Wenda Gu, a Red Guard who painted revolutionary posters during the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976) and a leader in the art revolution, graduated from the Shanghai School of Arts in 1976. He received his Master's from the China Academy of Art under the classical landscape painting master, Lu Yanshao, in 1981, taught at his alma mater for six consecutive years, then left for USA in 1987. He was associate professor of studio art at the university of Minnesota from 1989 to 1990. Since then he has been invited as a guest lecturer and artist at numerous universities and art academies in the world, and as a member of the Jury for art competitions.

Living abroad has not faded his cultural background and Gu continues to use and rework traditional Chinese media like calligraphy, ink painting and carving to take on issues of actual urgency in our time.

In 1993 Gu started his global art project titled 'United Nations'. Under this project, Gu created 20 site specific works, mostly monumental installations- featured by hair - collected all over the world, bringing together the DNA of people belonging to various races, ethnic groups, religions and class—, and seal script as a fake language to visualize the fallacy of exclusivism.

Unlike the UN, which focuses on political and social alliances among countries, Gu's project is about multiculturalism based on the spiritual exploration of a country's social and cultural history and identity.

Conceived to be executed during fifteen years, Gu has made site specific works throughout five continents, selected for their historical, cultural and political significance. By utilizing the real hair of the local living population, he relates to their historical and cultural contexts, thus capturing each country's identity. The grand finale (probably in 2005) will be a giant wall composed pure human hair from the national monuments he made throughout the world. As he realizes that the unification of mankind will probably remain utopia in our reality, Wenda Gu is posed to prove it can be fully realized in the world of art.

The installation in this CP Open Biennale is the 21st installation and titled "united nations - metamorphosis”. Inspired by Chinese migration, probably the largest in the world, it actually symbolizes migration world wide, including migration within Indonesia. Thousand meter long thin Chinese hair braid divided into 191 equal length hair braid (191 is the total number of world's countries). These are linked with 191stamps carrying country names in backward order to symbolize the unity of mankind.

To emphasize human hair as a cultural legacy of contemporary significance, Gu also makes ink of hair powder, which he uses for his ink paintings and calligraphy.

Carla Bianpoen

Born on 1955 in Shanghai, China.
Studied at Shanghai School of Arts (BFA; 1976), China Academy of Arts (MFA; 1981).

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1998 United Nations-Canada monument : The Metamorphosis, site-specific installation for Morris & Helen Belkin Gallery, the University of British Columbia United Nations-China monument : Temple of Heaven, a site-specific installation for the Asia Society for Inside Out, ps1 Contemporary Art Center, New York City, USA.
1999 United Nations : The Bable of the Millenium, a site-specific installation for San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; United Nations : The Wall of The Millenium Script, an installation, Taiwan Museum of Art.
2000 United Nations : Great Wall of the Millenium, a site-specific installation for the Art Gallery of New York State University at Buffalo; United Nations : Man & Space, a site-specific installation for 3rd Kwangju Biennale, South Korea and Shisado Company, Japan; United Nations : Temple Exoticisms, a site-specific installation for 5th Lyon Biennial, Lyon, France.
2001 United Nations-Australia monument : 'epnagcliifsihc', a site-specific installation for the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
2002 United 7561 kilometers, a site-specific installation, the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

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