From Dunhuang to Suoyang, from Kizil to Bezeklik, Xian Guan was a journey made between four Buddhist cave painting sites on the ancient Chinese Silk Road. It is through the wildness of the North West that the sublime register of history can be felt. Art is, in a way, the presentation of history as a material to the present. Within these immense natural sceneries, I observed the geo-political uncertainties caused by racial, historical and economic pressures. From the Buddhist site in Dunhuang (partly demolished during the Cultural Revolution) to the current conflict areas near Kizil, history confronts the contemporary in Xian Guan.
Born in Beijing, Wang Juyan 王居延 is an image artist currently based in London. Wang earned his BA in London College of Communication and has exhibited widely between China and Europe, including Foam Museum (Amsterdam), Beaconsfield Gallery (London), Base Milano (Milan), Singapore International Photography Festival (Singapore) etc. and was selected as Foam Talent in 2017. The unique visual language of Wang’s work heightens the ambiguities and the historical sublime in his large-scale landscape.
