Forum > Wu Enqi - born 1953

Wu Enqi I

Chinese Woodblock Prints
Wu Enqi at work
copyright Wu Enqi

Wu Enqi traces the line of his ancestors back to a brother of Genghis Khan, who was famous for his braveness. The artist Wu Enqi acquires fame of a different kind - as an outstanding printmaker in China and Mongolia. The subjects of Wu Enqi's prints are rooted in the history and the way of life of the Mongol nomads.

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Biography of Wu Enqi

Wu Enqi was born in 1953 and is of Mongolian nationality. He graduated from Normal School of Zelimumeng. Afterwards he went to Beijing for his postgraduated studies at the Printmaking Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Today the Wu Enqi is a well-respected and honored artist in the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia (China) and in the Republic of Mongolia. He holds a post as fine arts editor for the Zelimu newspaper and has different memberships and posts in art associations:

• Member of China Artists Association.
• Member of China Printmakers Association.
• President of Zelimumeng Artists' Association.
• Vice president of the Inner Mongolia Printmakers' Association.
• President of Tongliao city's Artists' Association.

Wu Enqi is married to Shan Dan, a successful printmaker herself. The couple lives in Tongliao, a small city in the "Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia" in Northeastern China.

Woodblock Prints by Wu Enqi

Wu Enqi II

Shan Dan - Biography
After the Rain, 2004
copyright Wu Enqi

Wu Enqi uses the technique of woodblocks, mostly in the form of reduction woodblock prints. For this technique, the artist does not carve one separate block for each color. Instead, the designs for all colors are carved on the same woodblock - one by one. The artist begins to carve the design for the first color into the block and then prints the number of copies planned for the total edition. Next he carves the second color onto the same block, and so on. None of the previous steps can be repeated, and at the end the woodblock has been destroyed by the printmaking process itself.

This technique requires very careful planning by the artist, but also facilitates the precise aligning of the different impressions to one harmonious final design. For collectors this technique has a tremendous advantage: You can be assured that no further copies beyond the original edition can be pulled.

Editions and Subjects

Wu Enqi III

Mongolian Printmakers
Blue Homeland, 2003
copyright Wu Enqi

The artist's edition sizes are below 20, usually he chooses the magic number 12. For an explanation why one encounters frequently such small editions with Chinese printmakers, see what we wrote in an article about the Korean-Chinese artist Huang Taihua.

The prints that we have seen by Wu Enqi so far, cover the years from 1985 until 2004. The artist shows a continuous development without any major breaks or changes in style and subject. The subjects are taken from his Mongolian homeland - epic landscapes and scenes from the life of the nomads.

When you look at these images, you have the impression that little has changed in the way of life of these nomads - the small horses, the tents, the cattle, the sports (wrestling, archery, polo) and over all the vastness of an untamed landscape.

Awards for Wu Enqi

• 1999 - Wu Enqi received the "Luxun Print Prize" and was honored as an "Outstanding Chinese Printmaker".
• 2000 - Works by the artist were selected for the exhibition of "100 Years of Chinese Prints".
• 2003 - "Outstanding Prize" of the Chinese "Golden Colors" Fine Arts Exhibition.
• 2003 - "Stars Prize" of the 12th National Fine Arts Exhibition in China.
• 2003 - Wu Enqi won the "Sarina Prize", awarded by the Inner Mongolia government.

Artworks by Wu Enqi were chosen to be shown at the 6th National Fine Arts Exhibition (China) and the 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th National Print Exhibitions (China) and won the outstanding prize of the National Print Exhibition, the Prize of "Print World" by People's Fine Arts magazine and the second prize of National Minorities Fine Arts Exhibition.

Dieter Wanczura
(January 2005, updated October 2009)

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