GUO JIAN: Nothing About Erotic but Playboy @ Rochfort Gallery

Step into a world where propaganda meets performance and seduction meets satire. A magnifying glass examines periods of political upheaval and violence in China’s history.

This breathtaking exhibition transforms the classical elegance of Rochfort Gallery - with its chandeliers, timber floors, and grand white walls - into a provocative stage of surreal, sensual, and subversive imagery.

Guo Jian is a Chinese Australian artist whose work reflects on the influence of China’s political ideology, particularly during the Cultural Revolution. Emerging from the Cynical Realism movement of the 1990s in Beijing, his art explores how propaganda and performance were used to stir patriotism and manipulate emotion. 

Guo Jian’s insights draw from his time as a People’s Liberation Army propaganda painter and his later role as a student protester during the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising.

To view more of Guo Jian’s artwork, understand more about his experiences, and to register for our exhibition, visit the link in our bio or scan the QR code.

NOW SHOWING at Rochfort Gallery
Guo Jian: Nothing About Erotic but Playboy
🗓️ 16 April – 7 June 2025
Curated by: John McDonald

GUO JIAN & GUAN WEI Feature in Exhibition at Gallery Lane Cove

GUO JIAN, The Beauty No.6 [detail], 2024, Inkjet pigment print, Edition of 3, 116 x 83 cm.

Celebrating Lunar New Year 🐍

Guo Jian and Guan Wei are both featured in the beautiful exhibition In the Mood for Love 良宵 at Gallery Lane Cove, guest curated by Abigail Kim and Dr. Yeqin Zuo.

The exhibition reflects the intricate tapestry of both personal and shared narratives that flourish during this festive season—a time for reflection, renewal, and connection.

In the Mood for Love 良宵
📅 Until 11 February
📍 Gallery Lane Cove, 164 Longueville Road, Lane Cove NSW 2066

GUO JIAN & GUAN WEI Feature in Upcoming Panel Discussion at Nation Art School

Tides of Change: In Our Time Artists' Panel Discussion

Join us for an engaging conversation with artists Guan Wei and Guo Jian, both renowned Chinese-born artists living in Australia, as they discuss their significant bodies of work featured in the exhibition "IN OUR TIME."

They'll be joined by Dr. Luise Guest, a writer, curator, and education specialist, and Professor Jing Han, Director of the Institute for Australian and Chinese Arts & Culture at the University of Western Sydney.

Saturday, March 23, 2024

12 - 1 PM

GUO JIAN and GUAN WEI featured in "In Our Time" at the National Art School, Sydney

GUO JIAN and GUAN WEI shine bright in "IN OUR TIME: FOUR DECADES OF ART FROM CHINA AND BEYOND THE GEOFF RABY COLLECTION" at the National Art School in partnership with La Trobe Art Institute. This exhibition is on display until March 30th.

Over a 35-year period beginning in the mid-1980s, Australian economist and diplomat Dr Geoff Raby AO assembled an outstanding art collection of artworks by more than 75 artists working in both China and in Australia, as members of the Chinese diaspora. "In Our Time" presents a selection of works from this special collection, now part of the La Trobe University Art Collection.

Installation view of “IN OUR TIME: FOUR DECADES OF ART FROM CHINA AND BEYOND THE GEOFF RABY COLLECTION"

GUAN WEI and GUO JIAN at BENDIGO ART GALLERY

Guan Wei, Water view no. 15 2011, synthetic polymer paint on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Image courtesy the artist and ARC ONE © the artist. Photo: Jia De

GUAN WEI and GUO JIAN are included in the forthcoming exhibition ‘In Our Time: Four decades of art from China and beyond - the Geoff Raby Collection’ curated by Latrobe Art Institute.

Opening on 20 August, the exhibition features 70 pieces from the collection of Australian economist and diplomat Dr Geoff Raby AO, with works that address a range of themes from urban life, Chinese philosophy and cultural difference to social justice, human rights and nationhood.

GUO JIAN | CYRUS TANG | GUAN WEI | JOHN YOUNG

Not one, but four ARC ONE artists are included in the exhibition Between Two Worlds at Newcastle Art Gallery. GUO JIAN, CYRUS TANG, GUAN WEI & JOHN YOUNG are featured.

Between Two Worlds aims to promote the diversity of works of art being produced by Australian artists of Chinese heritage. The exhibition acknowledges the artists who have lived, worked and are connected to China and Australia through migration, major historical events and Australia’s agricultural and industrial developments.

On the opening Saturday, GUO JIAN will join a panel discussion that introduces the exhibition’s themes, along with curator Catherine Croll and fellow exhibiting artists Rowena Foong & Peter Gardiner.

This talk will run from 2 -3 pm on Saturday 16 November.

More information >

GUO JIAN

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GUO JIAN is the cover artist of the latest edition of Artist Profile magazine.

Artist Profile is presenting a new series of paintings by Guo Jian at Sydney Contemporary. These paintings engage with traditional Song dynasty landscapes to interrogate the relationship between China's 'rubbish culture', the disposability of celebrity and the destruction of minority cultures. Some of these new works are featured in this issue of the magazine alongside a fascinating story about the artist's career to date.

ARC ONE will also be showing some new paintings by Guo Jian in our booth at Sydney Contemporary!

The magazine is on sale now!

GUO JIAN

Guo Jian, The Square, 2014.

Guo Jian, The Square, 2014.

GUO JIAN was detained in China over his controversial model of Tiananmen Square in 2014. The Square saw a diorama mired by war, and covered in raw pork mince; a representation of the sights and smells of Tiananmen. Now in Australia, Guo is remaking the model to mark 30 years since the massacre. It will be exhibited later this year. 

Guo Jian explains that "My art is my power, I can send a message to people through it and I want people to know I will never forget what happened at Tiananmen Square." And further that "Tiananmen has become a symbol of China’s power; no-one can touch it - but I wanted to make the diorama show that it will rot."

Read more about Guo Jian's experiences as a Tiananmen Square protester and his remaking of The Square via the links below.

SBS News Article>

Crikey Article>

GUO JIAN

Guo Jian, 'The Day Before I Went Away', 2004, oil on canvas, 213 x 152 cm

Guo Jian, 'The Day Before I Went Away', 2004, oil on canvas, 213 x 152 cm

On Thursday 2 May at 6pm, GUO JIAN will speak at ACMI on a panel exploring censorship, restrictions, and the creativity that emerges in resistance.

Guo Jian's art practice has been fuelled by his position as a reflective, sharply satirical Chinese expatriate who grew up during the Cultural Revolution and under a deeply communist regime. His early experiences of art were inevitably entwined with communist authority, ideology and militaristic power. Guo Jian's first acquaintance with art was time spent as a propaganda-poster painter for the People’s Liberation Army then later, as an art student in Beijing, he took part in the protests which led to the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. 

Reserve tickets here >

GUO JIAN

Guo Jian, The Beauty No. 1, inkjet pigment print (three panels), 200 x 300 cm.

Guo Jian, The Beauty No. 1, inkjet pigment print (three panels), 200 x 300 cm.

In a new interview with White Rabbit Gallery, GUO JIAN explains his intricate photographic collages that depict serene landscapes, animals, and religious icons based on traditional Chinese paintings. Up close, his images subtly unfold to reveal a sea of montaged clippings the artist has extracted from excessive trash found throughout the streets and land across China.
Guo Jian's work Untitled - Early Spring is currently featured in SUPERNATURAL at White Rabbit Gallery. The exhibition continues until 3 February.

View interview here >

GUO JIAN

GUO JIAN is included in Carnival of the Bold's art exhibition, Chindia, in which six visual artists feature works exploring cultural and national identity, politics, displacement and diaspora histories of those with Chinese and Indian heritage.

The show includes two special events — ‘Chindia: Stories from the Artists’ and ‘Chindia: Short Films from the Diaspora’. 

This free exhibition runs from 15 – 26 February 2018, at Gaffa Gallery, 281 Clarence St Sydney.

More information >

Guo Jian, The Landscape No.3, inkjet pigment print, 5 panels, 2016, 200 x 235 cm (overall). 

Guo Jian, The Landscape No.3, inkjet pigment print, 5 panels, 2016, 200 x 235 cm (overall). 

GUO JIAN

‘I remember the blood stain on my aboriginal T-shirt’: Artist recalls the horror of Tiananmen Square

The Daily Telegraph details GUO JIAN's experiences in China as a pro-democracy demonstrator who survived the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989.

Read the full article and the artist's fascinating history here >

Guo Jian, as a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army in 1980 or 1981.

Guo Jian, as a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army in 1980 or 1981.

GUO JIAN

"Images of landscapes, birds and flowers are peaceful and serene from a distance, but break down upon closer inspection." 

Art Guide Australia feature GUO JIAN's The Encroachment in the January/February 2017 issue. 

To read the full article, click here >

GUO JIAN

Image: Guo Jian with his works installed in Refugees. Photo: Wolter Peeters.

Image: Guo Jian with his works installed in Refugees. Photo: Wolter Peeters.

The Sydney Morning Herald featured an article on GUO JIAN, in relation to the group exhibition Refugees.  The article celebrates Guo Jian’s series Trigger Happy and his inclusion in the politically-charged exhibition at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. 

Read the article here. 

The exhibition continues through 11 September 2016. 

Further press for the exhibition can be read here. 

GUO JIAN & ANNE ZAHALKA

GUO JIAN and ANNE ZAHALKA are exhibiting in the group exhibition, Refugees, curated by Toni Bailey at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. Showcasing the work of over 20 artists from refugee backgrounds, the exhibition aims to humanise the current refugee crisis. 

Opening 29 July 2016. Exhibition continues until 11 September 2016. 

Guo Jian, Trigger happy IX, 1999. oil on canvas, 180 x 200cm.

Guo Jian, Trigger happy IX, 1999. oil on canvas, 180 x 200cm.

GUO JIAN

Guo Jian, Picturesque Scenery 26, 2011-12, inkjet pigment print, 320 x 500 cm (10 panels, each 160 x 96 cm).

Guo Jian, Picturesque Scenery 26, 2011-12, inkjet pigment print, 320 x 500 cm (10 panels, each 160 x 96 cm).

GUO JIAN's work in included in a curated group show titled Heavy Artillery at White Rabbit Gallery from 9 March to 7 August 2016. The exhibition explores acts of defiance in the context of the past three decades of explosive social change in China. 

Here is an interview with GUO JIAN regarding his work, Picturesque Scenery 26, to be featured in the exhibition. 

GUO JIAN

Guo Jian, Untitled, 2007, oil on canvas, 152 x 213 cm

Guo Jian, Untitled, 2007, oil on canvas, 152 x 213 cm

GUO JIAN is currently featured in Artist Profile magazine, discussing the inspiration of his paintings from his time in China’s military. Throughout his life Guo Jian has experienced China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), from being an army propaganda painter, then ten years later, removing bodies from the horrific scene at Tiananmen Square, after forces opened fire on him and his classmates on 4 June 1989. These experiences have provided him with a lifetime of propaganda inspiration that he documents in his paintings. In particular, he discusses the entertainment provided for army troops in ways to rouse them to their cause, including the visits of singers and dancers; with this subject matter highlighted in his paintings.

To read the full article, click here

GUO JIAN

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Many are concerned for the welfare of artist GUO JIAN after hearing news of his recent detainment by the Chinese government due to the anniversary of Tiananmen Square.

We recommend all who are interested to listen to an ABC National Radio interview in which Linda Jaivin expertly discusses the situation.

Download the ABC National Radio segment here

Read an article written by his friend Madeleine O'Dea in The Guardian recently.

Guo Jian also recently appeared on ABC's Q&A - watch the program here

GUO JIAN

Chinese Australian artist GUO JIAN will be appearing on Q&A's debut show in Shanghai on Monday April 7 2014 . The live broadcast will feature a panel including Dr. Geoff Ruby, former Australian Ambassador to China, and will cover a range of current political and cultural relations between the two countries. 

Broadcast: 6:30-8:30 pm Monday April 7 2014 on ABC 1 

More information