Coffin Paint 240718 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, Coffin Paint 240718, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 200 cm × 200 cm (78-3/4" × 78-3/4") © Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle

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b. 1976, Fujian, China

Wang Guangle is recognized as a pioneer of conceptual and abstract painting in China.

He has garnered attention and critical praise for his large-scale, process-based paintings, which constellate ancient and everyday rituals, temporality, and repetition through a distinct approach to material accumulation.

Afternoon 3-5 pm No. 4 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, Afternoon 3-5 pm No. 4, 2000, oil on canvas, 170 x 130 cm © Wang Guangle

Wang began painting in primary school, initially inspired by traditional Chinese ink painting. At 16, he moved to Beijing and enrolled at the Central Academy of Fine Arts High School (1992–96), before continuing his oil painting studies at the Academy under the tutelage of painter Liu Xiaodong. When he graduated in 2000, Wang was awarded the Director’s Prize for his much-contested thesis work, 3 to 5 p.m. (2000), a five-part painting depicting the passage of time through a sliver of light crossing the floor of an otherwise empty and darkened classroom. This subject matter—light, environment, and the passage of time—as well as an exquisite sensitivity to material and surface would persist and transform as a leitmotif in his ensuing work.

Video still of Wang Guangle painting his work Terrazzo

Still from Terrazzo, a performance installation by Wang Guangle, Beijing, 2009.

Shortly after graduating from the Academy, Wang participated in his first group exhibition, The Second Factory Time, at Yunfeng Gallery in Beijing in 2000. Two years later, he began the Terrazzo paintings, a series characterized by flattened depictions of the textured floors omnipresent in post-Socialist Chinese architecture. During this time, his focus gravitated toward the process of painting, stripping away ostensible narratives to manifest time through the accumulation of paint from repetitive gestures. In 2003, Wang co-founded N12, a collective of twelve graduates from the Academy focused on sustained conversations and collaborative projects, both as a means of securing exhibition space and, more importantly, exploring their shared interest in new and diverse approaches to painting and artmaking beyond academic standards and paths.

Seeking vernacular sources of inspiration in his hometown, Wang expanded upon the theme of repetition in his acclaimed Coffin Paint series, which began in 2004. As a meditative, symbolic action of acceptance and preparation, it is customary for the elderly in the Fujian Province to acquire a coffin and paint it with red lacquer, applying a coat of “longevity paint” each year on the same date until they pass away. This idea of ritualistic accumulation became the impetus for the Coffin Paint series, in which Wang methodically superimposed layers of acrylic paint onto the canvas, resulting in heavily built-up surfaces that take on illusionistic depth and tonal variations. Emphasizing a conceptual approach, the resulting compositions are characterized by two common formats: a dense stratified surface of horizontal lines rolling off the edges of the canvas in a curtain of drips, and large-scale rectangular fields of subtle gradient color. Wang debuted his Coffin Paint series at Aye Gallery, Beijing, in 2007.

Coffin Paint 151025 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, Coffin Paint 151025, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 45-11/16" × 45" × 4-1/2" (116 cm × 114.3 cm × 11.4 cm) © Wang Guangle

160123 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, 160123, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 280 cm × 180 cm × 5 cm (9' 2-1/4" × 70-7/8" × 1-15/16") © Wang Guangle

In 2015, Wang began his Untitled series as a continuation of the creative principles developed through the Terrazzo and Coffin Paint series: repetition, time, and process. With Untitled, Wang carefully selected sets of colors and layered them narrowly from both edges of the canvas towards the center, emphasizing the texture and transformation of volume and hues. Wang also began to orient his canvases vertically when applying paint, allowing gravity to dictate buildup towards the bottom. Works in this series are subtitled with their time of completion, and their large scale fosters the sensorial experience of time as both condensed and eternal.

Beyond the canvas, Wang often expands his painterly vocabulary through experiments with space, materiality, and community. In the summer of 2004, he spent a month creating a terrazzo mural measuring nine by six meters, using ink and watercolor, across an entire wall in his soon-to-be demolished studio. In his Phosphorus series (2007–), Wang paints canvases with red phosphor, tracking each gestural mark left by studio visitors as they strike matches across its surface in repeated attempts to ignite. In 2023, Wang was commissioned by Gallery Weekend Beijing to create White Box (2023), an interactive outdoor sculpture. The title refers to the prototypical gallery space, with the maze-like structure allowing visitors to meander through its winding path. With walls measuring 1.5 meters in height, visitors remain visible from the outside, becoming a kinetic and integral part of the work. The participatory aspect of the sculpture resonated deeply with theater director Chen Zihao, who later adopted Wang’s work as a centerpiece for his 2024 theatrical production, 500 Miles. Wang considers his sculpture “a flawed stage–a cube with cracks that are then filled with the performers’ bodies.”

White Box by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, White Box, commissioned by Gallery Week Beijing, 798 Art District, 2023.

Wang has been the subject of several solo exhibitions at venues including Beijing Commune (2009, 2011, 2015, and 2021), Pace Gallery, New York (2012, 2014 and 2019); Pace Gallery, London (2016 and 2022); Pace Gallery, Seoul (2024), and Fosun Art Center, Shanghai (2025). Since 2000, his work has been featured in over ninety group exhibitions at institutions including the Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany (2008); Prague Biennale (2009); Busan Biennale, South Korea (2010); Today Art Museum, Beijing (2012); UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013); Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California (2013); Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (2015); Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia (2017); Hermitage Museum & Gardens, Norfolk, Virginia (2019); Shenzhen MoCAPE, China (2021); Long Museum, Shanghai (2020, 2023); Hill Art Foundation, New York (2024); Longlati Foundation, Shanghai (2024); and Art Field Nanhai 2024, Foshan, China (2024–25).

Wang’s work is held in numerous collections worldwide, including the Burger Collection, Hong Kong; CAFA Art Museum, Beijing; He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China; Long Museum, Shanghai; M+, Hong Kong; M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong; Rubell Museum, Miami; Sammlung Goetz, Munich; Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum; Taikang Art Museum, Beijing; TANK Shanghai; White Rabbit Gallery, Chippendale, Australia; and Yuz Museum Shanghai, among others.

Wang has been represented by Pace since 2014.

Terrazzo 201207 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, Terrazzo 201207, 2012, oil on canvas, 180 cm x 150 cm (70-7/8" x 59-1/16") © Wang Guangle

Terrazzo 201408 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, Terrazzo 201408, 2014, oil on canvas, 71-5/8" x 55-3/4" (181.9 cm x 141.6 cm) © Wang Guangle

180917 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, 180917, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 230 cm × 160 cm (90-9/16" × 63") © Wang Guangle

Coffin Paint 231019 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, Coffin Paint 231019, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 114 cm × 146 cm (44-7/8" × 57-1/2") © Wang Guangle

220123 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, 220123, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 63" × 55-1/8" (160 cm × 140 cm) © Wang Guangle

Untitled 240717 by Wang Guangle

Wang Guangle, Untitled 240717, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 230 cm × 160 cm (90-9/16" × 63") © Wang Guangle

White Box by Wang Guangle

Still from 500 Miles, a theater production by Chen Zihao with stage design by Wang Guangle, Drumtower West Theater, Beijing, 2024.