Fang Lijun

Born in 1963 in Handan, China, Fang Lijun received his formal training at the Fine Art Academy of Beijing where he studied printmaking. Fang Lijun has held almost 40 solo exhibitions in major art museum in both East and the West. His participation includes the Venice Biennale and Sǎo Paulo Biennial, and his works are collected by MoMA ( The Museum of Modern Art, USA ), Centre de G. Pompidou (France), The National Gallery of Australia (Australia), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (USA), Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst (Germany), CP Foundation (Indonesia), Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Japan), Shanghai Art Museum (China), Guangdong Art Museum (China), He Xiangning Art Museum (China), as well as other major art collection agencies and private collectors. For his outstanding influence in the realm of art, Fang lijun has been invited as a visiting professor in more than 20 universities.

Part of the core group of artists who make up the 1990s movement termed ‘Cynical Realism’. Fang Lijun is well aware that his body of work is a unique consequence of the prevailing socio-political conditions of modern China. By titling his works after the year that they were made, Fang allows his works to stand for themselves, and avoid sinking the works down with ancillary ideas and concepts. Although his prints often feature groups of people, the focus is on the solitude of the individual, who must confront the overwhelming sense of social oppression exerted by the authority. This dark social reality is belied by the colourful and seemingly joyful aspect of his works.