3/30/2010 CONVERSATIONS: What is on the min…

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FEATURES « Zh ou Ju n P h otog r a ph y a t R ed Ga te Ga l l er y LANGUAGE CON V ER SA TION S BOOK REVIEWS CONVERSATIONS CONVERSATIONS: What is on the mind of one of EVENTS ’s emerging artists? SEARCH EXHIBITIONS March 30, 2010 by Katherine Don no comment know what you want to read? HEADLINES ON THE GROUND Art of Perception: Interview wit h Guo Hongwei by CONVERSATIONS Weekend Round-up Katherine Don Yishu Journal Guo Hongwei (b.1 982, CALENDAR ) likes m usic, ink painting, poetry and listens to « Feb Apr » U2, Radiohead and the Velv et What is on the mind of one of March 201 0 Underground. He is a young Beijing’s emerging artists? "Art MTWT F S S artist in living in Beijing starting to create a narrative of of Perception: An interview with 1234567 his life that is realized in his often Guo Hongw ei" by Katherine 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 clev er and humorous paintings Don (more) 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Empty Space (2010) Oil on Canvas and sculptures. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 BEST OF BEIJING EXHIBITION

29 30 31 Who are your biggest influences? Xu Bing Phoenix Project at My first thought is of Tom Friedman and Erwin Wurm. Friedman allowed me to Today Art Museum徐冰《凤 understand the world in ways that I found more interesting and important than 凰》在今日美术馆 UPCOMING EVENTS expected. Seeing his work changed my way of v iewing ev ery day objects (and makes y ou Yin Xiuzhen installations at April 4, 2010: feel sm arter!) A particular kind of approach tow ards, observ ation of, and understanding Pace Beijing Ma Yansong and Olafur things combined with a new perspective leads to a new and interesting way of Wang Shugang sculptures Eliasson at UCCAMa Yansong producing. And from this I started looking for a new focus on the outside w orld. at White Space and at I first saw the work by Erwin Wurm on the cover of an Art in America magazine. Wurm How to (re)frame the UCCAOlafur Eliasson 和马岩松 is also a big influence because he allowed me to understand what is full of wisdom and "artist" in Chinese 合作展览在 UCCA (4:00 pm) hum or. His works are so funny . This kind of wisdom can influence y our perception contemporary ?How to antennas to extend into particular details of everyday life and things. Some would (re)frame the "artist" in suggest that this ability to perceive the richness of reality is the kind of perception that I Chinese contemporary ?在中 ARCHIVES am looking for. 国当代艺术现状下如何界定（或 Select Month 重新界定） “艺术家 ” What’s the most important Jungle - contemporary art thing in your studio? / What trends exhibition at Platform TAGS are your key ingredients for China creativity? 798 Art District Ai My work?!!! Haha. perhaps it is Weiwei Arrow Factory just the general atm osphere of BLOGROLL art market Beijing Boers-Li my studio itself filled with random things and piled books 56minus1 Gallery Cai Guoqiang Cao Fei that I find myself immersed in Ai Weiwei Chambers Fine ARt chinese another world, which all help me contemporary art chinese ink Art Ba-Ba think about my work and ponder Jing Daily painting Christie's other important things. When contemporary ink painting DSL Ou Ning creating work, a key ingredient 欧宁 Guo Hongwei Studio, Beijing March 2010 Collection Galerie Urs Meile Gu is that I try to focus on Philip Tinari Wenda Jia Aili emphasizing the ability to Art Chase Katherine experience and perceiv e. Jiang Zhi Karen Smith Shanghai Ey e Don Liu Ding Long March Space Sinopop Pauline y ao Philip tinari When did you start playing music? How does that interact with your art practice? Platform China Qiu Zhijie Red I LOVE m usic, but I am just a m usic fan. Music has the potential to influence, but for Gate Gallery RMB City Shanghai PUBLICATIONS …redboxstudio.cn/…/conversations-int… 1/2 3/30/2010 CONVERSATIONS: What is on the min… Gate Gallery RMB City Saga now, it is just one thing that enriches my understanding of the outside world. Sotheby's The Central Academy Art Asia Pacific of Fine Arts (CAFA) Today What is the top played song on your iPod? Art Newspaper Art Museum UCCA Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack (2000) by U2. I also really like Elvis Presley and the ArtForum.cn Velv et Underground and Radiohead too. Vitamin Creative Space Wilson Asian Art Newspaper Shieh Xu Bing Xu Zhen Yin More Intelligent Life Xiuzhen Yishu Journal Yue What do you feel is the biggest difference between artists of your generation YISHU Journal Min ju n Zeng Fanzhi Zhang Huan and the ones before? This is a sensitiv e and fundamental question. It is really determined by an artist’s Zhang Xiaogang Zheng indiv idual way s and m eans of resolv ing this issue, not from the outside world. (i.e. social Guogu RESOURCE and cultural factors). ArtIntern What are you working on AsiaArtArchive now? Frieze My solo exhibition in New York. Shao Foundation They are all v ery simple things that are funny or just aesthetically pleasing objects that allow me to discover the texture and details found on the surface. I want to call attention to the existence of the ability to perceiv e, to experience things, My Healthy Diet No.2 (2 009 ) Watercolor on paper that way ev ery one can gradually possess this capacity in order to discov er the depth of their own reality —just like the sim ple happiness I hav e found in m y life.

What would the title of your autobiography be? “The Ability to Perceiv e.” For me, art is something y ou experience. If y ou do not hav e the ability to perceive, you can’t understand what an artist is trying to do. The art work itself is not important, it is about hav ing this ability that y ou can begin to touch and influence others.

(This interview was conducted over email and at a bowling alley in Beijing, March 2010)

Tags: Guo HOngwei

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