Foreword

Wu Jian'an is a young man with a long history! Not yet thirty years old, his ability to connect with atavistic ways of thinking is a source of amazement. When I first met him he was still studying under Lu Shengzhong at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing but it was immediately apparent that the medium of paper-cut would undergo extraordinary developments in his hands. One year after he graduated I gave him his first solo exhibition at Chambers Fine Art New York. The delirious series of paper cuts exhibited in Daydreams: Works by Wu Jian'an were created in response to the SARS epidemic that had a profound emotional effect on him. Sheets of paper and scissors proving to be too restrictive for his deepening involvement with Chinese mythology , he turned to the laser cutting of stainless steel for the monumental work Lingchi Chiyou, Kill his Eighty-one Brothers - Our Chinese Civilization was then to Create a Brilliant History of Five Thousand Years. Suspended from the ceiling in Net, the first exhibition at Chambers Fine Art Beijing, this dazzlingly decorative but gory celebration of ancient barbarity was one of the highlights of the exhibition.

For the current exhibition Wu Jian'an has continued his exploration of Chinese mythology and has moved from stainless steel to ox-hide. Working with Wang Tianwen, a master of the disappearing art of making shadow puppets, Wu Jian'an has created three extraordinary works that are unlike anything else being made today. In his long interview with Yan An, Wu Jian' an gives some indication of the range of his interests in ghost stories and tales of fantasy, Chinese and world mythology, (the more fantastic the better), the Dunhuang Grottoes, paper-cuts, shadow puppets and intricate carvings. Unresponsive to classical Chinese art, he likes details piled upon details and intricate decorative effects. There is nothing minimal about his taste! I would guess he prefers Gaudi to Mies van der Rohe.

His residence/studio in Beijing is thoroughly contemporary and, of course, the computer screen occupies a prominent place but his extensive working library and art reference books shows where his heart really lies. Although China is getting ready for the Olympics and the face of Beijing is being transformed in readiness for the opening on August 8, it is reassuring to find that an artist such as Wu jian'an still responds to aspects of Chinese culture that might seem to be on the verge of extinction. His Heaven of Nine Levels and his homages to Xingtian and Chiyiou are masterly visitations from a vivid past that is still with us. Traditional craft is used in the service of an imagination that finds connections between ancient China and the computer-generated fantasies of today.

As always many people have been involved in the lengthy period of preparation required for a project of this complexity. I am particularly grateful to Lu Shengzhong for drawing my attention to his talented and ambitious student Wu Jian'an. I am also deeply indebted to Christina Yu for undertaking the translation of Yan An's fascinating and extensive interview with Wu Jian'an and to John Tancock for his detailed attention to many aspects of the catalogue production. As always, the staff of Chambers Fine Art in New York and Beijing - Leo Xu, Ann Chen and Caitlin Wang - helped in countless ways and I thank them for their ongoing support.

Christophe W.Mao

June, 2008

New York