Wang Qingsong - China Avant-Garde: The Farber Collection London Friday, October 12, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist

  • Exhibited

    Paris, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris-Pekin, October 5 – 28, 2002; Sao Paulo,

  • Literature

    Newsweek (China), Issue 100, 2002 (cover illustration); Museu de Arte Brasileira, China: Contemporary Art, Sao Paulo, 2002, p. 186-187 (illustrated); Z. Gu, Too Much Flavor, Shanghai 2002, p. 95 (illustrated); H. Wu, ed., The First Guangzhou Triennial – Reinterpretation: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990 – 2000), Guangdong, 2002, p. 43 (illustrated); Paris-Pekin, Paris, October 2002, pp. 196-197 (illustrated); Red Mansion Foundation, Dream 02, London, 2002, pp. 41-42 (illustrated); Centre Pompidou, Alors, La Chine?, Paris, 2003, p. 274 (illustrated); “Mao and Coca-Cola,” Propaganda, 2003, pp. 35 (illustrated); G. Lin, “About Critique,” Art Criticism, p. 79 (illustrated); Q. Zhu, Chinese Avant-Garde Photography since 1990, Hunan, 2004, p. 239 (illustrated); Corriere Della Sera Magazine, Number 4, Issue 3, Guigno, 2004, p. 98 (illustrated); R. Olivares, “Imagenes de Historia, EXIT Express, July-September 2004, p. 21 (illustrated); Marella Gallery, Out of the Red, Bologna, 2004, pp. 186-189 (illustrated); A. Searle, “What are you looking at?” The Guardian, September 13, 2005, pp. 18-19 (illustrated); Wang Qingsong in Arras, Arras, 2006, pp. 6-7 (illustrated); K. Roach, ed., Wang Qingsong, London, 2006, pp. 54-55 (illustrated); H. Wu and C. Phillips, Between Past and Future: New Photography from China, Chicago and New York, 2006, p. 76 (illustrated); B. Luo, “Reflections on how to be an internationally recognized artist,” Chinese Photography Magazine, November 2006, p. 37 (illustrated); Y. Zou and X. Wan, eds., Gaudy Art, Hunan, pp. 134-147 (illustrated); B. Pollack, “The China Effect,” Art + Auction, March 2006, p. 107 (illustrated); Photonet, May 2005, p. 40 (illustrated); B. Fibicher, Mahjong: Contemporary Chiense Art from the Sigg Collection, Bern, 2005, pp. 112-113 (illustrated); The First Pocheon Asian Art Festival 2005, Pocheon, 2005, pp. 228-229 (illustrated); MEWO Kunsthalle, Past Present and Future: Wang Qingsong, Memmingen, 2007 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    Past, Present Future (2001), a large-scale triptych that is one of Wang Qingsong’s most ambitious works, grew out of his reflections on the historical position and destiny of the Chinese people. Through careful arrangements of the standing figures and the postures of the models, the three panels ingeniously mimic the kinds of monumental public sculpture that can still be seen in many Chinese cities.

    Each of the panels refers to a different historical moment. Past, the right-hand panel, brings together 17 figures on a raised pedestal. In their mud-covered military uniforms, these men and women are far from glamorous. We see soldiers holding swords, rifles and pistols, and one man is blowing a bugle. Another man holds over his head a length of heavy chain that stands for the oppression they are all fighting to throw off. Wang Qingsong appears at the base of the monument as an observer, a soldier whose head is wrapped in bloody bandages. Gazing upward at the figures, he holds a bouquet of flowers as if in tribute.

    In Present, the left-hand panel, the muddy soldiers have been replaced by a procession of 17 gleaming, silver-covered workers. Instead of weapons they carry industrial tools, and many wear protective goggles over their eyes. They are being urged along not by a work unit leader with a megaphone. The artist appears again outside the group, looking up at the monumental figures, but this time he is portrayed as a young civilian in a sporty white cap who is accompanied by a well-fed pet dog.

    In the central panel, Future, the figures are all radiant and golden. Carrying flowers and baskets overflowing with fruits, they all look directly out at the viewer. In this image, Wang Qingsong has taken his place amid the others, holding up a pair of cymbals as if to announce the dawn of a golden age. But this shining future is not completely certain: one man holds a rifle, as if awaiting future battles. And all the faces are somber and vigilant, not relaxed and joyous. Are they really convinced that a golden age lies ahead? An era like the present, Wang Qingsong says, has thrown into doubt all the ideals and the heroes of the Chinese past. Past, Present, Future poses an important but unanswerable question: what kind of future is going to emerge from the shared past and collective experience of the Chinese people?

    C. Phillips, Wang Qingsong, Macao, September 2002

515

Past, Present, Future

2001
Triptych: color photographs.
Central panel: 25 x 32 in. (63.5 x 81.3 cm), left and right panels: 25 x 42 1/2 in. (63.5 x 108 cm) each.
Signed, titled and dated “Wang Qingsong [in Chinese and English] 2001” and numbered of 30 lower right of each panel. This work is from an edition of 30.

Estimate
£40,000 - 50,000 

Sold for £48,000

China Avant-Garde: The Farber Collection

The Farber Collection
13 October 2007, 7pm
London