Person

Artist
Pisan
王波
Date of birth
1971
Place Of birth
Shanxi, China
Biography
Born in 1971, in Shanxi province, China. Pisan (Wang Bo) has gained a huge following for his animation art. He studied painting at art school but grew bored with it. “Painting and I don’t get on well,” he says. When he discovered animation software in 1999, he knew he’d found his medium. With no end in mind but having fun, he started making short movies and interactive online games. 'His Who Killed Me?' drew tens of thousands of players, who adopted Pisan’s characters and competed to solve a murder mystery. 'Blow Up the School', 2007 the animated tale of a student named Kuangkuangkuang who rebels against the dictatorship of his teachers, won Pisan a minor cult following. Chinese authorities tried in vain to erase the movie from the Web, but corporations like Motorola and China Central Television joined the Pisan fan club, inviting him to make commercials and animated children’s shows. He formed a company that went on to work with several noted film directors and whose profits now fund his art projects.
Whether gently funny or over-the-top crazy, Pisan’s art movies evoke the rebellious spirit of little Kuangkuangkuang. It’s hard not to see a resemblance between that schoolboy antihero and Pisan, the youth who insisted on making art in his own new way, and doing it not to preach politics but to please himself.

Works by this artist