Wang Qingsong
(China )

Photographs © Wang Qingsong.
Echoes of the pedagogical and moral ambitions of history painters can be found in the works of a number of contemporary photographers. Chinese artist Wang Qingsong depicts the economic changes currently taking place in the People’s Republic of China. In this photograph, the country’s gradual opening up to the market economy takes the form of battles in which symbols associated with socialism clash with the icons of Western capitalism.
Wang Qingsong
Born in Hubei Province, China, in 1966. Lives and works in Beijing.
Wang Qingsong graduated from the Department of Oil Painting of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts. Moving to Beijing in 1993, he created oil works entitled Wrestlers (1994-96) and Dysphasia (1995-1997) with distorted figures battling each other in blood or themselves in transparent plastic coverings. Since 1996, he has used photography to stage theatrical scenes depicting contemporary China, drawing upon ancient Chinese painting for contrast and creating a vernacular of “false truth” in reality. His representative pieces are Night Revel of Lao Li (2000) and Past, Present and Future (2001). These two panoramic pieces critique the unchanging situation of intellectuals and the history of revolution and reconstruction. He has participated in the Kwangju Biennale (2000) in Korea, as well as in other exhibitions in Japan, England, France, Denmark, the United States, Finland, Brazil, etc.
Galerie Liane et Danny Taran
372, rue Ste-Catherine Ouest, #507
(514) 739-2301
Exhibition hours: Monday to Thursday from 9am to 9pm, Friday from 9am to 3pm, Sunday from 10am to 5pm. The gallery will be closed on September 28, 2003 as well as October 6, 12, 13, 19, 2003. The gallery will be closing at 4pm on October 5 and at 2pm September 26, 2003 as well as October 10 and 17, 2003.
From September 18 to November 9, 2003
Opening: September 18, 2003 at 7pm, presentation of the artist at 6pm