Xiang Jing (artist) explained

Xiang Jing (born 1968) is a Chinese sculptor.

Works

Xiang Jing is considered highly satirical and there are questions that are raised surrounding the plight of the post-feminist movement of women. She shows the emotions and expresses the mindset of women which causes her work to shift from personal to political. She captures the current trends, some popular activities that contemporary women indulge in (clubbing, shopping, etc.).Xiang Jing hardly ever uses synthetic materials in her works. She uses some props including cigarettes.

Quotes

Directly from Xiang Jing

"Each female artist possesses sensitivity, particularly with regard to gender or issues. Before making this batch of sculptures, I reflected on why I have always avoided a feminist stance, though in truth I confront gender roles. What, after all, is my instinctive fundamental stance? Without any hesitation, I know my own stance, just as I look at this world with a woman's eyes, as a matter of my intrinsic nature. This is not simply a question of gender politics. Given this undeniable precondition, I will definitely speak from my feminine identity. I use the female body first of all to remind people that I am a woman. In this world I live in, a naked figure commands more attention, after all, than one wearing clothes. So I use a woman's body to state who I am, to speak of how a woman thinks and looks at things. This is the foundation on which I create these pieces. I am no longer those women in art history who were always being looked at. Given this approach to creating female figures, I do not feel they are a hackneyed subject. I like to say that my mode of expression is "in the first person." — Xiang Jing x Zhu Zhu[1]

"I did And You? after I did Your Body. I wanted to transcend something in Your Body; I succeeded or not, different people might have different ideas. But for me, it meant a huge difference. It's often the case – even in our daily life – the sort of expression you look for can't be voice out, but if we gather strength and voice it out, it's a progress. When you voice it out, the you've also jumped over the obstacle. "Your Body" came really out of my instinct and nature; I accumulated knowledge and experience to that extent and produced such a work with so much effort, but I have always wanted to transcend it." ... Your Body actually started my first-person narration approach. When I was creating that piece, my life was very isolated indeed, and that instinct just burst out suddenly. I strongly wish my first-person narration approach could get more established. In this new exhibition I get ready to produce a group of purer works of female bodies. Moreover, I indeed want to transcend it; when I jump over that obstacle, I will feel quite relieved. — Xiang Jing x Huang Zhuan[2]

About Xiang Jing

"Xiang Jing is an unusually independently-minded young Chinese woman. Her personality is a blend of bohemian free spirit and down-to-earth common sense, underscored by a feisty mental attitude towards life and art. Life saw fit to place this personality in a delicate physical frame, and set behind a pair of large round eyes, the innocence of which belies this woman's talent for penetrating insight. Where, to date, Xiang Jing's art has focused on the female form, the woman's body has evolved as a conduit for her observations on the state of women in contemporary China: observations that, in early 2008, she decided to draw together in one exhibition, and to act as a denouement for this phase of her career. Having reached a certain maturity, Xiang Jing feels it is time to move onto something new." — Karen Smith[3]

After going through numerous births and miscarriages, Xiang Jing intends to conclude the stage of her work that concerns the "female body." To engage in critiquing her work is like travelling to a nation of women that is about to declare independence. The scaffolding has yet to be removed, but a mood of festive observance is in the air.

For an artist to conclude a stage in her creative work usually means that her passion and energy toward the theme has found release, and she realizes that to continue would lead to nothing but self-replication of a certain few pieces. A better reason might be that her iconic pieces had already been produced, and the artist's desire for expression had been gratified. If she ever resumes this theme sometime in the future, it would mean that broader understanding and experience will have shown her new possibilities of self-overcoming. Xiang Jing's present achievements in sculpture give ample proof of her singular strength within a certain thematic range. The works that best represent the level she has reached are Your Body (2005) and Are A Hundred Playing You? Or Only One? (2007). — Zhu Zhu[4]

"If you put a real person's face next to it, you will see a lot of differences. But what matters to me is [...] the poignancy of the expression." "I want my art to awaken the sensibility of each onlooker, to awaken his body, so that his body can experience the sculpture. That's why I really want people to stand right in front of my sculpture, to face (it)."[5]

Public collection

Solo exhibitions

2015

2013

2012

2001 - 2011

Selected group exhibitions

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1995

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Female Self-Presence Today . Winter 2010. 91 . 287–300.
  2. Web site: Huang Zhuan x Xiang Jing: The Transcended Body Naked Beyond Skin – Xiang Jing 2006–2007, Beijing . Tang Contemporary Art (Beijing) . 2008 . 159–183.
  3. Karen Smith: Say It Loud | Naked Beyond Skin – Xiang Jing's Works 2006-2007, Beijing | Tang Contemporary Art (Beijing) | 2008 | p. 110–116
  4. http://www.xiangjingart.com/en/index.php?g=portal&m=article&a=index&id=293 Zhu Zhu, Within a Magic Spell
  5. Web site: Chinese Sculptor's Painful Search for Truth. November 2012. CNN.
  6. Web site: Juergen Teller & Xiang Jing. May 2015. Lehmann Maupin Gallery.
  7. http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/xiang_jing.htm "Xiang Jing- Contemporary Artists"

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