Huang Gang

Biography

Huang Gang was born in Beijing in 1961. He spent his childhood and teen years under the rage of China’s Cultural Revolution. Influenced by his father, a well known professor of Chinese art history, and his mother, an archeology analyst, he was brought up with Chinese traditional art and soon started practicing calligraphy.In 1995 he won a silver award of the first Beijing International Environment Artist which was Exhibited. He was especially interviewed by " LE FIGARO" Magazine in 1997 where he participated in the China International Art Fair Beijing.

Significant changes took place as China transited from communism and the Cultural Revolution to commercialism and westernization and this is reflected in many of China’s contemporary artists. Similarly, this had influenced Huang Gang and his artistic expression. The central thought of Huang Gang’s art deals with the use of symbols to express culture, social norms, and history.

Although an image can be read in various ways, it fundamentally captures a specific impression of a single moment in time. In Huang Gang’s work, his symbols have common cognitive meanings, dictated by the environment during the period of China's Cultural Revolution. The use of ‘stars’ in his work is one such example. Widely associated with many interpretations, however placed int he Chinese context, it draws to a distinct period in history. For someone who is aware and within the sphere of the shared history, it immediately calls tomind the Cultural Revolution.

Similarly, his use of the colour red or of female soldiers is also an attempt at alluding to this period of history. Furthermore, the usage of symbols allows for there to be exploration of the artist's intention. His choice of using symbols that are synonymous with the Revolution allows for an ambiguity of his ideological standings or political sentiments of that period in Chinese history, leaving the symbols open to interpretation.