This post will begin with a bold statement but easily confirmed by the artist’s work:
Wu Junyoung is most likely to be the most important artist in China today.
Born in 1978, Fujian Province, Wu Junyong studied at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. He is one of the young chinese artists like Xu Zhen, Li Jikai, Yang Yong, Wang Guangle, Chen Ke, Li Hui and Wei Jia that are breaking new grounds not only in China, but all over the world.
This new generation of artists (and there are a few more to mention) are developing such a fresh, unique and so consistent work that it’s a pleasure and a duty to present them to the you.
The work of Wu Junyong is not only about social criticism, the sexed vision of our lives, the Kafkian atmosphere of reality. It’s about all that and much more.
Wu Junyong animations are aesthetically brilliant. He chooses the forms and the colour patterns in a perfect way that will leave you amazed.
The characters forms and functions are intentionally created to give truthness about the reflexions we all have about society and mankind.
They may be absurdly strange but easily related to the American, European and Japanese contemporary cartoons. Still, they manage to be simpler and more appealling. Also, the themes (Like in the Opera trilogy) may denote some folk environment and that results in a clear and honest message to us all.
The work of Wu Junyong is universal and for that matter it is important for a global audience.
And one thing I find truly intelligent and audacious is the fact that he chose a media format that’s easily accecible and familiar to the masses: Animation.
Maybe the secret of Wu Junyong’s fantastic work lies on the fact that he tells us what we know but are afraid to talk about. And he’s argument is so strong that we are not able to resist.
The most commented work of Wu Junyong to date is ‘Wait Us Rich’. It’s as satyrical as funny, what make it so interesting to watch. It’s about the nouveaux riche movement that is growing and can be easily detected on chinese society nowadays. Still, this wild capitalism rush that is making new rich people across China is the same one you can find in any part of the world. And the human response to it is universal.
Wu Junyong catches it in a cool and bold way.
Time as come for China rulers to understand that values like Wu Junyong are a true blessing to China and to the whole world. As much provocative that one can be, the freedom of artistic expression must never be touched. The world will not become a worse place to live if we all have different opinions. History tells us that darkness falls upon us when people tend to think alike.
So I’m thankfull for Wu Junyong’s work and hope that it can bring new perspectives to a larger audience.
Smalltok.com