Sui Jianguo

Sui Jianguo was born in 1956 in Qingdao, China. He received his BFA from the Shandong University of Arts in 1984 and his MFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1989, where he currently presides as the head of the Sculpture Department. He currently lives and works in Beijing.

Sui Jianguo’s art explores his unique understanding and recognition of creation, form, alternative media, alternative methods, and space-time. His sculptures are ingenious fusions of concept and form, as many of his works utilize large-scale force to impact viewers. Sui Jianguo’s early works are highly symbolic, and many create a careful relationship between the peculiarities of society and history. His later creations gradually became disconnected from his own identity and began incorporating a broader visual perspective, thus making his concepts of cultural space-time apparent. Sui Jianguo’s work also succeeds in bringing forth introspection on the artistic process in modern China. Whether it be the realism in his early works or the classic shapes in his later Mao Jacket and Dinosaur pieces, both rely on the wisdom of native Chinese genealogy and channels of culture to serve as ways to solve problems, as outlets. The work reveals an obvious academic’s severely critical standpoint regarding society and human morality. His works also touch on the realms of video and public performance. He has been praised by art critics for being a “pioneer venturing to the farthest reaches of Chinese sculpture.”

Sui has participated in many group and solo exhibitions, including “Motion/Tension: New Work by Sui Jianguo” at Today Art Museum, “The Hague Under Heaven: Sui Jianguo-Sculpture” at Museum Beeldenaan Zee, “Sui Jianguo” at Pace Beijing, “Physical Trace-Sui Jianguo’s Work” at Gallery Sheffle, “The City of Forking Paths: The Expo Boulevard Sculpture Project” at the World Expo Shanghai, “Reactivation: The Ninth Shanghai Biennale” at the Power Station of Art, and “The Unseen: The Fourth Guangzhou Triennial” at the Guangdong Museum of Art.

www.suijianguo.com