Person

Born in 1982 in Chengdu, Guo Hongwei received his art education in the Oil Painting Department of the highly regarded Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing. He has become known for his experimental approach to the paint medium, pushing the possibilities of acrylic paint and (more recently) watercolour far beyond its usual limits, for example by creating sculptural installations created with impasto acrylic with no substrate. His early works demonstrated his interest in cultural and personal memory: returning home for Spring Festival Guo had found an old photograph album which sparked his interest in rendering these hazy memories in paint. He created a series of monochrome paintings based on his childhood photographs, blurred by diluting his paint with turpentine. Guo’s work has been shown widely in China and internationally in group and solo exhibitions. Recent solo shows include ‘Pareidolia’, Chambers Fine Art, New York (2020); ‘Lustrous and Dazzling’, Gallery 100, Taipei (2015); and ‘Miss Oyu’, Frieze New York (2014). Guo Hongwei has participated in group exhibitions such as ‘Between Past and Futures: SGA Collection Exhibition’, Shanghai Gallery of Art (2018); Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions, Tokyo (2016); and ‘My Generation: Young Chinese Artists’, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach (2015). In 2013, Guo Hongwei was included in the landmark group exhibition ON | OFF: China’s Young Artists in Concept and Practice at UCCA, Beijing. He lives and works in Beijing.