Tang Maohong 唐茂宏

From ArtSpeak China (ASC) Wiki

Tang Maohong is a silkscreen printmaker and video artist, best known for his cartoon-like illustrations in circular frames. He lives and works in Shanghai.

Contents 1 Date & Place of Birth 2 Education & Development 3 Art 4 Exhibitions 5 Gallery Affiliations 6 References

Date & Place of Birth

Tang was born in 1975 in Lingchuan, Guangxi Province.

Education & Development

Tang graduated in 1994 from the Shanghai School of Arts and Crafts, and, in 2000, earned his BA from the China National Academy of Fine Arts.

Art

Tang Maohong’s unique artistic approach is demonstrated in his short animated three channel video entitled “Orchidaceous-Finger” (“Theatrical Gestures”) and the accompanying series of silkscreen prints “Orchid Finger” (2005), full of witty grotesquerie. The pieces are composed within circular frames, referencing traditional Chinese bird and flower paintings. Upon closer inspection however, Tang Maohong’s various scenes of flowers, pagodas and mushrooms display an aesthetic that is far removed from the traditional composed still-life. Here, a surreal universe of people, animals and plants interact and converge in orgiastic and explicit scenes that defy ordinary logic. He is known for technical expertise combined with a rich fantasy sensibility that is transformed into a distinctive and flamboyant reality.^[1] 

Tang simultaneously references and undermines art history and popular culture. He has integrated a variety of visual elements and subject matters, producing works that inhabit the ever-blurred border between high art and popular illustration. His work is absurd, humorous and confrontational, hinting that the juxtapositions of figurative objects might be more than just illusions. Tang's pictorial universe reflects not only a new subject–a psyche whose internal eclectic imagination is echoed in the environment of constantly flowing images – but also the inversion of out-grown traditions. ^[1]

Exhibitions

Recent exhibitions include Singapore Biennale 2006: Belief (Singapore, 2006), Orchid Finger, ShanghART H-Space (Shanghai, 2006), Sunday – Tang Maohong’s Solo Exhibition, Longhua Lu (Shanghai, 2006), A Lot of Ash – A Lot of Dust, BizArt, (Shanghai, 2005) and Asian Traffic Shanghai: Magnetism – Suspension, Zendai Museum of Modern Art (Shanghai, 2005).

For Tang's full exhibition history, click here.

Gallery Affiliations

Tang is represented by ShanghART Gallery in Shanghai.

References

 

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} http://www.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/artists/name/tangmaohong/intro