Wu Liang Yan

Born in 1982, Fujian Province, China, sculptor Wu Liang Yen has created in his oeuvre a range of sculptures representing the new face of Chinese youths. In his works, the same figure is used – a young boy with plump cheeks, an upward tilted and disproportionately large head, with a red tie around his neck. Each characteristic of the boy’s form is laden with meaning contextualized within China’s history and progression.

The red tie is part of every Chinese student’s uniform. To Wu and many young artists growing up under the Communist regime, this also represents the expectation to be acknowledged of the youths. Constantly looking upwards with a beaming smile, the figure in Wu’s sculpture reflects of an insatiable desire for affirmation from authority figures.

Employing the techniques of exaggeration and satire, Wu seeks to bring out social problems that stem from the overly competitive societies that arise in today’s world. The chubby cheeks of the boy in Wu’s subject matter are symbolic of the over-inflated desires that youths today carry within themselves. The head of the boy is disproportionally large as compared to the rest of his body, reflecting of the emotional and physical burdens which youths today carry as a result of striving for what society purports him or her to achieve. Such burdens are disproportionate to what a child of his age is expected to bear. This form of exaggeration also signifies the distortion of people’s expectations – of what they want and what they can physically achieve, resulting in a continual state of confusion and insecurity. A star is placed underneath each sculpture, rendering the overall composition of the boy to be that of a trophy prize that perhaps a parent can bring home and display to others.

Nonetheless, with closed eyes and a slight smile, Wu’s subject matter seemingly revels in the environment he is in. He is an achiever and a model youth that his country and parents expect him to be. Yet, his face also shows a glint of idealism, of the desire to achieve what he personally wants against all odds.

With the red tie and huge heads as the main symbols undergirding each sculpture, Wu carefully crafts the story of youths growing up in such a precarious era. Today, his critically acclaimed sculptures have been exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions in Xiamen, Beijing and France.

Solo Exhibition

2009  Upwards -- Wu Liangyan’s solo  Exhibition, Beijing798,China

Group Exhibitions

2009   Histoire Recente--China Contemporary Art Exhibition, France

2009   China's driving force - the Yearbook of China International Sculpture Exhibition,Beijing

2008   China-Korea Arts Exchange Exhibition, Beijing

2008   The survival of the scene - Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shangshang International Museum of Art

2008    The 1st Songzhuang Youth Artists Exhibion,Beijing

2008    Sculpture Party,The 1st Songzhuang Sculpture Communication Exhibition,Beijing

2008    The Power of Life,Beijing