Wang Yanxin

Born in Lanzhou, Gansu Province in 1988, Wang Yanxin lives and works in Chengdu and Mianyang. He is currently Associate Professor at Sichuan University of Culture and Arts. Wang  graduated from the New Media Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2013. Since 2012, he has been creating multi-media works in the form of performance art.

In recent years, Wang Yanxin has held solo exhibitions and conducted personal projects at the Himalayas Art Museum (Shanghai), Black Box Art Museum (Qidao), Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum (Chengdu), Augui Caifang Warehouse (Auguan) and other places, also participateding in Waikato Art Gallery (New Zealand), Adelaide Arts Center (Australia), Old Slovak Tank Depot (Slovakia), Budapest Gallery (Hungary), Tokyo NIPAF Space (Japan), Fukushima Art Project (Japan), Bangkok BACC Art Center (Thailand), Chengdu Tianfu Art Museum (Chengdu), Lux Lake·A4 Art Museum (Chengdu), Lushan Art Museum (Chengdu), Guanghui Art Museum (Chengdu), Blue Roof Art Museum (Chengdu), the original .Art Museum (Chongqing), Xinghui Contemporary Art Museum (Chongqing), Chinese Contemporary Art Museum (Chongqing), Tainan Art Space (Taiwan), JCCAC Art Center (Hong Kong), Macao Art Center (Macao) and other institutions.

Wang Yanxin won first prize at the 9th New Star Art Award (2019), the SAYA Elite International Young Artist of the Year Special Award (2017), and other awards.

Golden Door

Wang YanxinPerformance Video, Narrative Edits, 

Color, Sound,13′ 47″, 2021.

Golden Door

Piece Description

Text: Sofie Su

Golden Door was created during Wang Yanxin’s artist residency project in Lashi Lake, Yunnan in 2021. In the sparse light of the night stars, amidst the chirping of insects and the barking of dogs in the countryside, he walks with an old courtyard door on his back.

As the dawn approaches, he slowly makes his way to the lakeside and coats the gate with golden lacquer, symbolizing the transition from darkness to light. 

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” (Oscar Wilde) 

By integrating his body into the space formed by cultural, geographical, and temporal factors, the artist employs the chosen landscapes, weather, and lighting as his props to express the hidden connections between places and people in the environment. 

He confronts the environment with his body, engaging in ascetic-like actions which further into the wetlands, embracing the first light of dawn with vigor.

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