Overview
The works by Chen Lingyang, which have been selected for this Sharjah Biennial, were produced during the last three years. They relate to the concepts of time, place, and the physical and mental nature of human beings. Following her graduation from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1999 Chen Lingyang started to experience a period of complete withdrawal. During a period of several months Chen Lingyang would spend many days sitting alone in her room, and became totally detached from public life. At the same time she also became very conscious of her own body/self, and in particular the physical and mental discomfort of her own monthly cycle. Suddenly she became aware of her own relation to the different patterns of nature, including the cycle of the moon, the sun, and the slow growth of plants and trees, as well as the constant changes of seasons. From these experiences, Chen Lingyang started to produce her first major series of works, including the photograph series" Twelve Flower Months" (1999-2000). In 1995, Chen Lingyang moved to live and study in Beijing and graduated in 1999 from the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Despite her young age and working as a female artist amidst many male colleagu@s, Chen Lingyang has become a prominent member in the Chinese contemporary art scene. Already during her time as a student, Chen Lingyang featured in an important underground exhibition in Beijing: Post-Sense Sensibility: Alien Bodies and Delusion. This exhibition was held in January and organised by the Chinese artist Qiu Zhijie and the Chinese video art curator Wu Meichun. Starting in 2000, Chen Lingyang's works further received growing international attention, and since then she has featured in several important group exhibitions abroad. Including the Documentation of Chinese Avant-Garde Art in 90s exhibition at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan (2000), and at the exhibition CROSS-PRESSURES: Contemporary photography and video from Beijing, which was held at the Oulu Art Museum and Oulu, Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki, Finland (2001). More recently Chen Lingyang featured in the first Guangzhou Triennial, which was curated by Wu Hung and opened on 17 November 2002 at the new Guandong Province Museum of Art.
