by Henri-François Debailleux
Wang Keping in his studio in the Vendée, 2021. © Aline Wang, Wang Keping Studio
In September 2020, between the first and second lockdown in France, Wang Keping unveiled an immense, 4.2-meter-high (13.78 feet) work at the Domaine des Étangs in Massignac, Charente, where it was made a permanent feature of its Outdoor Art Trail a month ago. He carved it from an American red oak near the end of its life, located on the grounds, reflecting the immense respect he has always had towards nature. Born near Beijing in 1949, Wang Keping had already installed monumental pieces outdoors, notably in 1999 for “Les Champs de la Sculpture” on the Champs-Élysées in Paris and in 2016 at the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire. But Massignac was the first time he created a commissioned work and chose a tree onsite instead of from a sawmill. This was almost paradoxical for an artist who has always worked in a studio. Now he has two: one in the Paris suburb of Vitry-sur-Seine, the other in the Vendée on the Atlantic coast.
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