WANG Jinsong China b.1963
(Untitled) (no. 5 from 'Standard family' series)
1996
Colour cibachrome photograph on paper
Ed. of 5
50.8 x 61cm (comp.)
Purchased 1998.
Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Reproduced by permission of the artist
|
 |
Wang Jinsong's 'Standard family'
series comprises 200 images of Chinese single-child families.
The series was produced as an investigation into China's 'one-child'
policy and its effect on the development of contemporary Chinese
society. Since the introduction of the 'one-child policy'
in 1973, couples in China have been restricted to having one
child. The resulting three-person family group has become
the 'standard' family in China.
 |
WANG
Jinsong China b.1963
(Untitled) (no. 6 from 'Standard family' series)
1996
Colour cibachrome photograph on paper
Ed. of 5
50.8 x 61cm (comp.)
Purchased 1998.
Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Reproduced by permission
of the artist |
 |
WANG
Jinsong China b.1963
(Untitled) (no. 7 from 'Standard family' series)
1996
Colour cibachrome photograph on paper
Ed. of 5
50.8 x 61cm (comp.)
Purchased 1998.
Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Reproduced by permission of the artist |
In a country with a vast population,
this policy has been accepted with resignation. Although these
children will grow up without siblings, and their own children
without extended families, the policy is seen as a necessary
solution to the country's population crisis.
When organising the production
of this work, the artist was surprised to discover that, rather
than feel concerned about its content, the families were happy
to be involved in the project. He became aware of a new trend
amongst Chinese families - that of 'keeping up with the Hans'.
The families in Wang's photographs enjoy the upward mobility
that limiting their family to a single child has allowed,
and are proud of their 'Western-style' achievements.
Wang's approach to his topic
has not been critical. Instead, he has presented the situation
as simple fact. His long-term aim is to investigate and reflect
contemporary China as it moves towards Western-style modernity.
Wang Jinsong was trained as a traditional
Chinese ink painter, but he has expanded his practice to include
more contemporary painting techniques, photography and video.
His work examines the implications of a range of government
policies on contemporary Chinese society. After the Tiananmen
Square incident in 1989, Wang was among a group of young artists
who produced works critical of the political situation in China.
The group painted in a style that became known as cynical realism.
Wang painted rich oil paintings of everyday situations using
a 'larger than life' satirical approach. In his photographic
works, he has continued his investigations into the effects
of 'Westernisation' on the Chinese people. His photographic
series 'Parents', produced in 1998, was a sympathetic study
of this process.
| Other
lines to follow for Wang Jinsong |
How the Chinese people have accommodated
the 'Westernisation' of their country is of great interest to
Wang Jinsong. In his 'Parents' series, he illustrated the juxtaposition
of traditional and contemporary concepts in the lives of the
old people he photographed. In the extract below, the poet Luo
Men also reflects on this issue.
an
old man
sits in a corner
in an ill-fitting
ready-made Western suit
finishing up a not-so-palatable
hamburger
try as he may, he just can't figure out what it has
to do with a Han fortress* |
* The Chinese transliteration
of hamburger - hanbao - means 'Han fortress'.
Luo Men, 'Lunchtime
at McDonalds', 1985, quoted in Anthology
of Modern Chinese Poetry. ed. and trans. Michelle Yeh,
1992, Yale University, Yale, p.98.
|
