Shen Jingdong 沈敬東 China, b. 1965

Overview
Shen Jingdong 沈敬東

Art not only holds the power to evoke beauty, death or emotion, but is able to tear down the colossal divide which separates God from Man. Through art, boundaries cease existence, and the caste system takes on an alienated role. Shen Jingdong’s paintings do not exalt the celebratory God-like figure of Mao, but ironically achieves predominance through the portrayal of the common PLA soldier. While reality might call for an overt sense of clarity and rigid definitions for society, Art encompasses the prowess of mystique and rebellion, and is thus able to unify society beneath the eccentric scope of one umbrella. In Shen’s world, mankind and human nature takes precedence, while status and power are left in the murky backdrop.

The study of Porcelain was a catalyst for Shen’s entry into the art profession, a prelude to his eventual passion for oil painting; the finding of both self-identity and symbol sparked off a venture into the latter. Symbols are a magnitude of importance in art, especially contemporary and avant-garde art. By portraying the cartoon-infused army protagonist in his works, Shen has tapped into the hearth of his own imagination, and brought to life and detail his own interpretation of the word ‘symbolism’.

 

沈敬東畫筆下卡通化的軍人，有如瓷器質感玩具兵，安靜空泛地反視著觀者，讓觀者去重新思考軍人角色在時空環境變遷之下，在背負社會責任之外還有人性的一面。

 

Works
Biography
Shen Jingdong 沈敬東

Solo Exhibitions：

2010      We Could Be Heroes II, Yan Gallery, 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

 

Work in Public Collections:

2009      Hero, oil painting, 100 x 100cm, Wurth Museum, Spain

2008      Bust of Soldier, Sculpture, Gallery of Henan Province, China

2007      Hero Series, No 12, 200 x 200cm, National Art Museum of China

Hero Series, No. 42. 200 x 200cm, Art Retreat Museum, Singapore

2006      Ceremony of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China, oil painting, 200 x 200cm, Shanghai No. 1 Art Museum

 

 Joint Exhibitions:

2010 “RESHAPING HISTORY Chinart from 2000 to 2009″ China National Convention Center Beijing

2009 Tension at Poles – Invitational Exhibition of Works of Masters from Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu          (Luodai Town, Chengdu, China)
Trust – Exhibition of Contemporary Painting (Star Factory Art Center, Beijing)
Context – Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Painting (Beijing Foundery Museum of Art, China)
Memory of China – Exchange Exhibition of Chinese and Spanish Artists’ Works (Time Space in 798 Factory, Beijing, China)
Strength of Practice, the Third Documenta of Contemporary Chinese Prints (Nanjing Museum, China)
Red Memory (Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China)
China-Korean Exchange Exposition (798 Yan Gallery, Beijing, China)
Invitational Exhibition of Experimental Contemporary Arts (Museum of Contemporary Art, Songzhuang, Beijing, China)
Chengdu Biennale (New International Convention & Exposition Center, Chengdu, China)
Visual Presentation of Identity (Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China)

2008 Multiple Perspectives – Exhibition of 11 Chinese Contemporary Artists’ Works (Beijing You Gallery, Beijing, China)
Assembling under the Five Rings (Legend Hotel, Beijing, China)
Up North – Exhibition of Jiangsu Artists’ Works (Egret Art Center, Beijing, China)
Up North, Down South (Art for All Society, Beijing , China)
Post-Modern Expression of Red Classics (Dong. Coffee. Event in 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China)
Strength of Practice – the Second Documenta of Contemporary Chinese Prints (Nanjing Museum, China)
Drifting – China – Korean Exchange Exposition (Top Gallery, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China)  2007 Body ? Impression – The Human Body in Contemporary Chinese Art (Red Gate Gallery, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China)
Revolution (China Square Gallery, New York, USA)
Tie – Path (You Gallery, Beijing, China)
Progressive Tense (New Millennium Gallery, Beijing, China) 2006 Ash and Red – Contemporary Art Exhibition (Beijing New Art Project, China)          Consumerist Time (Sart Gallery, Beijing, China)
Imagine Gallery Group Exhibition (Beijing Imagine Gallery, China)
Qingzhou International Plastic Arts Exhibition (Museum of Qingzhou, Shandong, China)
Under the Rainbow – Exhibition of Contemporary Asian Art (South Korea)
The Breadth of Painting Determines Attitude, Photography Biennale (Pingyao, China) 2006 China International Gallery Exposition 2006 (Beijing China World Trade Center, China)
You Gallery Group Exhibition in September (You Gallery, Beijing, China) 2005 Exhibition 3N Group Works (Imagine Gallery, Beijing, China)          The Second Dashangzi International Art Festival (798 Art Zone, Beijing, China)
Look Ahead, March On – Exhibition of Four Contemporary Soldiers’ Works (Pickled Art Center, Beijing, China)
String – Exhibition of Works of 5 Visiting Artists at Red Gate Gallery (Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China)
I Love Beijing (Suojia Village International Arts Camp, Beijing, China)
Produce Clouds with One Turn of the Hand and Rain with Another: Contemporary Art Exhibition          (TSI Art Museum, Beijing, China)
Illness – Our Todays Art (Nanjing Art Museum, China) 2004 Art Exhibition to Mark the 30th Anniversary of Jiangsu Art Monthly (Nanjing Museum, China)
Exhibition of Works of William J. Andersen and Shen Jingdong (Pickled Art Center, Beijing, China)
Eight Minus One Contemporary Oil Painting Exhibition (88 Art Document Storehouse, Beijing, China)
UN World Peace Art Exhibition (South Korea)
Angle – Exchange Exhibition of Works of Artists of Three Places           (Red Classic Art Gallery in Nanjing, Andres Gallery in Shanghai, and China Blue Gallery in Beijing)

2003 “Shadow” Art Exhibition (Art Storehouse, Kunming, China)
Measuring Pupil Distance – Video Exhibition (Shenzhen, China)
Are You Familiar with Them? – Modern Oil Painting Exhibition (Nanjing Shenghua Art Center, China)
China Today Art Exhibition (China Millennium Altar, Beijing, China)
Chatting – Chinese and Belgian Artist Exchange Exhibition (European Cultural Exchange Center, Xiamen, China)
Dissimilar Sameness – Chinese and Slovenian Artist Exchange Exhibition (Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, China)

2002 Basking in the Sun (Nanjing, China)
“Open Platform” the Third International Performance Art Festival (Xi’an, China)
Daydream – Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art (Nanjing Museum, China)

2001 China Performance Photography Exhibition (Asian-Pacific Contemporary Art Archives, Italy)
The Second Asian-Pacific International Contemporary Art Biennale (Genoa National Modern Art Gallery, Italy)
China Plan – Circumrotating 360℃ (Haishangshan Art Gallery, Shanghai, China)
“N Roles” Exhibition (Nanjing Navy Commanders’ Academy, Nanjing, China)

2000 “Sea Horizon” Conceptual Photography Exhibition (Xiamen, China)
“Partial Clicking” Conceptual Photography Exhibition (Daguangming Mall, Nanjing, China)
“Ink, Ink, Ink” Art Exhibition (Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China)
Asian International Peace Modern Art Exhibition 2000 (Nanjing Museum, China)
Communication of Intentions – Chinese Conceptual Photography Exhibition (Asian-Pacific Contemporary Art Archive, Italy) 1999 The Third Itinerant Exhibition of “Borderline Vision” (East China Normal University, Shanghai, China)
“A Hundred People, a Hundred Names over a Hundred Years” Exhibition (School of Fine Arts, Nanjing Normal University and Yi Bo Hall in Shanghai)

1997 Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art (Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China)
The Second Itinerant Exhibition of “Borderline Vision” (Contemporary Art Museum, Beijing, China)

1996 The First Itinerant Exhibition of “Borderline Vision” (Jiangsu Gallery, Nanjing, China)

1995 “Period of Time ‘95 – Breaking through” Exhibition (Exhibition Hall of Nanjing Arts Institute, Nanjing, China)
Art Exhibition to Mark the 30th Anniversary of Jiangsu Art Monthly (Nanjing Arts Institute, Nanjing, China)

1994 “New Face” Art Exhibition (Exhibition Hall of Nanjing Arts Institute, Nanjing, China)

 

Events Organized

2009 Let’s Play Together (Beijing, China)

2007 Contemporary Artists’ Studio (Beijing, China)

2005 Cards of a Hundred Artists (Beijing, China)

2003 One Hundred Artists Telling Their Own Stories (Nanjing, China)

2001 Faces of a Hundred Artists, at Orange Gallery, exhibition of conceptual photography (Nanjing, China)

1999 A Hundred People, a Hundred Names over a Hundred Years, (Nanjing, China)

Exhibitions