this time, he stopped focusing on his skill at portraying realistic figures, and instead used sophisticated techniques to explore the alienation of human nature in society through the understanding of time, and the conflict between life and complex social realities. In 2007, Wang started to make use of unique symbolic language to subvert the visual tradition seen in art history. Wang stated that his work establishes imagery displaced in time and space, such that time is no longer a frame but rather a conduit. In his paintings, he attempts to describe human existence, the passage of time and twisting of space. The empty garment, as a second body of human, forms an image that reflects the influence of the current political and social culture on human destiny. In Wang's latest works, the images of desert poplar and rock exist in a boundless void, showing a state of loss in the environment. Wang's sense of loneliness towards mankind's inability to escape from the fate of time passing is evident in his works. A unique feature of his works is the exploration of the existence of time after the removal of the visible body, the eternity of the soul behind the empty garment, humanity, and human's own sense of presence in the face of social alienation. He expresses the detachment, emptiness and confusion of contemporary life, and forms a metaphor for modern society in China.

"The world has gone out of gear, as it has become increasingly difficult to escape pretense, vanity and materialism. Conflict and distortion have created a madness that empties the minds of those who have lost their beliefs and dreams." —Wang Jie

Wang Jie, born in Tianjin in 1978, received M.F.A. from the Painting Department at CAFA. From the affiliated High School of China Central Academy of Fine Arts to his master's degree, Wang received a complete and disciplined academic training. In 2003, Wang and a group of graduates from CAFA co-founded the N12, which has held several group exhibitions in Beijing and Taipei. His selected exhibitions including The Absence of The Presence, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Redefinitions: the Questioning Spirit in the Art of the 1970s Generation, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Joys and Sorrows in Generation, Mannheim Art Museum, Berlin, Germany. Wang's works receive international attention as well as support. He was awarded by The Eighteenth International Congress of Aesthetics when participating in the Diversities in Aesthetics: Invitation Art Exhibition Gala in 2010; and was named Artist of the Year by Fortune and Art magazine in 2012.