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Course: Tate > Unit 2
Lesson 4: Challenging the State- Hans Haacke: "A Breed Apart" in South Africa
- Doris Salcedo's "Shibboleth"
- Mounted police and crowd control at Tate Modern
- "Immigrant Movement International": Nationalism and immigration in the gallery
- Wang Peng: Performance as politics in China and beyond
- Key Points
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Wang Peng: Performance as politics in China and beyond
This video brought to you by Tate.org.uk
Chinese artist Wang Peng started out as an abstract painter before turning to installations—at a time when installation and performance art was banned in China. And yet the artist flourished in what could be considered a hostile environment, using the restrictions imposed upon him to play with how far his art could go instead of simply giving in to the ban. In one piece, the artist and his fellow performers blocked the entrance to a gallery by building a wall of bricks in front of it. The next day, police tore down the wall in an ironic subversion, unwittingly taking part in the performance and symbolically opening the gallery back up.
Chinese artist Wang Peng started out as an abstract painter before turning to installations—at a time when installation and performance art was banned in China. And yet the artist flourished in what could be considered a hostile environment, using the restrictions imposed upon him to play with how far his art could go instead of simply giving in to the ban. In one piece, the artist and his fellow performers blocked the entrance to a gallery by building a wall of bricks in front of it. The next day, police tore down the wall in an ironic subversion, unwittingly taking part in the performance and symbolically opening the gallery back up.
Underpinning Wang Peng’s work is a steadfast resolve to challenge the conventions and boundaries of art. "Your love of art should never be affected by politics,” he says. Do you think that an artist can be unaffected by politics but still engage with political and social issues?
Learn more about Wang Peng's performance and politics here.
Want to join the conversation?
Wang Peng says that "your love of art should never be affected by politics,” Do you think that an artist can be unaffected by politics but still engage with political and social issues through his/her work?(5 votes)
I think the answer would depend solely on the artist and his/her approach to the limitations that bind him/her. I personally really enjoyed Wang Peng's video. His love of art challenged the status quo not without a little humour and mischief:o) which clearly shows that for Wang Peng, it is not the political and social issues of his country that define him, but his wonderful creative spirit which refuses to be confined.(4 votes)
Does he still live in mainland China? He seemed open and candid about China's political situation for artists, which made me wonder if he lives in China proper, a less-repressive region like Hong Kong, or outside of China altogether.(2 votes)