YANGJIANG GROUP

 

Yangjiang Group is an artistic group created in 2002 in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, China by Zheng Guogu (b.1970, Yangjiang), Chen Zaiyan (b.1971, Yangchun) and Sun Qinglin (b.1974, Yangjiang).

 

They use the unique medium of Chinese calligraphy to develop a diverse contemporary art practice, including performance, photography, painting, video and installation. Collaboration and participation are hallmarks of Yangjiang Group’s practice. Known for its playful attacks on traditional calligraphy and attempts to subvert sociocultural conventions and values, their practice takes shape in many different formats such as painting, multimedia installation, and performance using materials like wax, food, and ink. Audience participation is a significant component of their work; ordinary events like eating, gambling, tea sipping, and binge drinking are vital to their convivial working process and cultivation of community-based exhibition experiences. 

 

Yangjiang Group has had solo shows at Eastside Projects, Birmingham, United Kingdom (2012); Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai (2013–14); 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney (2015); and Museo nazionale delle arti dell XXI secolo, Rome (2015). They have participated in international exhibitions and biennials including The Real Thing: Contemporary Art from China, Tate Liverpool (2007); China Welcomes You . . . Desires, Struggles, New Identities, Kunsthaus Graz, Austria (2007); Documenta, Kassel, Germany (2007); Sprout from White Nights, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm (2008); Lyon Biennial, France (2009–10); Zizhiqu: Autonomous Regions, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou (2013); Auckland Triennial (2013); and Tales of Our Time, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2016–17).

 

Yangjiang Group lives and works in Yangjiang.