intro

Born during the harshest phase of the Cultural Revolution, Wei Dong is one of China's most avant-garde artists today and presents a refreshing alternative response to contemporary society. By juxtaposing classical figures of the West with traditional landscapes and tossing in seemingly arbitrary objects into his compositions, Wei Dong brings together conflicting images, traditions, and values into a single pictorial space. His particular vision thereby opens up contemporary Chinese art to fresh and unexpected potential.
15th century Chinese landscapes, Renaissance figures, and ordinary objects are the main motifs found in Wei Dong's work. Individually, these motifs reflect the artist's faithful observations of traditional style or everyday life; but in concert, they generate new and peculiar meanings. One might say that Wei Dong adopts a mocking tone in his scramble of subjects: traditional landscapes, nudes, thorn baton, chili pepper and soldier uniforms. According to the artist, however, they are merely reflections of contemporary society where sex, violence, and popular culture dominate traditional mores.