East meets West

As economic development takes top priority in China's national policies, the country has changed, and its people have changed even more. Everyone appears full of aspiration and seems satisfied with the achievements of reform and rapid development, which are expressed in the Chinese slogan, "One change a year, one big change in three years, and one unidentifiable transformation in five years." Capitalism has «modernized» formerly agricultural country. In the last two decades, the economic reform has witnessed significant achievements-for example, being selected to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and China's entry into the World Trade Organization, both of which bring it into much closer contact with other countries. This rich contemporary China provides a huge resource for artistic inspiration.








Look Up! Look Up!, 2000



Wang Qingsong, arguably China's leading conceptual photographer, supplies a wicked impression of life in contemporary China through his personal observations on modern culture. His computer-manipulated photographs richly reflect a playful but serious opinion on the rapid changes within China's society. As China's developing economy continues to create an environment conducive to economic, cultural, and artistic change, areas such as consumer culture have been affected, challenging existing boundaries. Reactions to the economic development have greatly influenced that art produced in China within the past two decades. As a contemporary artist, Wang Qingsong looks to the immediate environment for inspiration, thus infusing his works with emotion generated by what is taking place around him.








Prisoner ,1998


«For China, with 1/5 of the population in the world, it has to resolve problems of clothing, food, housing and transportation. In housing, developers of real estate have created such terms as "Chinese Manhattan", "Oriental Versailles ", "Park Avenue Apartments", "Palm Beach Springs", "Roman Garden", "Modern SOHO", and "European Classics". In food, it is well known that McDonald's and Pizza Hut are just fast-food stores in Europe and America, nothing more than convenience. However, when they came into China, they became the top cuisine and hot rendezvous for people to have parties, invite friends, celebrate birthdays and meet lovers. On the surface, this phenomenon of going after what is western style represents an ideal for Euro-American materialistic life. But in such an era of globalization, does this ideal also represent worship that can create a lot of ridiculous contradictions? With this thinking, I created many photographic works including "Thinker" (1998), "Prisoner" (1998), "Catcher" (1998), "Requesting Buddha series" (1999), "Can I Cooperate with You? " (2000), "Look Up! Look Up!" (2000), "Bath House" (2000), "Forum" (2001), and "Beggar" (2001)» says Wang Qingsong.



In Requesting Buddha No.1, he converts traditional Buddhist imagery into a contemporary pop image.
As the quintessence of Chinese traditional culture, Buddhism has accompanied Chinese civilization for thousands of years. It brings comfort and fortune to the people, inspires their soul and enlightens a responsibility for having good relations with the others. This Buddha used to set its goal to save the suffering through self-devotion. However, in the current commercial society, the respectable Buddha has also been changed. It reaches out its hands insatiably for money and material goods towards every troubled person. The "Requesting Buddha" Series is the faithful representation of such a phenomenon, overflowing with desires, hypocrisy and exaggeration.
By portraying himself as a thousand-armed Bodhisattva holding familiar modern products, Wang Qingsong enforces the coexistence of past and present, art and culture, traditional and colloquial.














Requesting Buddha No.1, 1999






Wang Qingsong again portrays himself as a Buddhist figure in The Thinker, this time in an aura of meditative emptiness. The irony is blatant in the McDonald's logo emblazoned on his chest. Here, Wang Qingsong skillfully juxtaposes China's religious past and cultural icons with popular western commercial names. The philosophical ideas of Buddhism combined with the recognizable McDonald's motif. He chooses to highlight commercialization in a less than serious manner by referencing product names with Buddhist motifs to effect a satirical comment on society past and present. His works demonstrate the rapid growth of consumer society, as well as the influence of western aesthetic and material culture, which can be seen to be increasingly dominant in China since the 1980s.


























Thinker, 1998














Can I cooperate with you? ,2000 Imperior Sedan, Yan Liben, Tang Dynasty*



With a strong awareness of the social changes China is experiencing, Wang Qingsong and his contemporaries confront these ideas and blend them with popular culture, producing works that force the viewer to consider what is going on in present-day society. China's push for modernization has not only affected the economy, but also cultural identity and art. The concerns facing artists today are inevitably influenced by this phenomenon. Wang Qingsong's works offer a social commentary with personal views on change, encompassing the judgment and critique of an emerging, global culture in an intelligible and at times amusing way.
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* This painting talked about a historical event in 641 A.D. when the Chief of Tufan Minority Song Zan Gan Bu sought for marriage with the daughter of Tai Zong, Wencheng Princess. Tai Zong sat straight on the sedan chair carried by the court girls. The envoys from Tufan Minority and Tang officials sat in front of Tai Zong in deep respect. "Sedan Chair" is a documentary and historic figure painting that recorded friendship and communication of the central power with its minorities over 1000 years ago.