Meet Chen Wenling

I believe the above photo is Walter Madoff


Chen Wenling is an artist of secularism, and at the same time he used a humorous and exaggerative way to show the themes of his works.
　　Pig is a signature of Chen Wenling, and at the same time pig is a special animal for Chinese people. No people in any other countries are so close to pigs, pig, in fact, is China herself. Especially in Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, “pig culture” are very popular. As a man born and live in Fujian, Chen Wenling use pig as the first signature of himself is an interesting thing.
　　Horse, in Chinese cultural dictionary is a western word. From the recent works of Chen Wenling, we could see some traces that he learn form western world.
Modern art emphasizes the concepts in a piece of work. It often creates a style of too many concepts, making viewers tired. In contrast, Chen’s works are simple and true. He does not deliberately create concepts. The naked bodies have nothing to disguise themselves. What left is a direct communication with the nature and a direct conversation between the society and the people. The facial and body expressions of the Red Boys are properly exaggerated to enhance the communicative effects. This series of works is a relief of too many concepts. It can also be viewed that there is a concept in the works to curtail the burden of concepts.

via wudi@cl2000.com



Chen Wen Ling is a recognised young sculptor working in China. Born in Anxi, Fujian China in 1969, he graduated from Xiamen academy of Art and completed study in Sculpture Dept, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing China.

The Red Boys are innocent and not evil, healthy and not sick. It is well known that the visual arts of the late twentieth century, whether in art, movie and three-dimension cartoon pictures of computer games are full of violence and self doubt and pity. Chen's Red Boy look like a lotus growing out of mud, satisfying viewers cravings for a new trend of avant garde art, ie. to make a vehicle of the construction of human nature rather than the weapon of criticism of human nature.

His works attracted outsiders, insiders, academics and avant-garde critics alike to appreciate them from their own perspectives.

Chen series works of the Red Boys entitled the Red Memory, which have various meanings for different modern art viewers. They may be reminded of a newly born baby (red boy) which symbolizes the innocence of human heart in classical culture, without a feeling of ordinariness.

Modern art emphasizes the concepts in a work. It often creates a style of too many concepts, making viewers tired. In contrast, Chen works is simple and true. He does not deliberately create concepts. The naked bodies have nothing to hide. What is left, is a direct communication with the nature and a conversation between the society and the people. The facial and body expressions of the Red Boys are properly exaggerated to enhance the communicative effects. This series of works is a relief of too many concepts. It can also be viewed that there is a concept in the works to curtail the burden of concepts.