Guan Wei, Salvation No.1, 2015, bronze, 33 x 19 x 32 cm
The MAC (Museum of Art & Culture Lake Macquarie) has just opened Guan Wei: A Case Study - an exhibition of Guan Wei's work with an accompanying case-study publication geared specifically towards Year 12 Visual Arts students.
The exhibition runs until 5 April.
Not one, but four ARC ONE artists are included in the exhibition Between Two Worlds at Newcastle Art Gallery. GUO JIAN, CYRUS TANG, GUAN WEI & JOHN YOUNG are featured.
Between Two Worlds aims to promote the diversity of works of art being produced by Australian artists of Chinese heritage. The exhibition acknowledges the artists who have lived, worked and are connected to China and Australia through migration, major historical events and Australia’s agricultural and industrial developments.
On the opening Saturday, GUO JIAN will join a panel discussion that introduces the exhibition’s themes, along with curator Catherine Croll and fellow exhibiting artists Rowena Foong & Peter Gardiner.
This talk will run from 2 -3 pm on Saturday 16 November.
Guan Wei, Return to the Origin, 2014, ceramic, 41 x 30 cm.
GUAN WEI is currently exhibiting a collection of works from his own personal collection at ACIAC Gallery, in a show called Essence, Energy, Spirit.
The Australia-China Institute for Arts and Culture (ACIAC) is committed to enhancing cultural exchange between Australia, China, and the Sinosphere. This exhibition interlaces imagery from Guan Wei’s Chinese heritage, his life experience in Australia and his personal iconography. It reminds us of the consequences of a fast-paced, technology-driven, western lifestyle, which can be transcended if we remember our essence, energy and spirit and how to nurture them.
The exhibition continues until 21 February.
THE MCA has just opened Guan Wei: MCA Collection, an exhibition of works by GUAN WEI from the MCA Collection.
This exhibition brings together four works from the MCA Collection; ranging from significant suites of early works on paper, which look at life and the political landscape in China in the late 1980s, through to the large-scale mural painting Feng Shui, which is concerned with a harmonious relationship between all living things and the planet. The more recent Paper War, comprising of animated video and an accompanying work on paper, explores war as an experience mediated and understood through symbols and signs.
Over the past 30 years artist Guan Wei has developed a distinctive style and personal language of symbols and metaphors that explore his Chinese cultural heritage and many influences of the West. Working across painting, sculpture and site-specific installation, his reflections upon the human condition engage with critical contemporary issues, including climate change, questions of identity, migration and exile.
The exhibition continues until 9 February 2020.
The Guardian review by Joanna Mendelssohn > (also appears in The Conversation)
The Australian review by Nicholas Jose >
GUAN WEI's large-scale work Revisionary is in the Art Gallery of New South Wales' new exhibition In one drop of water.
Drawing on rich and diverse works of art, primarily from the AGNSW collection, this exhibition explores the poetic, symbolic and social significance of water in Asian art. Revisionary is dominated by an aqueous bright blue plane, symbolising both the heavens and the ocean. The artist has referred to this work as representing a form of last judgement.
The exhibition continues until December 2020.
Guan Wei, Revisionary, 1998, 26 panels, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, dimensions variable.
Guan Wei, Gazing Into Deep Space #9, 2000, acrylic on canvas, 127 x 159 cm (triptych).
LYNDELL BROWN & CHARLES GREEN and GUAN WEI are featured in Between the Moon and the Stars at the Museum And Art Gallery Northern Territory.
Between the Moon and the Stars explores how the moon and its phases continue to impact on animal and human life. The exhibition includes ancient Aboriginal astronomical knowledge, dreaming stories and the history of stargazing in Australia.
Lyndell Brown & Charles Green, Wild Nights, 2005, lightjet print on duraclear film, 104 x 107 cm.
The exhibition continues until 29 March 2020.
ARC ONE is delighted to present Chivalry, an exhibition of new paintings and sculptures by one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, Guan Wei.
An opening reception will be held on Wednesday 14 November, 6-8pm, with opening remarks by Claire Roberts.
Guan Wei is a storyteller. Throughout his more than 30-year art practice, his distinctive style
has combined Australian and Chinese influences to weave profound narratives of loss, migration, identity, colonisation, and place. Working across painting, sculpture and installation, he merges eastern and western philosophies, art histories, eras and empires, signs and symbols, to create imaginary cross-cultural realms that explore contemporary issues and hopes for a better world.
Guan Wei’s latest exhibition at ARC ONE Gallery presents three bodies of work: Chivalry, a suite of paintings laden with philosophical meaning; Mascot, playful bronze sculptures depicting humorously anthropomorphised mythical creatures; and the monumental Treasure Hunt, a major new tapestry woven by the Australian Tapestry Workshop.
In Chivalry, Guan Wei examines ideas of honour and virtue through a series of theatrical tableaux inspired by the Middle Ages. “I have been seeking new directions in my painting for many years”, says the artist, “exploring new possibilities and making breakthroughs from my existing style toward new territory. Quite unexpectedly, reading and learning about the knights of the Middle Ages was a turning point in me. I was mesmerised by their stories.” Utilising the flowing rhythm of Eastern ink painting, calligraphy, and sketching, Guan Wei brings the realm of medieval fantasy to life. Noble jousts, sword-fights, romantic adventures, and heroic gestures, play out across his canvases evoking ideals and values that were once used to navigate lives. In the face of increasing alienation, digitalisation, virtual reality, and global change, Chivalry invites us to reflect on our humanity.
Woven by Chris Cochius, Pamela Joyce, Jennifer Sharpe and Cheryl Thornton from the Australian Tapestry Workshop, Treasure Hunt is inspired by a large painted mural from Guan Wei’s exhibition Other Histories at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney in 2006. Drawing on Chinese and European mythologies, the work considers ‘other’ histories and the intersection of Indigenous and colonial cultural narratives. Through the depiction of the oceans, islands and desert interiors, Guan Wei references navigation, exploration, migration and the influence of, and response to, globalisation.
Guan Wei was born 1957, Beijing, China, and lives and works in Beijing and Sydney. He has won many awards, including the 2015 Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery; Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2002; and was selected for the prestigious 2009 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award, National Gallery of Victoria. Solo exhibitions include: Cosmotheoria, White Box Art Center 798 Art District Beijing, 2017; Guan. Perspective, Scene Sense Art Gallery, Beijing, 2017; Salvation, ARC ONE Gallery 2016; Archaeology, ARC ONE Gallery, 2014; Spellbound, He Xiang Ning Art Museum, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China, 2011; The Enchantment, ARC ONE Gallery, 2012; Other histories: Guan Wei’s fable for a contemporary world, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 2006– 07; Looking, Greene St Studio, New York, 2003; Zen Garden, Sherman Contemporary, Sydney, 2000; and Nesting, or the Art of Idleness 1989–1999, MCA, Sydney, 1999.
Major group exhibitions include: The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes exhibition, AGNSW, Sydney, 2017; Closing the Distance, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, Bundoora, Victoria, 2017; Borders, Barriers, Walls, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2016; Collaborative Witness: Artists responding to the plight of the refugee, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 2011; Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai Museum, China, 2010; 10th Havana Biennial, Cuba, 2009; The China Project, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2009; Handle with Care, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Adelaide, 2008; Face Up: Contemporary Art from Australia, Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, Berlin, 2003–04; Sulman Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, 2002; Osaka Triennial, Japan, 2001; Man and Space, Kwangju Biennale, South Korea, 2000; Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1999.
In 2019 the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, will present a major installation of Guan Wei’s work, which will include his 18-metre-long multi-panelled painting, Feng Shui, and works from the MCA collection.
Guan Wei, Chivalry No. 11, 2018, acrylic on linen, 180 x 140cm.
Guan Wei, Chivalry No. 1, 2018, acrylic on linen, 130 x 80cm.
Guan Wei, Chivalry No. 5, 2018, acrylic on linen, 130 x 180cm.
GUAN WEI has curated the exhibition Niche Construction at Vermilion Art, including the work of CYRUS TANG.
According to Guan Wei's curatorial statement: ‘Niche Construction is an idea borrowed from evolutionary biology. It refers to the process whereby living organisms, through their activities and choices, modify their own and each other’s environment. In the context of culture and art, niche construction is a process in which individuals, although living in a unique and protected space, connect, collaborate, compete, and have influence on one another.
The artists in this exhibition come from diverse cultural backgrounds and have different lived experience. They come from or have lived in mainland China, Pakistan and Hong Kong. What they have in common is that they all currently live in Australia and have been influenced by eastern culture. The inevitable clash of cultures fosters the creation by the artist of niches in which their artistic expression can flourish. Importantly the viewers and their interactions with the art, and the impact of the art on the society at large are a vital part of niche construction’.
The exhibition continues until 10 November.
For more information, click here.
Cyrus Tang, Lacrimae Rerum - 4505.00 s, 2016, Archival pigment print, 100 x 100 cm.
Guan Wei, Feng Shui (detail), 2004, acylic on composite board, Museum of Contemporary Art, donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Cromwell Diversified Property Trust, 2017
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney has announced its 2019 exhibition program, with a major installation by GUAN WEI.
In October 2019, the Museum of Contemporary Art will present 'Feng Shui', an immense 18-metre-long multi-panelled painting by Guan Wei. 'Feng Shui' will be presented alongside two of Guan Wei’s key 1989-90 series of works on paper, from the Collection.
GUAN WEI is included in Painting with Thread, an exhibition of recent tapestries and samples from the collection of the Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne (ATW).
Painting with Thread will offer Sydney viewers a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes process of tapestry creation by ATW weavers from design, sampling, to weaving and completion. The selection of tapestries and samples on display emphasise the experimental and innovative approaches to contemporary tapestry design, as well as the diversity of recent projects and collaborations at ATW.
Reviewed in Art Guide, the exhibition continues until 26 September.
Portrait of Guan Wei at The Australian Tapestry Workshop
'Infinite Conversations: Asian-Australian artistic exchange', at the National Gallery of Australia, features iconic works by LYNDELL BROWN & CHARLES GREEN, ROSE FARRELL & GEORGE PARKIN (pictured), GUO JIAN, GUAN WEI, and JOHN YOUNG.
This exhibition considers the creative practice of artists from mainland China and Hong Kong, a number of whom settled in Australia following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Using diverse modes of production, these artists confront and recount the challenges of making a new home with shifting degrees of grief, poetry and optimism. A second gallery examines the relationships between Asian and Australian artists, revealing a rich, sometimes disquieting dialogue as concepts of race and culture are provoked and explored.
The exhibition continues until 9 September.
Guan Wei, Treasure Hunt, 2017, woven by Chris Cochius, Pamela Joyce, Jennifer Sharpe & Cheryl Thornton, wool and cotton, 86.4 x 360cm, commissioned by the Australian Tapestry Workshop.
GUAN WEI's Treasure Hunt will be cut from the loom next Tuesday 10 July.
Commissioned for the Australian Tapestry Workshop, the woven work will then make it's way to Sydney to the Australian Design Centre for Painting with Thread, an exhibition of recent tapestries and samples from the collection of the Australian Tapestry Workshop.
The exhibition will be from 3 August - 26 September, 2018.
If you missed GUAN WEI's lecture at the Australian Tapestry Workshop last February, you can now watch it entirely here! As part of the 'Friends of the ATW' lecture series, GUAN WEI delved into his practice from the late 1970's to more recent works.
Guan Wei, Dow Island, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on 48 canvases, 317 x 913 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
GUAN WEI's Dow Island, part of the National Gallery collection, is being included in the group exhibition Infinite Conversations: Australian Asian Artistic Exchange at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
The exhibition considers the creative practice of artists from mainland China and Hong Kong. In Guan Wei's enormous 48 panelled work, the artist explores the idea of journeys across time and place. This work is on view in the Australian Galleries, Level 1.
Read more here >
Guan Wei, Loong (Dragon), 2018.
GUAN WEI AND GUO JIAN's spectacular Lunar Lanterns are now on view as part of City of Sydney's Chinese New Year Festival. GUAN WEI's Loong (Dragon) can be viewed on the forecourt of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and GUO JIAN's Rat in the East side of the Circular Quay in Sydney until 25 February.
Guan Wei, Reflection #10, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 127 x 159 cm.
Congratulations to GUAN WEI, who has been selected as a Finalist in the Wynne Prize 2017, with his painting, Reflection #10. The Wynne Prize is awarded annually for 'the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists’.
"Reflection #10 is inspired by the images of 17th and 18th-century ceramics and textiles related to explorations, discovering new land and utopia. Like a mirror, these works superimpose, reflect and mix the history and reality, culture and society of the country in which I find myself, together with my personal imagination and my home country’s history through time. Beyond the narrative of history, Reflection #10 discusses the sensitive, fragile, yet deep and serene psychological world of humans: where we are from, where we are going."
Guan Wei, 2017
The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes exhibition will be on view from 29 July - 22 October 2017 at the Art Gallery of NSW. The Winners will be announced on 28 July at 12pm.
Congratulations to GUAN WEI, who received a Highly Commended Award in the inaugural Hadley's Art Prize 2017. The exhibition is now on view at Hadley's Orient Hotel in Hobart, Tasmania, until 25 August 2017.
Guan Wei, Reflection No.5, acrylic on canvas, 127 x 104cm.
"Guan Wei’s A Mysterious Land, No. 10 (2007) and Land of the Dreaming, No. 4 and No. 5 (2014), ask possibly the most difficult questions of the Chinese diaspora and other Australian migrant communities in the exhibition, and make best use of the unique gallery space of the Homestead. ... In a space that is such a symbol of White colonisation, the works highlight the relationships between Cultural minority groups that exist within a hierarchy where Whiteness is firmly cemented at the top."
Art + Australia Online has published an in-depth review of the exhibition Closing the Distance, currently on display at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre.
Author, Andy Butler, discusses in detail the works of GUAN WEI and CYRUS TANG featured in the exhibition.
Read the entire article here.
Guan Wei, A Mysterious Land No. 10, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm (3 x panels).
CYRUS TANG and GUAN WEI will have work in the group exhibition Closing the Distance, curated by Sophia Cai, at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre.
The exhibition brings together twelve Australian and international artists to explore contemporary issues of migration, place and the Chinese diaspora within Australia and beyond.
Exhibition dates are 11 February to 30 April 2017.
Guan Wei, Land of the Dreaming No. 5, 2014, ceramic, 41 x 30cm.
Virgin Australia Voyeur, December 2016, No. 185, p 109.
Guan Wei is featured in the latest issue of Virgin Australia's in-flight magazine Voyeur.
The magazine asked four influential creatives to talk about the destinations that have shaped their work. GUAN WEI's destination of choice was Coastal Australia.
"My work often looks at land borders and themes of migration, so I have found three elements of the Australian landscape — the sea, beach and islands — very meaningful. I'm drawn to the power of the Australian landscape and its borders in ancient terms as well as in terms of Indigenous and contemporary issues. There's an extraordinary paradox between freedom and closed borders."
You can download issue No.185, featuring the article here.
