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Wu Shaoxiang 吴少湘b. 1957, Jiangxi ProvinceAbout the Artist
Wu Shaoxiang was born in Jiangxi Province, China, in 1957. Following the Cultural Revolution, he studied sculpture at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute and later completed a postgraduate degree at the Central Academy of Arts and Design in Beijing. A prominent figure in China’s New-Wave art movement, Wu also lectured at the Central Academy and was named one of China’s ten most influential avant-garde artists. In 1989, Wu and his family emigrated to Austria, where he established a studio with his wife, the sculptor Jiang Shuo. Having exhibited extensively in Asia, Europe and America, Wu’s works are widely collected by important museums and prestigious institutions worldwide.
In his latest works, Wu Shaoxiang unveiled a selection of new works exploring the theme of wealth and modern consumer culture. Not content with replicating the internationally acclaimed ‘Coining’ series, Wu continues to explore new forms of innovative sculptural representation. His new series, Walking Wealth, consists of life-sized human figures made out of bronze-cast US dollar notes. With their distinctive body language, these anonymous figures pose as witty commentaries on mankind’s endless pursuit of monetary gain. Here Wu once again showcases his ability to incorporate form and concept in new and striking ways – a brilliance that has distinguished him as one of the leading Chinese sculptors of his generation.
Achievements
Wu Shaoxiang was born in Jiangxi Province, China, in 1957. Following the Cultural Revolution, he studied sculpture at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute and later completed a postgraduate degree at the Central Academy of Arts and Design in Beijing. A prominent figure in China’s New-Wave art movement, Wu also lectured at the Central Academy and was named one of China’s ten most influential avant-garde artists. In 1989, Wu and his family emigrated to Austria, where he established a studio with his wife, the sculptor Jiang Shuo. Having exhibited extensively in Asia, Europe and America, Wu’s works are widely collected by important museums and prestigious institutions worldwide.
In his latest works, Wu Shaoxiang unveiled a selection of new works exploring the theme of wealth and modern consumer culture. Not content with replicating the internationally acclaimed ‘Coining’ series, Wu continues to explore new forms of innovative sculptural representation. His new series, Walking Wealth, consists of life-sized human figures made out of bronze-cast US dollar notes. With their distinctive body language, these anonymous figures pose as witty commentaries on mankind’s endless pursuit of monetary gain. Here Wu once again showcases his ability to incorporate form and concept in new and striking ways – a brilliance that has distinguished him as one of the leading Chinese sculptors of his generation.
Achievements
Jiang Shuo 蒋朔b. 1958, Beijing, China
About the Artist
Born in 1958 in Beijing, Jiang Shuo studied sculpture at the Central Academy of Arts and Design, which is now under Tsinghua University. As the first female sculptor in China, Jiang Shuo completed her master degree in 1985 and started her career in teaching sculpture at the Central Academy until 1989. With her husband Wu Shaoxiang, they migrated to Austria and worked at their joint studio there. Her works have been widely exhibited around the world, especially in Europe.
Her latest works present the Red Guard Series of small delicate sculptures cast in the ancient lost wax technique. Each sculpture is an original and not an edition, from her expression; she bears witness to the irony of her generation's situation within Chinese society, straddling the extremes of revolution economic development.
The Red Guards work follows in her folk art style but with the injection of a political theme to grab people's attention. The almost faceless guards with their wide-open mouths recall the period of turmoil in China when the spouting of slogans and mindless indoctrination was the path to survival. The sarcasm continues for the materilization that these red guards criticized during the Revolution, have now become their goals, to be pursued today. Portrayed with modern and material icons such as cola cans, french fries, mobile phones, the guards have now engaged in trade and could hardly withstand the indubitable influence of popular culture. While examining that cultural juxtaposition faced by her generation, she has challenged herself as a sculptress to work with variations of scale and technique in order to enable her practice
Zodiac Figures 2006, Bronze, 30 cm Height
