Guo Hongwei

, in Art, Installation, Painting (0 Comments)

Guo Hongwei was born in Sichuan in 1982. He graduated from the oil painting department at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 1998 and currently lives and works in Beijing. Beginning with nostalgic portraits from his childhood, the artist pursues the theme of memory and isolated circumstance in his works. His painting style mimics the blurred or watery effect of watercolor, and depicts found objects against a minimalist background with a sense of humor and wonder. He has had several solo exhibitions between Beijing and New York and his work is featured in the dslcollection (France) and the White Rabbit Collection (Australia).

Tape Book (2012) 书卷
Text letters, adhesive tape
Approx 6.6 cm / 2 5/8 in each
Set of 6

Tape is a selection of text lifted with adhesive tape from the Selected Works of Jiang Zemin. Beginning with the prologue of the former Chinese president, each roll unravels to reveal the text in sequence. Immediately conscious of the hours of manual labor spent collecting each line, it seems a humorous attempt to create an old fashioned prototype for saving information. In our current technology age, the use of traditional books is replaced by electronic gadgets and computers to record and transmit information. Here, text is still used to convey information, but the importance of the words of the influential political leader is compromised by the choice to stick them to memory and save for later—likely indefinitely.

Tree (2009) 树木
Watercolor and photo transfer on paper with wooden box
32 pages
37.8 x 28 cm / 15 x 11 in (book)
Unique
Courtesy of private collection

Tree is a special hand-made artist book composed of painted pages mimicking the layout the international contemporary art journel Parkett. The book explores a single theme responding to trees in historical works over the past fifty years. The layout is complete with photo essays, articles by the artist, and fake advertisements for the renowned Art Basel and Freize art fairs and the artists own upcoming solo exhibition. This whimsical experiment explores the graphic components of book design and simultaneously provides a delightful commentary on the influence of art journal publications in contemporary China.