Sun Tzu’s Art of War

Wei Guangqing
2024 TBA

The Art of War, an ancient military treatise composed of thirteen chapters, is traditionally attributed to the military strategist Sun Wu, and dated to the Late Spring and Autumn Period (771 – 476 BCE). While in antiquity, the text served as a primer for inspiring soldiers, it has expanded its influence into politics, economics, and commerce in modern times.

Wei Guangqing drew inspiration from Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644) woodblock illustrations of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, in which thirteen chapters and two additional portraits of Sun Wu and his disciple Sun Bin comprise a total of fifteen images. Wei highlights characters in bright colors, representative of his iconic Cultural Pop style, while juxtaposing the illustration against a dull grey chessboard background, in which the arrangements of the game pieces all result in a draw. Wei attracts further visual interest by applying varying thickness of paint on different color planes, creating an intricate relief effect.

Wei Guangqing’s Cultural Pop reexamines a classical text and reinterprets the value of traditional culture in a contemporary setting. In Wei’s Art of War, the composition is intelligently planned out and painting meticulously executed, in the fashion of a military exercise or a skillful game of chess. Ultimately, the viewer is invited to reflect on the ancient wisdom of the legendary Sun Tzu and find resonance in the strategy of their modern lives.

Wei Guangqing, The Art of War, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas, 80 x 80 cm x 16 © Wei Guangqing