Fang Lijun 方力钧 (b. 1963)
As one of the leading artists of the 1990s Cynical Realism movement, Fang Lijun has gained international recognition for his large-scale paintings of figures with shaven heads and exaggerated facial features. Many of his generation of artists were defined by the events at Tiananmen Square and its political ramifications, but Fang’s works move beyond a sense of disaffection and ennui to a wider exploration of humanity and redemption. His work has been widely acclaimed both in and outside China; he was part of the first wave of Chinese artists to gain recognition in the West, starting from his early inclusion in the ground-breaking China Avant-Garde exhibition held in 1993 in Berlin. Fang’s versatility and strength as an artist lies in his ability to switch between different media including oils, woodblock prints and ceramics depending on how he needs to express himself. Fang’s visit in 2012 to Jingdezhen, the city at the heart of porcelain production in China, signalled his re-engagement with ceramics, which he had first studied in the early 1980s. His abstract porcelain creations highlight the themes of fragility and flux against the millennium-long quest for perfection seen in Chinese ceramics.
Fang is the subject of a retrospective at the Macao Museum of Art (2023) and his ceramic works were the focus of a dedicated exhibition at the Musée Ariana, Geneva, in 2017. An exhibition devoted to his works will open in autumn 2023 at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Fang’s works are in the collections of over thirty international institutions including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; National Gallery of Australia, Sydney; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Taida Contemporary Art Museum, Tianjin; Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; and Seattle Art Museum, Seattle.
Fang Lijun Biography
1963 Born in Handan, Hebei Province
1983 Diploma in Ceramics, Hebei School of Light Industry, Tangshan, Hebei Province
1989 Graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing and started his career as a professional artist
2004-16 Visiting professor and graduate supervisor in 22 different Chinese colleges and universities
2009 ‘Appointed Artist’ at the Contemporary Art Academy of China (CAAC), attached to the Chinese National Academy of Arts, Beijing
2012 Ambassador of Peace for the Peace and Development Foundation (PDF), official partner of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in China
2013 Director of the Center for Contemporary Art appointed by the China National Academy of Painting, Beijing
Currently lives and works in Beijing
Select solo exhibitions
2023
Fang Lijun: The Light of Dust (A Luz Poeirenta), Macao Museum of Art, Macao, China
2022
Wonderland — Fang Lijun Ink painting, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
2021
Fang Lijun’s Woodcuts, Hunan Museum, Hunan, China
2020
Fang Lijun Ceramics, Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing, China
2019
Fang Lijun: Facial Recognition, Vermilion Art, Sydney, Australia
2018
Zhou Chunya and Fang Lijun’s Joint Solo Exhibition, K Gallery, Chengdu, China
2017
Art History of Fang Lijun, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
This All Too Human World, Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong, China
The Manuscript of Fang Lijun 2012-2017, Meilun Art Gallery, Changsha, China
2016
Alternative Survival: Research Exhibition of Fang Lijun’s Manuscripts, United Art Museum, Wuhan, China
Fang Lijun Documentary Exhibition, Wuhan University, Wanlin Art Museum, Wuhan, China
Fang Lijun: Forbidden Areas, Musée Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland
Re-sensing: The work of Fang Lijun, Hubei Art Museum, Wuhan, China
2015
Fang Lijun 2015, Springs Center of Art, Beijing, China
2014
Great Success-Fang Lijun Exhibition, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
Fang Lijun: The New Body of Work by Mr. Fang Lijun 1963, Art & Public–Cabinet P.H, Geneva, Switzerland
2013
Fang Lijun: A Cautionary Vision, Palazzo Marcello, Venice, Italy
Fang Lijun 2013, Springs Center of Art, Beijing, China
Fang Lijun, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Archive Exhibition of Fang Lijun, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen, China
2012
Breakthrough — Fang Lijun’s Solo Exhibition, CP Foundation, Jakarta, Indonesia
Fang Lijun Document, Singapore MOCA, Singapore
Fang Lijun — Living Multitudes, Time Square 2nd Floor, Hong Kong, China
The Precipice Over the Clouds, GAM (the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Turin, Italy
2011
Fang Lijun: From Symbol to Analysis, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
2010
Fang Lijun, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Fang Lijun, Art Museum of Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
2009
Endlessness of life: 25 Years Retrospect of Fang Lijun: Living Like A Wild Dog 1963-2008 Fang Lijun’s Archive, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Fang Lijun, Sea and Sky, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
Fang Lijun: Thread of Time, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2008
Fang Lijun, Arario New York, New York, U.S.A.
2007
Fang Lijun Heads, the Laboratory of Art and Ideas At Belmar, Denver, U.S.A.
Fang Lijun Places to Places to Places, Alexander Ochs Galleries Berlin|Beijing, Berlin, Germany
Fang Lijun, Hunan Provincial Museum, Changsha, China
Fang Lijun Solo Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2006
Life is Now, Galeri Nasional Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Fang Lijun: Today!, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Fang Lijun–Holzschnitte und Zeichnungen, Kupferstichkabinett Staatliche Museem zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
From My Hand: Sculptures & Woodcuts by Fang Lijun, Michael Berger Gallery, U.S.A.
2004
Fang Lijun, Prüss & Ochs Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Fang Lijun, gravures sur bois, Galerie de France, Paris, France
2002
Fang Lijun, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Fang Lijun, Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong, China
Fang Lijun, Between Beijing & Dali, Woodcuts & Paintings 1989–2002, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst Aachen, Aachen, Germany
2001
Fang Lijun, New Woodcuts & Paintings, Prüss & Ochs Gallery (former Asian Fine Arts), Berlin, Germany
1998
Fang Lijun, Stedeljik Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Fang Lijun, Max Protetch Gallery, NYC, U.S.A.
1996
Fang Lijun, Human Images in an Uncertain Age, the Japan Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
1995
Fang Lijun, Galerie Bellefroid, Paris, France
Fang Lijun, Galerie Serieuse Zaken, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Select group exhibitions
2021
Local Individuals, Epoch Art Museum, Zhejiang, China
Boshan Ceramics Biennale, Yanshen, Zibo, China
The Realm of Existence: An Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing, China
Alchemy—Paths of Transformation, Sanya Museum of Contemporary Art, Sanya, China
Indistinct Boundary, Huzhou Art Museum, Huzhou, China
2020
Ink Painting on Going: 2000 — 2019, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangdong, China
Asia Digital Art Exhibition 2020, Beijing Times Art Museum, Beijing, China
Circle of Friends, Mountain & Sea Art Museum, Beijing, China
2020 Ink Painting Art Experimental Research Exhibition, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China
The Logic of Painting, Shijiazhuang Art Museum, Hebei, China
2019
Neo—Materiality—Contemporary Chinese Ceramics, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
With Nature, Soka Art Beijing, Beijing, China
Paper & Ink Language — Nanjing Ink Art Biennale 2019, Art Museum School of Fine Arts, Nanjing
Normal University, Nanjing, China
Beyond the Wall — Special Invited Exhibition for the 10th Anniversary of Xi’an Art Museum in 2019 &
Literature Exhibition for the 10th Anniversary of Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
New Ink Art in China 1978-2018, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
Art History Shaped by 40 Artists: 40x40 from 1978-2018, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China
2018
Dedicated to Elysee: An Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, UCCA, Beijing, China
The Road of Avant–Garde: Contemporary Art Exhibition, Nanshan Museum, Shenzhen, China
Shaped by 40 Artists’ Art History, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China
2017
Echo of Civilization, The Imperial Ancestral Temple Art Museum, Beijing, China
Unbounded, La Casa del Mantegna, Mantua, Italy
Fusion-Contemporary Oil Painting Language Research Exhibition, Today Art Museum, China
A City in Dialogue with the World —‘Jing Piao’ International Exhibition, Jingdezhen China Ceramic
Museum, Jiangxi, China
2016
M+Sigg, Collection: Four Decades of Chinese Contemporary Art, Artistree, Hong Kong, China
South of the Mountains: 11 Contemporary Chinese Artists, Sanyu Contemporary Art Center, Guangzhou, China
2015
Fragmentary Narratives, Changsha Museum, Changsha, China
Taiyuan International Sculpture Biennale, Taiyuan Museum, Taiyuan, China
Freehand China, 2015 Annual Exhibition of China National Academy of Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Fragmentary Narratives Exhibition, Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford, U.S.A.
2014
China New Expression: Exhibition 1980-2014, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
The 3rd Documentary Exhibition of Fine Arts: Re-Modernization, Hubei Museum of Art, Hubei, China
West Says East Says—Chinese Contemporary Art Research Exhibition, United Art Museum, Wuhan,
China
Post Pop: East Meets West, Saatchi Gallery, London, U.K.
Freehand China, 2015 Annual Exhibition of China National Academy of Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2013
Re-Ink: Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Ink and Wash Painting 2000-2012, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Individual Growth—Momentum of Contemporary Art, Tianjin Art Museum, Tianjin, China
Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, U.S.A.
2012
Face, Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Omen 2012 – Chinese New Art, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Go Figure! Contemporary Chinese Portraiture, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra; Sherman
Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, Australia
Through All Ages-Long Museum Opening Series Exhibitions, Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Re-Ink: Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Ink and Wash Painting 2000-2012, Hubei Museum of
Art, Wuhan, China
2011
Pure Views: New Painting from China, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, U.S.A.
Collecting History: China New Art, Chengdu MOCA, Chengdu, China
A New Horizon- Contemporary Chinese Art 1949 to 2009, National Gallery of Australia, Sydney,
Australia
I Believe that —Chinese Contemporary Art in Songzhuang, Songzhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China
2010
Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art: Painting (1979-2009), Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Clouds: Power of Asian Contemporary Art, Soka Art, Beijing, China
Pure Views-New Paintings from China, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, U.S.A.,
Louise Blouin Foundation, London, U.K.
A Gift to Marco Polo, Venice International University, Island of San Servolo, Venice, Italy
Chinamania, Arken Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
Embrace Suzhou, Exhibition of the Chinese Contemporary Arts, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China
Open Vision - Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art, Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art of the National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic
Collision - Cases of Contemporary China Art Experiment, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
2008
Cina XXl secolo, Arte fra identità e trasformazione, Palazzo delle Esposizionzi, Rome, Italy
Beijing - Athens, Contemporary Art from China, Greek Athens National Contemporary Art Center,
Athens, Greece
Half-Life of a Dream: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Logan Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, U.S.A.
Avant-Garde China: Twenty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
The Revolution Continues: New Art from China, Saatchi Gallery, London, U.K.
2007
Chinese Contemporary Sotsart, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Post-Martial Law vs. Post ’89 - The Contemporary Art in Taiwan and China, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
Red Hot, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, U.S.A.
China-Facing Reality, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, Austria
2006
China Coup, Red Mansion Foundation, London, U.K.
Expressions of Contemporary Chinese Water and Ink Painting, Huitai Art Center, Tianjin, China
The Sacred and the Profane, Alexander Ochs Galleries Berlin|Beijing, Berlin, Germany
2005
Always to the Front, China Contemporary Art, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
China Contemporary Art, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
Mahjong, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
History of River—The Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition In New Era, Culture Ministry Art Bureau of the
P.R.C., National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2004
China, The Body Everywhere?, Museum of Contemporary Art, Marseilles, France
Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Faces of Illusion by Fang Lijun, Ye Yongqing and Yue Minjun,
Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China
East Wind, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, Switzerland
2003
From China with Art, National Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
Alors, la Chine, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
An Opening Era, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Chinese Printmaking Today, British Library, London, U.K.
2002
A Point in Time, Meilun Museum, Changsha, China
Guangzhou Triennial 2002, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2001
China Art Now, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Towards a New Image: Twenty Years of Contemporary Chinese Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Sichuan Art Museum, Chengdu; Art Museum, Guangdong, China
2000
Visage: Painting and The Human Face in 20th Century Art, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo,
Japan
The Collection of Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
The 20th Century Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, China Arts Museum, Beijing, China
Portrait of China Contemporaries, Espace Culture Francois Mitterrand, Perigueux, France
1999
The 5th Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Aperto, The 48th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
1998
It’s me, Forbidden City, Beijing, China
Inside Out: New Chinese Art, Asia Society, New York, U.S.A.
China, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
1997
China, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Die anderen Modernen, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
1996
Begegnungen mit China, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany
Great art exhibition- a special exhibition of experimental prints, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
1995
Visions of Happiness - Ten Asian Contemporary Artists, Japan Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
Unser Jahrhundert, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
1994
Welt—Moral, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Biennale Contemporary Art at São Paulo, 22nd International Biennale of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
1993
China’s New Art, Post ’89, Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong
Passagio ad Oriente, The 45th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Mao Goes Pop, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
China Avant-Garde, toured Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany; Kunsthal Rotterdam; the
Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, U.K.; Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense, Denmark; Roemerund Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim, Hildesheim, Germany
1992
Fang Lijun and Liu Wei Oil Painting Exhibition, Beijing Art Museum, Beijing, China
New Art from China/Post-Mao Product, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Queensland Art
Gallery, Brisbane; City of Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat; Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra, Australia
1989
China Avant-Garde Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1984
6th National Art Exhibition, Guangzhou, China