Wang Keping - The Couple

Wang Keping 王克平 (China, b.1949)

Born in Beijing in 1949, the Chinese sculptor Wang Keping currently lives and works in Paris. Wang Keping is a self-taught sculptore and works mainly with wood, a material that he respects, highlighting its the natural curves. A founding member of the group “Xing Xing” (Les Etoiles), with Ma Desheng, Ai Weiwei and Li Shuang, he leaves China in 1984 to exile himself in Paris. This expatriation comes along with a sliding of political subjects towards a more personal and more contemplative approach centered on the body, essentially feminine. The wood, the highly alive material, allows him to develop an organic language. Wang Keping does not hesitate to let dry supports selected during several years before sculpturing them. This media and its peculiarities so guide his work which logically favors uncluttered forms and movements. He lives and works in Paris. He admires artists such as Maillol, Brancusi or Zadkine. Starting from 1986, he shows his works at the Zürcher gallery and in 1989 he has a show at the Georges Pompidou Center and the Museum of Modern Art of Taiwan. Wang Keping has been selected by Art+Auction (Artinfo.com) in the Top 50 Next Most Collectible Artists. His work ‘Silence’ has been selected by the CNN as one of the ’10 art works that will change the way you see China’ in 2014. In 2015 Artprice.com published an article about his artworks’ market value entitled ‘Le Cas Wang Keping’ (The Wang Keping Case).