Wang Guiquan is famous now … just two days ago, a Google search had nothing on her. Today, there are reports, blogs, articles and discussions on the Internet, from China and Japan to India, Germany and elsewhere.
He did his thing and that generated controversy and now he has a recognized presence in the art world.
I remember a little incident that happened when I was still in college. One of the students wrote an article on the prevalence of homosexuality in the university hostel. The university is and was one of the most reputable institutions in India and the article was published in a magazine that was quite well known and popular with the young audience that read English, especially the students.
In the article, the young man alleged that there was rampant homosexuality within the university hostel and the brave young man who spoke with a lisp and in a manner well below university standards made instant enemies. He had a harrowing time over the next few days and faced a lot of anger from the students and the university management. However, the anger cooled off soon enough. More importantly, he was noticed by the publishing world and although his English was just average, if not worse, he soon contributed articles to some well-known publications.
Today, he is a senior journalist working with a reputable publication. No doubt his English has improved considerably since those stormy days and he has learned a lot about his trade. And he’s famous … well, famous enough!
So Wang Guiquan with his daring expression and a score of photographs of his nudes and close-ups of his genitals in ‘Experimental Space’, an exhibition in Nanjing has already attracted a lot of attention and notoriety, if you will. He has surely also earned many enemies and critics, but he has fired what could be the biggest salvo of his fledgling career.
There is no tonic like sex and controversy to give an artist career a heady boost.
Wang Guiquan, deserves the support and encouragement of all those who believe in art because, in the art world, an artist has just been born.