Qu Guangci
Being one of the most prolific sculpture artists in the Chinese contemporary art scene, Qu guangci’s works are composed of many fatties with unidentifiable facial expression and body. Qu’s figures wear Mao-suits, sometimes they imitate the gesture of classic Western figurative sculptures, and sometimes they have collective action but look blunt and mindless. Behind their existence under the sculptor’s hands, each individual’s character seems to be overwhelmed by collective ideology. Every action of his character depicts life, and in fact it reflects a unique time of China by teasing about the absurdity of society, politics, history and art.
Qu Guangci; Photo by Zhou Shengwu Image Studio
I think that I belong to that kind of person who likes looking around when walking in the street. My visual memory is full of grotesque shapes and gaudy colors, and only this street is the key clue; the one walking with me in the street is just the little fatty, who is acting the hatred, melancholy, happiness and sadness in my mind, so that I will no longer feel hatred, ecstasy or sad, and can breathe fresh air in the morning and at night to feel my existence. I hope that when my friends are viewing my works, they can consider my works as fossils from another era and imagine how people in that era wish a better future.
Excerpts from “Those Answers to Riddles” by Qu Guangci
Dongfeng Art Center, Beijing
March, 2010
As I have perceived, up to now the creator and his fat characters have been growing together. He has got a profound understanding of the fatty, who has to stand the loneliness endured by all gods after being enshrined at the altar and has to struggle day and night in the swamp of the mortal desire for power. The fatty is an alienated freak in the universe. The sparrow is bestowed with the mighty and arrogant expressions of Birdy, symbolizing the Shan Hai Ching-like antiquity and absurdity. Unlike nothing in the universe, I pick brunches in the winter with no company from any living creatures. This supreme state of the solitary fatty is the result of carrying their self-contentment to extreme idealism and must result in a farce of the elder.
Excerpts from “King and Jester” by Xianghua
The First Draft on Jan. 29th, 2010
Walter Benjamin thinks that the real comprehension of history comes from melancholy, as well as “the wish for peacefulness, also known as the empathy from laziness”. Guangci’s artistic creations realize the two incompatible processes precisely. The entertaining elements in his works should be esteemed as the reflection of hedonism in China now. However, it is not as lighthearted as the western entertainments. Through Guangci’s deep observation of society, he narrates the nonsense and the inanity of hedonism, which is his real melancholic comprehension of history.
Excerpts from “Götterdämmerung Time” by Huang Yaji
Group of Sparrows in Winter; 88×115×65cm; casting copper, 2010
Biography of Qu Guangci
1969 Born in Shanghai. Currently living and working in Beijing.
Education
1989 Graduated from the senior high school of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts.
1994 Graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, B. A.
1997 Graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, M.A.
Professional Accomplishments
1997-1999 Researcher of sculptural art, Central Academy of Fine Arts
1999-2007 Teach at Fine Art College, Shanghai Normal University, Director of the sculpture workshop, Dean Assistant, Director of “the Invisible Gallery” at Shanghai Normal University
2007-present Artist of X+Q Sculpture Studio
Smoke and Mist by Qu Guangci; 82×47×32cm; casting copper, 2010
Solo Exhibitions
2011 “Playing in Heaven”, Aura Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2010 “Twittering — Guangci’ work”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing
“Angel with A Mission — Guangci”, Pao Galleries / Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2008 “Rumination”, Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok, Thailand
2008 “The Power”, Aura Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2007 “Collectivism — Guangci’s Work 2005-2007”, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
2007 “Last Supper — Solo Exhibition by Qu Guangci”, Aura Gallery, Hong Kong
1998 “Sculptures by Guangci”, Hallway Gallery, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
Fairy Cat by Qu Guangci; 154×55×59cm; casting copper, 2010
Group Exhibitions
2011
- “Love and Hope: The Art World Assisting Children Affected by the Disasters in Japan”, Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
- “The WAY is not merely between two points”, Lin & Lin Gallery, Taipei.
- “LATENT REALITY—Yang Mao-Lin, Cao Hui, Qu Guangci”, Lin & Lin Gallery, Taipei.
- “Twittering”, Guangci Works, CIGE2011 Special Exhibition, Beijing, China.
2010
- “Reshaping History”, China National Convention Center, Beijing, China.
- “What is Art?”, Times Art Museum, Beijing, China.
- “Mind > touch” , Times Art Museum, Beijing, China.
- “The Ten Faces of Modernity”, D-PARK, Beijing, China.
2009
- “Animamix Biennial”, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China.
- “TimeLag”, Linda Gallery, Beijing, China.
- “Report to Motherland — 60 Years of Chinese Fine Arts”, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China.
- “First Chongqing Biennale for The Youth Artists ”, Chongqing, China.
2008
- “Couples in Contemporary Art”, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China
- “Hypallage — The Post-Modern Mode of Chinese Contemporary Art”, The OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China
- “Art and China's Revolution”, Asia Society, New York, USA
- “Art Beijing”, Agriculture Exhibition Center, Beijing, China
- “The World of Others”, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China
- “The First Annual Moon River Sculpture Festival — The Origin”, Moon River Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing
- “Bang!” , Aura Gallery, Beijing
- “Happy Together”, Aura Gallery, Beijing
2007
- “She & I”, China Square, New York, USA
- “Calling a Stag a Horse”, San Shang Art, Beijing, China
- “Escape by Crafty Scheme: Salvation from Traditional and Revolutional Language”, Nanjing Square Gallery Of Contemporary Art, Nanjing
- "Tanah Air: Seni Patung dan Lingkungan", Pakuwon City Complex – Surabaya, Indonesia
2006
- “Soliloquy: China-Indonesia contemporary sculpture exhibition”, National Art Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
- “Fiction @ Love”, Museum of Contemporary Art/Bund 18 Creative Center, Shanghai
2005
- “Sculpture a Century”, Shanghai Sculpture Space, Shanghai
2004
- “Witness — Sculpture of Xiang Jing And Guangci”, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
- “China • Imagination: Chinese Contemporary Sculptural Art”, Jardin de Tuileries, Paris, France
- “MMAC Art College / Performance Festival 2004”, Aizu-Mishima / Tokyo, Japan
2003
- “XII Inner Spaces” multimedia festival, CCA Inner Spaces, Poznan, Poland.
- “The 1st Beijing Art Biennale”, Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing, China.
- “Sculpture by Xiang Jing And Guangci”, Casas-Museu da Taipa, Macau
2002
- “Rotate 180∘”, Oriental Arts Gallery, Shanghai, China
- “Guangci Xiang Jing 2002 — Box of Democracy”, Invisible Gallery, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
2001
- “2001 Salon d'Automne”, Espace Auteuil, Paris, France.
- “The 32nd Grosse Kunst Ausstellung Dusseldorf", Eingang Nord, Dusseldorf, Germany.
- “People’s Gala – Venice Biennial Exhibition”, Invisible Gallery, Shanghai, China.
2000
- “The 2nd Youth Sculptor Invitation Exhibition”, West Lake Art Museum, Hangzhou, China.
- “Shanghai Youth Art Exhibition”, Liu-Haisu Art Gallery, Shanghai, China.
- “The 50th Anniversary of Shanghai Arts”, Sound Amidst Thunder and Clouds won the 3rd prize, Shanghai, China.
- “Sea Level - Paintings & Sculptures Invitation Exhibition 2000“, Liu-Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China.
- “Conversations with Henry Moore — Sculptures Invitation Exhibition”, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China.
1999
- “The 9th Exhibition of National Fine Arts”, Work “Road to Heaven” won therd prize and became the collection of Chinese National Art Gallery, Beijing, China.
- “The 2nd Chinese Sculptures Annual Exhibition", He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China.
1998
- “October Exhibition for Beijing Youth Sculptors", Gallery of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China.
1997
- “Graduate Show of Central Academy of Fine Arts 1997”, work “Sculpture Set of Tibet” won the 2nd prize and was rewarded 2nd prize of “Okamatsu Family Fund, Japan”. It later became the collection of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China.
1995
- “Exhibition for Young Artists across the World 1995”, Contemporary Art Museum, Beijing, China.
1994
- “Graduate Show of Central Academy of Fine Arts 1994”, work “Streets” won the 2nd prize, it later be collected by Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China.
- “The 8th Exhibition of National Fine Arts” and “The Elite Show”, work “Wangfujing” won the Gold Medal or Beijing, National Fine Art Gallery, Beijing, China.
1993
- “65th Anniversary of Comrade Mao Zedong’s Speech at Yan‘an Art And Literature Seminar” art exhibition, work “Mother” received the honor of distinction, Chinese National Fine Arts Gallery, Beijing, China.
Wood as It Is by Qu Guangci
Other Accomplishments
- Organized “The Standards of Chinese Contemporary Sculptures”, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China.
- Organized with Liu-Haisu Art Museum, the sculpture section of “The Patter of Pearls on Jade Plate”, Shanghai Youth Exhibition Serials, Invisible Gallery, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
- Host of “Sino-German New Media Arts Week”, organized by Peking University and The Goethe Institute Peking.
