Overview

Wang Gongyi (b. 1946, China) joined the Tianjin People’s Fine Arts Publishing House as an editor after the Cultural Revolution. In 1978, she pursued her master's degree in Printmaking at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou (now the China Academy of Art), and after graduating in 1980 she stayed at the academy as a teacher. In 1986 and 1992, she was invited by the French Ministry of Culture to study art in France. After her residencies at the Museum of Oregon State University and the Pacific Northwest College of Art, she relocated to the United States in 2001 and has since been based in Portland.

 

In the early 1980s, Wang Gongyi gained wide recognition in China after being awarded first prize in the second National Youth Fine Art Exhibition for her powerful suite of seven woodcuts devoted to the Chinese feminist and revolutionary martyr Qiu Jin. This work called for social reforms and represented the passion of a new generation. It has become an important work in the historical narrative of contemporary Chinese art.

 

Using charcoal to imbue strength in her marks, made against a background of ink, watercolor and acrylic, Wang Gongyi brings new life to her recollections of natural landscapes. Wang Gongyi’s landscapes are characterized by an agitated and an unrestrained energy that defies our idealized memories of nature as a soft and subdued realm.

 

Wang Gongyi's works are collected by many important institutions and collections internationally, including: Ashmolean Museum, United Kingdom; China Academy of Art; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Portland Art Museum, United States; The National People’s Congress, China; The National Art Museum of China; Shanghai Art Museum, China; USC Pacific Asia Museum, United States; and Zhejiang Art Museum, China, among others.

 

In 2022, Wang Gongyi’s works were featured in Centre Pompidou's "Women Artists of the 20th Century" program.

Works
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Blue Mountains - Immortality 蒼羽, 2016
    Blue Mountains - Immortality 蒼羽, 2016
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Blue Mountains 藍山 1028, 2016
    Blue Mountains 藍山 1028, 2016
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Blueprint of Eternity 開元, 2019
    Blueprint of Eternity 開元, 2019
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Bright Star 璀璨星空, 2017
    Bright Star 璀璨星空, 2017
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Fairbanks Under the Solstice 阿拉斯加 - 冬至, 2019
    Fairbanks Under the Solstice 阿拉斯加 - 冬至, 2019
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Follow the Creek No. 2 緣溪行之二, 2019
    Follow the Creek No. 2 緣溪行之二, 2019
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Golden Cursive Script 金光草書, 2005-2018
    Golden Cursive Script 金光草書, 2005-2018
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Leaves of Grass No. 18 草葉集之十八, 2020-2021
    Leaves of Grass No. 18 草葉集之十八, 2020-2021
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Leaves of Grass No. 6 草葉集之六, 2019
    Leaves of Grass No. 6 草葉集之六, 2019
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Lotus Diary II 荷日記(二), 2017
    Lotus Diary II 荷日記(二), 2017
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Lotus III 大荷之三, 2016
    Lotus III 大荷之三, 2016
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Minimalistic Landscape 極簡山水, 2012
    Minimalistic Landscape 極簡山水, 2012
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Peach Blossom 桃, 2016
    Peach Blossom 桃, 2016
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Rhythms 韵律, 2016
    Rhythms 韵律, 2016
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, The Sea Diary 大海日記, 2010
    The Sea Diary 大海日記, 2010
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Thousand Character Text 千字文, 2018
    Thousand Character Text 千字文, 2018
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Transcendentalism 貞觀, 2018
    Transcendentalism 貞觀, 2018
  • Wang Gongyi 王公懿, Wuling Kongmeng 武陵空濛, 2015
    Wuling Kongmeng 武陵空濛, 2015
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