Fang Lijun is known to be one of the main forerunners of the early 1990's movement known as Cynical Realism. This artistic trendevolved as a result of the aftermath of the 1989 student demonstrations in Tiananmen and the closing of the ?China Avant-Garde? exhibition at the China national Gallery in Beijing.Fang Lijun born in 1963 in Handan, Hebei province is one of the leading and most influential contemporary artists in china.



The exhibition of their works at the China National Gallery was the culmination of that decade and signalled to the artists that they had been recognised. The dramatic closure of the exhibition soon after it's opening marked the destruction of those goals. The 1990s were characterised by a loss of idealism, a more ironical, a more personal viewpoint and a greater detachment from any regeneration of culture and society - a cold, realistic view of changing Chinese society

Fang Lijun's work has been exhibited at:

1) The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

2) Pompidou Museum, Paris

3_ Museum of Modern Art, New York

4) National Gallery of Art, Beijing

5) Venice Biennials, Kwangju Biennials, Sao Paulo Biennale

6) every significant exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art since 1990

Fang Lijun painting owned by the Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Series 2 - Number 2, 1992. The main figure, a friend of the artist, could be yawning or yelling while the mute, menacing figures in the background bring to mind mindless, manipulated masses. Fang Lijun's famous figure, have already become well known icons in the world of Chinese contemporary art. Fang Lijun's bald man with his ambiguous expression and dreamlike background of unlimited space and freedom became a symbol of the subtle mockery that one can detect in the works of the Cynical Realism artists.

CONCLUSION:

Fang Lijun's practice exhibits a rarefied technical skill rigorously studied through his Social Realist training; his combination of this aesthetic with references to contemporary comics, folk art, and dynastic painting characterise a national identity in flux, distilling a position of integrity from tradition and the modern world.

Find More about Fang Lijun Paintings and Exhibitions at Saatchi-Gallery

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/fang_lijun.htm