Carte Blanche

The 16th contemporary carte blanche of the National Museum of Asian Arts – Guimet has entrusted the Chinese artist Wang Keping with an exhibition of 21 sculptures in wood or bronze which establishes a dialogue with the works of the museum.

For the MNAAG, Wang Keping chose, for the first time, to work on an exotic essence. The density and size of the mahogany challenged him to invent a new way of listening and new gestures. Wang Keping works with patience to free forms and sublimates them. He seeks in this new wooden flesh to be even simpler, more essential: two curves suggest breasts, and a delicate neck is revealed on the side to suggest femininity. Like the calligrapher he was, he establishes a subtle dialogue between volume and line, emptiness and fullness. The work on the patina has also been adjusted: once calcined and then given a patina by the black of the coal, the raw pale pink material reveals dark reds and transmutes the grain of the wood. The final polishing allows the work to capture the light, “as if the wood has become jade or bronze”.

Wang Keping’s works are presented in the rotunda on the 4th floor, in the Chinese archeology room on the 1st floor, and on the so-called “bird” landing, in dialogue with the museum’s collections. The artist, internationally recognized for his unique sculptural language, offers the visitor his vision of harmony with nature while respecting Taoist philosophy, showing works of universal character: women and birds express in turn sensuality, eroticism, fertility, masculine and feminine.

Commissioners
Yannick Lintz, General Heritage Curator, General Commissioner
Aline Wang, studio manager of Wang Keping
Claire Bettinelli, Production Manager for Contemporary Exhibitions and Collections