- 1130
WANG GUANGLE | Terrazzo 2003. 5
Estimate
2,000,000 - 3,000,000 HKD
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Description
- Guangle Wang
- Terrazzo 2003. 5
- acrylic on canvas
- 180 x 140 cm
signed in Chinese, titled in Chinese and dated 2003.5 on the reverse
Provenance
Private Collection, Asia
Hanhai Auction, Beijing, 18 November 2011, Lot 1703
Private Collection, Europe
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 4 April 2015, Lot 1041
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner
Hanhai Auction, Beijing, 18 November 2011, Lot 1703
Private Collection, Europe
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 4 April 2015, Lot 1041
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner
Literature
Terrazzo - Wang Guangle, Onemoon Art, Beijing 2005, n.p., illustrated
Wang Guangle, Ostfildern 2014, p. 28, illustrated
Wang Guangle, Ostfildern 2014, p. 28, illustrated
Catalogue Note
I consider [terrazzo] as a testimony of a past ideology of a certain period in China. We eat the same, we dress the same, we use the same materials, etc. […] I wanted to be independent. If I was independent then I could have opinions, which were different from the existing ideology.
Wang Guangle
Exuding an enthralling transcendent aura, the exquisite Terrazzo 2003.5 from 2003 is an archetypal painting from Wang Guangle’s renowned early body of work titled the Terrazzo series. The titular material Terrazzo is a composite construction material comprising chips of marble, quartz, glass or granite that was commonly used for tiled floors in the 1970s and 1980s. Wang Guangle painstakingly depicts the material, meticulously crafting every pebble and even sanding the surface of the canvas as one would polish an actual Terrazzo floor. While appearing to be abstract and minimalistic from a distance, the hyper-realist representation of Terrazzo in these works reveal an extraordinary photographic-quality level of detail, powerfully challenging the frontiers between realism and abstraction. On the other hand, Wang’s portrayal of banal construction material as subject matter juxtaposed against the exalted formalist aesthetic of pure minimalist abstraction blurs boundaries between high and low art. Involving a highly labor-intensive and time-consuming process-based approach, the scrupulous level of detail and mesmerizing texture unfolding from Terrazzo 2003.5 furthermore serves as a concrete and poignant record of the artist’s labour of creation and a profound witness of the passage of time.
A 2000 graduate of the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and a founding member of N12, a collective of young artists, Wang Guangle represents a new generation of Chinese artists’ exploration of form in the 21st century: their subversion of traditional realism; their nihilism and pessimism towards the politics of old; and their rejection of socially conscious subject matter. This inclination towards individual expression is particularly evident in the two-dimensional works of this new generation. Wang Guangle is undoubtedly a pioneer among this group: academically trained in realist techniques, he remains faithful to realistic and minutiae detail, employing unemotional yet expressive brushwork and a calm and rational treatment of colour and form in order to create a wholly radical brand of abstraction. Infused with a quiet poetic sensibility, Wang’s visual language and creative process both embody the special characteristics of his milieu, making him a unique figure amongst artists from both the East and West.
Wang Guangle’s graduation exhibition in 2000 presented five paintings in a series titled 3pm to 5pm that took him almost half a year to complete. Working from 3pm to 5pm daily, Wang Guangle depicted the projections of afternoon rays on the floor. After the series, the artist paid heed to his increasing fascination with the materiality and texture of the Terrazzo floor, eschewing narrative and setting in order to focus solely on painting Terrazzo. This led to the ensuing Terrazzo series. In the artist’s own words: “The Terrazzo theme made me reflect a lot. Terrazzo is a very common construction material. I consider it as a testimony of a past ideology of a certain period in China. We eat the same, we dress the same, we use the same materials, etc. […] I wanted to be independent. If I was independent then I could have opinions, which were different from the existing ideology” (the artist cited in Garcia Frankowski, “Interview with Wang Guangle”, Intelligentsia, 5 September 2015, online).
Simultaneously abstract yet realistic, Wang Guangle’s definitive Terrazzo series expounds a new paradigm for the possibilities of painting. The works are grounded in the artist’s investigation of painting’s temporality and in the power of the canvas as a vessel of labour and a marker of time; as the artist reflects: “The sensation of the passage of time always inspires me. Time changes everything, and when I can detect the pure movement of time, nothing else seems to matter. In these moments, there is very little else I would want to do” (the artist cited in Lorraine Rubio, “artnet Asks: Wang Guangle”, Artnet, 24 November 2014, online).
Wang Guangle
Exuding an enthralling transcendent aura, the exquisite Terrazzo 2003.5 from 2003 is an archetypal painting from Wang Guangle’s renowned early body of work titled the Terrazzo series. The titular material Terrazzo is a composite construction material comprising chips of marble, quartz, glass or granite that was commonly used for tiled floors in the 1970s and 1980s. Wang Guangle painstakingly depicts the material, meticulously crafting every pebble and even sanding the surface of the canvas as one would polish an actual Terrazzo floor. While appearing to be abstract and minimalistic from a distance, the hyper-realist representation of Terrazzo in these works reveal an extraordinary photographic-quality level of detail, powerfully challenging the frontiers between realism and abstraction. On the other hand, Wang’s portrayal of banal construction material as subject matter juxtaposed against the exalted formalist aesthetic of pure minimalist abstraction blurs boundaries between high and low art. Involving a highly labor-intensive and time-consuming process-based approach, the scrupulous level of detail and mesmerizing texture unfolding from Terrazzo 2003.5 furthermore serves as a concrete and poignant record of the artist’s labour of creation and a profound witness of the passage of time.
A 2000 graduate of the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and a founding member of N12, a collective of young artists, Wang Guangle represents a new generation of Chinese artists’ exploration of form in the 21st century: their subversion of traditional realism; their nihilism and pessimism towards the politics of old; and their rejection of socially conscious subject matter. This inclination towards individual expression is particularly evident in the two-dimensional works of this new generation. Wang Guangle is undoubtedly a pioneer among this group: academically trained in realist techniques, he remains faithful to realistic and minutiae detail, employing unemotional yet expressive brushwork and a calm and rational treatment of colour and form in order to create a wholly radical brand of abstraction. Infused with a quiet poetic sensibility, Wang’s visual language and creative process both embody the special characteristics of his milieu, making him a unique figure amongst artists from both the East and West.
Wang Guangle’s graduation exhibition in 2000 presented five paintings in a series titled 3pm to 5pm that took him almost half a year to complete. Working from 3pm to 5pm daily, Wang Guangle depicted the projections of afternoon rays on the floor. After the series, the artist paid heed to his increasing fascination with the materiality and texture of the Terrazzo floor, eschewing narrative and setting in order to focus solely on painting Terrazzo. This led to the ensuing Terrazzo series. In the artist’s own words: “The Terrazzo theme made me reflect a lot. Terrazzo is a very common construction material. I consider it as a testimony of a past ideology of a certain period in China. We eat the same, we dress the same, we use the same materials, etc. […] I wanted to be independent. If I was independent then I could have opinions, which were different from the existing ideology” (the artist cited in Garcia Frankowski, “Interview with Wang Guangle”, Intelligentsia, 5 September 2015, online).
Simultaneously abstract yet realistic, Wang Guangle’s definitive Terrazzo series expounds a new paradigm for the possibilities of painting. The works are grounded in the artist’s investigation of painting’s temporality and in the power of the canvas as a vessel of labour and a marker of time; as the artist reflects: “The sensation of the passage of time always inspires me. Time changes everything, and when I can detect the pure movement of time, nothing else seems to matter. In these moments, there is very little else I would want to do” (the artist cited in Lorraine Rubio, “artnet Asks: Wang Guangle”, Artnet, 24 November 2014, online).