EXHIBITION: 24 September – 12 October 2020

Curator: Kim KiBu

Shen JingDong (1965- ) is an acclaimed contemporary artist of the Chinese new wave movement. His works depict soldiers and workers as icons of Chinese life rendered in blue, green, yellow or red. Shen’s works can be seen in collections worldwide.

Shen’s first solo exhibition in UK, ‘Shen JingDong: The Beautiful Fairy Tales’, introduces 29 works produced in response to the changing times he faced and archives related to his works. JingDong’s Great Britain series has been selected especially for the upcoming exhibition in London. Through this, you can appreciate the portraits of representative British figures, as viewed from JingDong’s Chinese perspective.

In the 2000s, the emergence of Shen JingDong in a period of revival for Chinese Contemporary Art suggested a dawning of a new era. Previously, ideological criticism determined the direction of new contemporary art. Shen JingDong provides a definitive example of commercialised aesthetics in Chinese pop art. While serving as a soldier, he was praised by a Chinese leader for his theatrical background design, in 1998. He attempted various conceptual and performing arts in the 1990s, influenced by Dadaism and pop art.

In 2006, ‘Hero No.12‘ was collected in the National Art Museum of China, the Most Famous National Museum of Art in China, and his artistry began to be recognised. His art received numerous praise for its pursuit of “cuteness” along with its commercialized ideological features.

Starting in 2007, an exhibitions of his works have been hosted in Hong Kong and New York, and his performances were held in the United States, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and France.

Through his work, he reveals his innermost thoughts, hidden in metaphors, humor and smiles. Amid the urbanisation and globalisation going on throughout China, Shen JingDong can be seen in his works as a witness to the changes globalisation brings. Amid the strengthening of ideology and oppression of freedom that coincides with globalisation, his work provides a new way out. Through the harmony of the realm of both imagination and reality, he builds his own fairy tales.

His “Fairy tale” perspective hides knowledge behind a smile. In exploring his work, we too can see what he sees- hiding our new perspective about the world behind a smile.

(This is an external exhibition not organised by Asia House.)

Shen JingDong 沈敬东

1965 Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China；

1984 Graduated from the fine art class of Nanjing Xiaozhuang Normal School；

1991 Graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, Nanjing Academy of Art；

1991—2009 Serving in the Battlefront Art Troupe of the Political Department of Nanjing Military Region；

At present living in Beijing。

Solo Exhibitions

>2020

Shen Jingdong : The Beautiful Fairy Tales, Asia House, London, UK

Small eyes-big world, XSPACE Gallery, Nanjing, China

>2019

Art.Design and Home, Red Star Macalline, Guiyang, China

Shen Jingdong came here, Hôtel de l’industrie, Paris, France

Shen Jingdong is here, Chinese gallery, New York, USA

Shen Jingdong was here, Il Giardino Bianco Art Space, Venice, Italy

>2018

From South to North in 2018–Shen Jingdong’s Invitational Exhibition of Individual Works, Art Museum of School of Fine Arts and Design of Shenyang Normal University, China

Start from Nanjing, Jinling Art Museum, Nanjing, China.

Guns N’Roses–Shen Jingdong’s Solo Exhibition, Parkview Green ART, Beijing, China

>2017

International Joke: Shen Jingdong, Ross Art Museum, Maryland, USA

Art Career Record of Good Soldier Jingdong: Shen Jingdong Literature Exhibition, Songzhuang Contemporary Art Documentary Exhibition, Beijing China

Shen Jingdong Story:Shenjingdong, Art and Design Academy Art Museum, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, China

>2016

International Joke: Shen Jingdong Solo Exhibition, Korean Craft Museum, Cheongju, Republic of Korea

Shen Jingdong +Jon Tsoi:No head No heart, WhiteBox, New York, USA

Let’s Paint Together: Shen Jingdong and Liao Mingming Collaborative Exhibition, Yue Museum of Art, Beijing, China

New Representational Art in China, Hudson Center for Contemporary Arts, Poughkeepsie, USA

>2015

The Little Prince, E Space, Hong Kong

Dawn of a New Age: Ink Redefined, Art Futures Gallery, Hong Kong

Censure, Galerie Dock Sud, Sète, France

>2014

My Kingdom of Fairytales, Art Futures Group, ArtOne, Hong Kong

Hidden Meanings, Colour Explosion, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

>2011

Continue with Revolution, 3V Gallery, Nanjing, China

>2010

We could be HeroesⅡ, The Rotunda, Exchange Square, Central, Hong Kong

>2009

Hero, Volta Art Fair, New York, USA

>2008

Hero, China Square Gallery, New York, USA

The Most Beloved People, Today Art Museum & New Millennium Gallery, Beijing, China

>2007

Making of Heroes over 10 Years, Imagine Gallery, Beijing, China

We could be Heroes, Yan Gallery, Hong Kong

>2006

Images of Heroes, New Millennium Gallery, Beijing, China

Exhibition of One Painting, 88 Art Document Storehouse, Beijing, China

Public collection

2019 Hello, Van Gogh, acrylic on canvas, 80 × 60cm. French Industrial Palace, Paris, France

2018 The Little Prince, oil on canvas, 100x100cm. Jinling Art Museum, China

2014 Salute, Stainless Steel, 200cm high. Bengbu University, China

2013 Salute, Stainless steel, 200cm high. Xiamen Jimei University, China

2013 Soldier with a Gun, Cast bronze, 200cm high. Xiamen Jimei University, China

2012 Salute, Cast bronze, 170cm tall. Nanjing Art Institute, China

2009 Hero, oil on canvas, 100cm × 100cm. WURTH Art Museum, Spain

2008 Harmony One, oil on canvas, 200cm × 600cm. Oberte Museum, Germany

2008 Head of a Soldier, spray paint in glass-steel, 56cm × 52cm × 35cm, Henan Art Museum, China

2007 Heroes Series No.12, oil on canvas, 200cm × 200cm, National Art Museum of China, China

2007 Heroes Series No.42, oil on canvas, 200cm × 200cm, Singapore Museum of Fine Arts, Singapore

2006 Founding Ceremony, oil on canvas, 200cm × 700cm. Shanghai Art Museum No. 1, China