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WANG Keping, <Silence>, Bronze, H42cm, 1980 © artist
[China] WANG Keping Silence
A member of the “The Stars” group, in spite of not having received any academic training, Wang Keping’s “absurd sculptures”, especially the tortured composition in Silence was one of the most powerful works in “The Stars Art Exhibition”. Inspired by the Theater of the Absurd, and following the grains of the wood to shape his work, branches and knots on the wood were often adroitly transformed into the highlights of the work: a covered eye, a sealed mouth, along with the trace of the sculptor’s slanted mark constitute the artist’s primary visual icons, particularly, the torn face reveals an unrestrained audacity. His wooden sculptures are contentious to the system of censorship on the artworks and the exhibition system, as well as the corrupt dogmatism in China. Erupted through silence, a denouncement of the personality cult, conveying the anger and suffering of cultural suffocation of an absurd time, Wang’s unadorned yet incise sculptural language touches the souls of those yearning for freedom. |
