Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle is widely acknowledged as a trailblazer in the realm of conceptual painting within China's contemporary art scene. 

Biography of Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle was born in 1976 in Songxi, Fujian Province, China. Guangle studied painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing.

His graduating exhibition in 2000, titled "3pm to 5pm," showcased five paintings depicting beams of sunlight casting shadows across his studio floor. Initially perceived as too abstract due to their apparent simplicity, Wang's works earned him the Director's Prize upon graduation.

He played a pivotal role as a founding member of the N12 artist group, known for breaking away from traditional representational painting to embrace individual expression.

He has held solo exhibitions at prominent venues such as Beijing Commune (2009, 2011, 2015) and Soka Art Center in Taipei (2011). Solo shows also include "Faded Colours" at Pace Gallery in London (2022), "Wang Guangle: Waves" at Beijing Commune (2021), "Duo Color" at Pace Gallery in New York (2019), and many more.

Since 2000, Wang's work has been featured in over ninety group exhibitions held at various venues worldwide, including Ennova Art Museum, Hill Art Foundation, Long Museum (West Bund), Whitebox Art Center, Shevardnadze National Gallery, Intelligentsia Gallery, Gland Space, among others.

Currently, the artist lives and works in Beijing, China. 

Wang Guangl's Art Style

Wang Guangle explores the luminosity of light and the depths of time in his reflective oil paintings. He has received acclaim for his methodical approach to painting, translating abstract concepts like the passage of time into layers of paint. His work explores the materiality of the medium and the essence of painting itself through techniques of abstraction and repetition.

In the early 2000s, Wang began to transition from portraying sunlight to a more concentrated exploration of the terrazzo floor pattern. His "Terrazzo" series, which commenced in 2002, represents a shift towards conceptual painting. This series underscores both time and process, meticulously depicting the minute stones that make up terrazzo.

Since its inception in 2004, Wang Guangle's ongoing 'Coffin Paint' series features horizontally layered paints of varying colors, symbolizing the passage of time. Inspired by a tradition in his native province of Fujian, where elderly individuals repaint their coffins annually as a ritual associated with longevity, Wang's canvases vary from vibrant layers of saturated huesto pastels and monochromatic shades of grey.