Like many contemporary Chinese painters, Wang Changming’s works reflect the rapid processes of cultural transformation in modern China.
The mixture and clash of tradition and modernity, Eastern and Western civilizations resonate throughout his seemingly tranquil still lives.
Born in 1964 in Wuxi, a city known for its beautiful classical gardens, Wang Changming studied painting in the Shanghai Academy of Art. His most famous works include a series of paintings in which he juxtaposes Taihu scholar’s rocks, symbols of the Chinese literati tradition, with memorabilia of Communist and Post-Communist China, for example Chairman Mao badges and Coca-Cola cans.
The smart assemblage of these cultural emblems into a peaceful coexistence contrasts with their factual incompatibility and points at the deeply paradoxical and polarised reality of contemporary Chinese culture.