Pang Yongjie Hong Merchant

Biography
Main Exhibitions
Artwork

Biography

In his early work, Pang Yongjie found in the folk maternal art a constant source of inspiration and by using strong forms, colors, volumes and lines he wished to express through half true to nature shaped women - with generous breast and hips, bright lips on a round face, fleshy curves, reminding of the famous Tang beauties - a cheerful visual appreciative experience, a "feast of vision". As his art evolves from folk decorative art combined with visional study of color in the modern western world, the structure of his paintings reveals a continuous refinement, using simple lines and forms to express the complex relation between the space and the object - continuity between flat and cubism, lines and color blocks. The difference of perspective brought a different attitude toward the observation of the object and the folk factor gradually disappeared. The different thinking on maternal figure lead Pang's painting aesthetic into more free and subjective shapes. Here the object does not always appear entirely, however the integrity of the object is much more visible. Accordingly the unique position of each character got special meanings in the arrangement of the complex space layers and reveal Pang's sincerity inclination of his heart toward an expression of amorous feeling and sensual pleasure. Pang's stainless steel women with a bulgy metal feeling display the visual power of lines while exploring the tensional effect of the volume keeping the intimacy and interaction with their surroundings.

The sculpture Pang currently constructs, widely to be perceived as a woman, is actually a gender neutral person proclaims Pang. “Many people believe the image is a woman, however, that is not a woman but a neutral, a broader concept or only a self-portrait that is something private,” said Pang in an interview. Pang also says that as this figure went from resembling a woman to looking like an “animal” – Pang says that he designed to look exactly how he felt it should and then would revisit it possible months later to see if it still reflected the way he felt, if it did he would produce, if not he would start over. Pang uses his inspiration from within and his Chinese upbringing shows that. He has used the same basic shapes to depict a variety of emotions, which are brought out both by the artist and the observer. Your mood changes from sculpture to sculpture and your emotions are twisted around each time you go to revisit a piece. Looking at Pang’s work is a journey through a mans vision of all men, women, and animals.