Guo Jin
Guo Jin expresses his art ; ¡°a reflection and contemplation of man¡¯s naivet¨¦¡±. The children in his subject matters, represent the essence of idealism that we possessed but were probably lost after. They also remind one of the delightful moments of childhood that are gone with the inevitable knowledge of adulthood. These also reflect China¡¯s commercialism and materialization to the West, with the loss of idealism, be it expected from their own country or the West. The Chinese artists of the 80s had endeavored to contribute to a greater Chinese Culture which was not achievable under the eyes of a complicit government. Nevertheless, the artists of the 90s are fiercely proud to be Chinese, but more content to reside in their country and detached from building the Chinese culture. As a western observer one cannot help but link the unfathomable, dark side of Guo Jin¡¯s works to the feeling one has in China of an omnipotent and omnipresent power.
Freedom is another important element in Guo Jin¡¯s work. Freedom is expressed in this child subject matters, seen being very nimble and playful in their movements. Again, this also touches on the new freedom of creation which now exists in the Chinese artistic communities that Guo Jin can take Chinese icons such as the emperor, the PLA soldier, the Red Guard and Lei Feng (the model communist comrade widely used in propaganda campaigns), or western imports such as Zorro or Batman, and use them playfully. Misuse of national icons or use of foreign symbols could have resulted in severe repercussions under the unrelenting regime of the Cultural Revolution. This series of works is also about imagination and the freedom of choice facing a child, its freedom to choose what it wants to be, again a novelty in a country that until recently decided for its young what they should study. These may seem very simple issues but the power of Guo Jin¡¯s work is that their very essence is captured and delivered so successfully that the viewer realises the contribution of innocence, delight, imagination and freedom to an individual and a society must never be dimmed again.
Education
1990 Graduated from Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, oil painting department
Exhibition
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008
Appearance: Guo Jin's Return, Indonesia National Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
2007
Things That Change, Things That Don't: Solo Exhibition of Guo Jin, Kwai Fung Hin, Hong Kong
2006
Action and Imagination, solo show, Serieuze Zaken Studioos, Amsterdam
2005
Wings, Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London
2003
Casa Garden Orient Foundation, Macau
Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London
1999
Guo Jin 1998-1999, Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London
1998
Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008
The Sichuan Movement, Indonesia National Museum, Jakarta and Linda Gallery Singapore
2007
Guo Wei and Guo Jin : Figurative Possibilities, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, the USA
From New Figurative Image to New Painting, Tang Contemporary, Beijing
2006
The International Asian Art Fair, New York, the USA
¡°Entry Gate¡±: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
2004
5+1, Asia Art Centre, Taipei
In Between, Tang Gallery, Bangkok
Chinart, Museo d¡¯Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome
Chinart, Ludwig Museum, Budapest
Shaping, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai
Posers, The Courtyard Gallery, Beijing
2003
Chongqing Chili, Ohio University Art Gallery and Trisolini Gallery
2002
China Art, Museum Kuppersmuhle Sammlung Grothe, Duisburg
The Paintings of Guo Jin and Guo Wei, Goedhuis Contemporary, N Y
Guo Jin and Guo Wei: New Works, The Courtyard Gallery, Beijing
Triennial of Chinese Art, Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou
On the Edge of the Millennium: New Art from China, Goedhuis Contemporary, N Y
2001
Artist in residence at the Delfina Art Studio, London
Chongqing Chili, Kultur-Bahnhof, Kassel
China Art Now!, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
The first Biennale of Chengdu, Modern Art Museum, Chengdu
2000
Doors of the century, 1979-1999 Chinese Contemporary Art, Modern Art Museum, Chengdu
The exhibition of Shanghai Art Museum¡¯s collection, Shanghai
Guo Wei and Guo Jin: New works, The Courtyard Gallery, Beijing
1+1, Recent Works by Zeng Fangzhi and Guo Jin, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
Between the Lines, Mosman Art Gallery and Community Centre, Sydney
1999
Art China! Limn Gallery, San Francisco
99 Academic Exhibition, Upriver Gallery, Chengdu
Collection Exhibition, Dongyu Art Gallery, Shenyang
1998
Confused¡Reckoning with the Future Contemporary Chinese Paintings & Photography, Amsterdam
5000+10, Contemporary Art from Mainland China, Bilbao
Made in China, Chinese contemporary Paintings, Nikolaus Sonne Fine Arts, Berlin
Asian Avant-garde, Christie¡¯s, London
Guo Wei and Guo Jin, Flanders Contemporary Art, Minnesota
The Guo Brothers, Soobin Gallery, Singapore
1997
Faces & Bodies of the Middle Kingdom, Chinese art of the ?90¡¯s, Gallery Rudolfinum, Prague
The First Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese art, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hon Kong
Quotation Marks, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
8+8-1 paintings by 15 Contemporary Artists, Schoeni Art Gallery, H K
1996-97
CHINA! Kunstmuseum, Bonn, also traveling to Vienna, Copenhagen, Berlin and Warsaw
1996
Dream Shares¡ªFive Artists from Mainland China, Jamaica Art Center, New York
The First Exhibition of the China Oil Painting Society, China National Gallery, Beijing
1995
The Urban Idealist¡ªNew Art from Sichuan, Schoeni Art Gallery, H K
The History of Chinese Oil Painting: from Realism to Post-modernism, Galerie Theoremes, Brussels
The Third Annual Exhibition of Chinese Oil Painting, China National Gallery, Beijing
1994
The Strange Environment ¡¯94, Chongqing
1992
The Guangzhou Biennial: Oil Paintings from the 90¡¯s, Guangzhou
Freedom is another important element in Guo Jin¡¯s work. Freedom is expressed in this child subject matters, seen being very nimble and playful in their movements. Again, this also touches on the new freedom of creation which now exists in the Chinese artistic communities that Guo Jin can take Chinese icons such as the emperor, the PLA soldier, the Red Guard and Lei Feng (the model communist comrade widely used in propaganda campaigns), or western imports such as Zorro or Batman, and use them playfully. Misuse of national icons or use of foreign symbols could have resulted in severe repercussions under the unrelenting regime of the Cultural Revolution. This series of works is also about imagination and the freedom of choice facing a child, its freedom to choose what it wants to be, again a novelty in a country that until recently decided for its young what they should study. These may seem very simple issues but the power of Guo Jin¡¯s work is that their very essence is captured and delivered so successfully that the viewer realises the contribution of innocence, delight, imagination and freedom to an individual and a society must never be dimmed again.
Education
1990 Graduated from Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, oil painting department
Exhibition
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008
Appearance: Guo Jin's Return, Indonesia National Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
2007
Things That Change, Things That Don't: Solo Exhibition of Guo Jin, Kwai Fung Hin, Hong Kong
2006
Action and Imagination, solo show, Serieuze Zaken Studioos, Amsterdam
2005
Wings, Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London
2003
Casa Garden Orient Foundation, Macau
Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London
1999
Guo Jin 1998-1999, Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London
1998
Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008
The Sichuan Movement, Indonesia National Museum, Jakarta and Linda Gallery Singapore
2007
Guo Wei and Guo Jin : Figurative Possibilities, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, the USA
From New Figurative Image to New Painting, Tang Contemporary, Beijing
2006
The International Asian Art Fair, New York, the USA
¡°Entry Gate¡±: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
2004
5+1, Asia Art Centre, Taipei
In Between, Tang Gallery, Bangkok
Chinart, Museo d¡¯Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome
Chinart, Ludwig Museum, Budapest
Shaping, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai
Posers, The Courtyard Gallery, Beijing
2003
Chongqing Chili, Ohio University Art Gallery and Trisolini Gallery
2002
China Art, Museum Kuppersmuhle Sammlung Grothe, Duisburg
The Paintings of Guo Jin and Guo Wei, Goedhuis Contemporary, N Y
Guo Jin and Guo Wei: New Works, The Courtyard Gallery, Beijing
Triennial of Chinese Art, Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou
On the Edge of the Millennium: New Art from China, Goedhuis Contemporary, N Y
2001
Artist in residence at the Delfina Art Studio, London
Chongqing Chili, Kultur-Bahnhof, Kassel
China Art Now!, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
The first Biennale of Chengdu, Modern Art Museum, Chengdu
2000
Doors of the century, 1979-1999 Chinese Contemporary Art, Modern Art Museum, Chengdu
The exhibition of Shanghai Art Museum¡¯s collection, Shanghai
Guo Wei and Guo Jin: New works, The Courtyard Gallery, Beijing
1+1, Recent Works by Zeng Fangzhi and Guo Jin, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
Between the Lines, Mosman Art Gallery and Community Centre, Sydney
1999
Art China! Limn Gallery, San Francisco
99 Academic Exhibition, Upriver Gallery, Chengdu
Collection Exhibition, Dongyu Art Gallery, Shenyang
1998
Confused¡Reckoning with the Future Contemporary Chinese Paintings & Photography, Amsterdam
5000+10, Contemporary Art from Mainland China, Bilbao
Made in China, Chinese contemporary Paintings, Nikolaus Sonne Fine Arts, Berlin
Asian Avant-garde, Christie¡¯s, London
Guo Wei and Guo Jin, Flanders Contemporary Art, Minnesota
The Guo Brothers, Soobin Gallery, Singapore
1997
Faces & Bodies of the Middle Kingdom, Chinese art of the ?90¡¯s, Gallery Rudolfinum, Prague
The First Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese art, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hon Kong
Quotation Marks, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
8+8-1 paintings by 15 Contemporary Artists, Schoeni Art Gallery, H K
1996-97
CHINA! Kunstmuseum, Bonn, also traveling to Vienna, Copenhagen, Berlin and Warsaw
1996
Dream Shares¡ªFive Artists from Mainland China, Jamaica Art Center, New York
The First Exhibition of the China Oil Painting Society, China National Gallery, Beijing
1995
The Urban Idealist¡ªNew Art from Sichuan, Schoeni Art Gallery, H K
The History of Chinese Oil Painting: from Realism to Post-modernism, Galerie Theoremes, Brussels
The Third Annual Exhibition of Chinese Oil Painting, China National Gallery, Beijing
1994
The Strange Environment ¡¯94, Chongqing
1992
The Guangzhou Biennial: Oil Paintings from the 90¡¯s, Guangzhou
