Me and my Father
Vigi Wang
In November 2019, my father had just undergone surgery for a perforated colon and narrowly survived. It was the first time I signed a life-threatening notice in the hospital in my hometown. That same month, I started a new job at an art institution.
On January 16, 2020, I bought a ticket to go back home early to take care of my father. I had to transfer trains at Hankou Railway Station during the Spring Festival travel rush and was forced to quarantine at home for 80 days. It was the longest time I had spent with my parents since I became an adult.
Family portrait in 1957: from left to right, the third child Wang Xingmin (Xinming), grandma Zhang Xinyu, eldest brother Wang Xinghuang, grandfather Wang Ronghua, second child Wang Xingqiang (Xinqiang);
On January 3, 2021, my father, struggling with illness, came to Beijing for treatment. The three of us reunited and lived together for four months. I cherished this time of being together with my family. My father was eventually diagnosed with septicemia, and on April 28, with blood pressure of 68/20, he was rushed to the emergency room by ambulance. It was the second time I had signed a life-threatening notice. Relatives from my hometown drove over 1,000 kilometers overnight to take us back. After a long journey, we went straight to the ICU ward in my hometown, and I signed a third life-threatening notice.
On January 19, 2022, my father passed away. I do not remember how many times I traveled between Beijing and my hometown during this period, nor how many times I signed a life-threatening notice.
I hope that things will get better in 2023.
Title: Genealogy Chat
Artist: Vigi Wang
Location: Jingzhou, Hubei
Date: February 8th, 2019
Description: The artist starts from their own family and raises questions about the “missing” genealogy, tracing their roots and ancestry. In 1957, a photo of my father’s three brothers and grandparents was taken in a photo studio in the park, which was the earliest photo of “left-behind children”. Sixty-two years later, during the artist’s return to their hometown for the Chinese New Year, the genealogy that had been interrupted by the previous generation for historical reasons had turned into a blank book. To complete the tradition of compiling family genealogies in prosperous times, three elders were invited to gather together and discuss the family genealogy on the banks of the Yangtze River where they used to live. The family genealogy carries the life history of the family, records the source of the family, the trajectory of migration, and the entire historical and cultural process of family life, reproduction, marriage, culture, ethnic rules, and family rules. Only by understanding history can one know where they come from.
Vigi Wang
Chinese performance artist. She was born in Jingzhou, Hubei in 1982,obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese painting from Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts in 2005, Tsinghua University Academy of Arts and Design Master’s degree in art management, and currently works and lives in Beijing. She engages in both independent creative work and has years of experience in art institution administration. Her artistic practice encompasses multiple mediums, including performance art, video, painting, installations, and ready-mades. She excels at combining theoretical concepts, personal narratives, and her upbringing, expressing them through her unique artistic language and style. While her artistic creations often stem from personal narratives, they resonate with a wide audience. Her works not only focus on personal liberation and redemption but also aim to explore the complex relationship between public responses, fantasies, and reality. As the founder of French phenomenology, Maurice Merleau-Ponty once said, “The body and subject are actually the same reality: the body is both the object of experience, existing and experienced, and the subject that experiences and is conscious.” Through her embodied performances, Wang Hua refutes the dualism that philosophers like Descartes have claimed, which treats the mind and body as separate entities, thus restoring the dignity of the artist and humanity as sentient beings with interconnected thoughts and senses.
The artist believes that life itself is more important, and the experience of life is a form of intellectual perception. Through the conflicts and reconciliations in her years of life and work experiences, she attempts to find a balance between reason and sensibility. She has participated in numerous domestic and international art residencies and engaged in art activities through personal projects and group exhibitions.
Work Experience
Currently serving as the Director of Shanzhongtian Art Center in Beijing 798 Art District and the Exhibition Hall Director and Head of Business Department at Ten P.M. Sleep Enterprise. Responsible for building new art museums and galleries, managing operations and overseeing the initial team formation, as well as maintaining relationships with artists, curators, and the government.
Previously worked as the Beijing Market Manager at Diancang Art Magazine, responsible for market development, promotion, and brand establishment in Beijing. Also served as the Business Development Manager at CHAO Art Center in Sanlitun. Worked as the Contemporary Art Department Manager at Beijing Wuxing Cultural Development Co., Ltd. Held the position of Market Manager at Beijing Yongle International Auction Co., Ltd., the sole authorized market department of Christie’s in Beijing. Responsible for Christie’s international management and auction processes, client service development, market expansion, media relations, and artwork collection. Worked as the Media and PR Manager at Long March Space, responsible for overall gallery image promotion, developing annual PR strategies and budgets, and promoting international and domestic exhibitions of represented artists.
Internationally, worked as an Executive Curator at Grace Exhibition Space in New York and Assistant Director at Eli Klein Gallery in New York. Served as an Executive Curator and Gallery Manager at OPEN Contemporary Art Center/OPEN International Performance Art Festival. Engaged in art brokerage at Wuxi Fengming Trading Co., Ltd. in Taiwan.
Title: I Am at the Baltic Sea
Artist: Vigi Wang
Date: April 2014
Location: Baltic Sea
Materials: Flag, seawater
Process: The artist used seawater from the Baltic Sea to clean a Chinese flag and then raised a glass of the water to the audience in a gesture of respect.
Concept and statement: The artist uses the two most prominent symbols of identity – the body and the flag – to express the ultimate reverence for the sacred and divine. The flag represents power, while the body represents freedom that can be dominated. The artist’s action of lying naked on the flag reflects a desire to transcend institutionalized power mechanisms and promote the beautiful vision of borderless artistic freedom.
我和我的父親
2019年11月我父親剛做完十二脂腸穿孔手術，撿回了一條命，我第一次在老家醫院簽病危通知書，同月我換了一家新的藝術機構工作。
2020年1月16日我買了回家的車票提前回去照顧我爸，在漢口火車站轉車，這次春運被迫在家隔離了80天，這是我成年之後與父母待在一起最久的一次。
2021年1月3日，父親拖著病重的身體來北京治病，我們一家三口團聚在北京一起生活了4個月，我非常珍惜這樣團聚的時刻，父親最後診斷為惡液質，4月28日父親血壓68，20，被120送進了急救室，我第二次簽病危通知書，老家親戚連夜開車1000多公里來北京接我們回去，長途跋涉後直接進了老家的icu病房，第三次簽病危通知書。
2022年1月19日，父親病故，不記得期間多少次穿梭於北京與老家，也不記得簽了多少次病危通知書。
2023年希望越來越好。
A group photo of the three brothers in 2019: from left to right, father Wang Xingmin (Xinming) is 69 years old, uncle Wang Xinghuang is 74 years old, and second uncle Wang Xingqiang (Xinqiang) is 72 years old.
汪樺作品 《都是金钱惹的祸？》2017年8月，北京草场地艾荷华艺术区。
汪樺
中國行為藝術家。1982年生於湖北荊州，2005年獲得西安美院中國畫學士學位，清華大學美術學院藝術管理碩士學位，目前工作和生活在北京。她一邊自由創作，一邊有多年的藝術機構行政工作經歷。她的藝術實踐涵蓋了多重媒介，包括現場行為、錄像、繪畫、裝置以及現成品等。她擅長將理論概念、私人敘事和成長背景三者相結合，並以其獨特的藝術語言和表現方式進行美學化表達。藝術家創作通常以私人敘事出發，卻能以引起大眾廣泛共鳴結束。她的作品不僅聚焦自我解脫和自我救贖，更試圖探討公眾在當下反應、幻想和現實之間來回穿梭辯證的複雜關係。正如法國知覺現象學創始人梅洛·龐蒂所言：“身體和主體其實是同一個實在，身體既是存在著，被經驗著的客體現象，又是經驗著，意識著的主體。”汪華用身心合一的行為表演，親身駁斥瞭如笛卡兒等所宣稱的將精神和肉體視作平行關係的二元論，還原了藝術家甚至人類作為具有思想性的心眼相通的靈長生物的尊嚴。
藝術家認為生活本身更重要，生活的體驗是一種智性的感知，多年的生活工作經歷中的衝突和磨合，試圖在理性和感性中找到一種平衡，多次參加國內外藝術駐留，以個人項目、群展的形式參與藝術活動。
汪樺作品 《诞生了Kalinka》2018年10月，60分钟，先生的药房。
⼯作經歷
目前擔任北京798藝術區山中天藝術中心&十點睡覺大企業展覽展廳部總監 & 商務部負責人。搭建新的美術館和畫廊，負責企業的管理運營及團隊初期組建，維護藝術家和策展人及政府關係。
曾擔任典藏藝術雜誌北京市場部經理，負責北京市場開發和推廣，品牌建立；三里屯CHAO藝術中心 商務拓展經理；北京午行文化發展有限公司 當代藝術部經理；佳士得拍賣公司唯一授權北京永樂國際拍賣有限公司市場部經理，負責佳士得國際管理運營及拍賣流程、客服開發、市場拓展、媒體公關、作品徵集; 長征空間公關媒體經理:負責畫廊整體形象推廣、制定全年公關策略和預算、推廣代理藝術家國際國內展覽推廣工作。美國紐約Grace Exhibition Space執行策展人；美國紐約藝萊畫廊總監助理； OPEN當代藝術中心/OPEN 國際行為藝術節執行策展人&畫廊經理；無錫豐明貿易有限公司(台灣)藝術品經紀。
作品名：許村後土廟
時間：2019年
汪樺作品
地點：鄉情後土第五屆許村國際藝術節
材料：視頻裝置3分36秒、油畫《鸛 聚》
作品介紹：藝術家收集了村民家裏廢舊的老門窗，舊門窗見證了一代人的生活痕跡，試圖重構過往的生活經歷，刺激個人和集體對過往意識的思考。無論是人與人之間的關係，還是人與社會歷史，這些都是根植與鄉土關係，生活在大地上的人們始終以自己的方式表達著對土地的熱愛和敬畏。
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