 ang Lijun's solo exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum opened on Sunday, Nov.18th, with a huge gathering to celebrate the artist's work. It was the first time that Fang Lijun has held a major exhibition in Shanghai and the first time he has ever had a solo show in a government-controlled museum the size of the Shanghai Art Museum. The exhibition is remarkable because Fang Lijun is among the artists who lived in Beijing after 1989, often depicting cynical bald-headed characters who seemed to show their indifference and disillusionment with government policies. But now, in an era of booming art prices and international acclaim for China's contemporary artists, an exhibition such as this is being held in Shanghai. For this exhibition, Fang appears to have moved away from painting, creating lots of installation pieces and sculpture works, mostly depicting small children and creatures, as well as drawings and sculptures of friends and colleagues. While the works were a departure in style from many of his earlier pieces, the themes seem to connect with his efforts at depicting a world of the masses, of creatures and children and people adrift, locked up and lost in space and time. And yet, viewers may have also noticed something not very often observed in Fang's works -- smiles, portraits of friends, colleagues, the curator Zhang Qing, the artist Ai Weiwei and others -- smiling or grimacing and suggesting that Fang's work is not only about disillusionment and drifting.
Fang Lijun at the Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony
2007.5.1, Oil on Canvas, 140×180cm, 2007
2007 Autumn, Oil on Canvas , 250×720cm, 2007
2007, Oil on Canvas , 140×180cm, 2007
2007, Oil on Canvas , 270×840cm, 2007
2007.8.15，360×750cm (360×250×3pieces), (Whole)
2007.8.15, 360×750cm (360×250×3pieces), (Part)
2007.8.15, 360×750cm (360×250×3pieces), (Part)
Sculpture, mixed media, 240×160×90cm, 2007
2007.8.5, 63×63×101cm, (Part)
2007.8.5, 63×63×101cm, (Whole)
2007.8.5, 63×63×101cm, (Part)
2007.8.5, 63×63×101cm, (Part)
2007.8.5, 63×63×101cm, (Part)
2007.8.5, 63×63×101cm, (Part)
2007.8.30, Sculpture, acrylic cover, organic glass, plume, 120×120×120cm×3，2007
2007.8.30, Sculpture, acrylic cover, organic glass, plume, 120×120×120cm×3，2007
2007.8.10, 197×206×46cm, compositive material
2007.8.10, 197×206×46cm, compositive material, (Part)
2007.8.10, 197×206×46cm, compositive material, (Part)
2007.8.10, 197×206×46cm, compositive material, (Part)
2007.8.15, Scupture, painted FRP, steel, iron, wood, stone, etc. 170×127×120cm×3, 2007
2007.8.15, Scupture, painted FRP, steel, iron, wood, stone, etc. 170×127×120cm×3, 2007
2007.8.15, Scupture, painted FRP, steel, iron, wood, stone, etc. 170×127×120cm×3, 2007
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