Early abstraction in China 1978-1992
Wednesday January 28th 2015, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Exhibition runs until Saturday Feb 28th
Ding Yi, Huang Rui, Cai Jin, Li Shan, Liu Ming, Wang Peng, Yu Youhan, Zhang Wei,
Zhang Zhenyu, Yamada Masaaki, Ha Chong-Hyun, Yun Hyong-keun, Lee Ufan
Exhibition runs until Saturday Feb 28th
Ding Yi, Huang Rui, Cai Jin, Li Shan, Liu Ming, Wang Peng, Yu Youhan, Zhang Wei,
Zhang Zhenyu, Yamada Masaaki, Ha Chong-Hyun, Yun Hyong-keun, Lee Ufan
(Left) Yu Youhan, Circle 86- 14, 1986, Oil on hard paper mounted on canvas, 79 x 109 cm
(Right) Yu Youhan, Circle 86-20, 1986, Oil on hard paper mounted on canvas, 79 x 108 cm
(Right) Yu Youhan, Circle 86-20, 1986, Oil on hard paper mounted on canvas, 79 x 108 cm
There is a fascinating movement of abstraction that developed in North Asia in the last quarter of the 20th century.
This movement which appeared in China shortly after the death of MaoZedong around 1978, in parallel with the Gutai(具体) and the Mono-Ha (もの派)
movements in Japan and the Dansaekhwa (단색화, Korean Monochrome minimalism) in Korea, is imbued with Asian culture and spirituality.
It tells a story distinct from the two waves of Western abstraction: the first one at the beginning of that century in various cities in Europe (Moscow, Paris, Munich) starting in 1911 with Kandinsky, Kupka, Delaunay, and later Malevitch and Mondrian; and the second wave after world war II which appeared at the same time circa 1950 in New York with Abstract Expressionism (Pollock, de Kooning, Kline, Rothko) and in Paris with Lyrical Abstraction (Soulages, Poliakof, Hartung, Riopelle, Da Silva, Zao Wu Ki and Chu Teh Chun).
This movement of abstraction that developed in North Asia (China, Japan, Korea) in its last 25 years can possibly constitute a third wave of abstraction for the 20th century, and one with a distinct Asian specificity.
This movement which appeared in China shortly after the death of MaoZedong around 1978, in parallel with the Gutai(具体) and the Mono-Ha (もの派)
movements in Japan and the Dansaekhwa (단색화, Korean Monochrome minimalism) in Korea, is imbued with Asian culture and spirituality.
It tells a story distinct from the two waves of Western abstraction: the first one at the beginning of that century in various cities in Europe (Moscow, Paris, Munich) starting in 1911 with Kandinsky, Kupka, Delaunay, and later Malevitch and Mondrian; and the second wave after world war II which appeared at the same time circa 1950 in New York with Abstract Expressionism (Pollock, de Kooning, Kline, Rothko) and in Paris with Lyrical Abstraction (Soulages, Poliakof, Hartung, Riopelle, Da Silva, Zao Wu Ki and Chu Teh Chun).
This movement of abstraction that developed in North Asia (China, Japan, Korea) in its last 25 years can possibly constitute a third wave of abstraction for the 20th century, and one with a distinct Asian specificity.
An early abstract painting by Zhang Wei in the exhibition is dated 1978 but it was probably during the first exhibition of “the Stars Group (星星畫會) “ in 1979 in
Beijing that the first abstract painting was shown publicly. The painting entitled “Infinite Space ” by Huang Rui was hang on the gates of the park facing the China Art Gallery (now the National Art Museum of China) and is part of the present exhibition as well as other early works by Huang Rui.
In Shanghai, an early movement of abstraction developed around Yu Youhan whose first abstract paintings seem to date from 1981. These abstract paintings
made their first public appearance in Shanghai in 1983 at the 83’Experimental Painting Exhibition (階段實驗繪畫展) and also in 1985 at the Exhibition of Six
Modernists (現代繪畫六人展) both exhibitions at Fudan University.
At that time, Yu Youhan was imbued with Daoism. With his Circles series starting in 1985, he adopted the circle as the best form to articulate his concept. As he
explained, “the dots (short brush strokes) express Laozi’s idea that ‘the Way gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to the universe (道生一,一生二,二生三,三生萬物)’”.
The circle as an abstract form results from the idea of “grasping things as a whole (對事物進行整體性把握)”. Yu tried to use the relationship between dots and lines to illustrate the flow and changes within the matter of the universe. His practice of allowing the paint, canvas and gravity to interact with each other in a state free from the control or interference of the artist results in those marks of freely flowing paint on the raw unstretched canvas. This practice can be a possible reflection of the Daoist idea of “action through non-action (無為之為)" *
Beijing that the first abstract painting was shown publicly. The painting entitled “Infinite Space ” by Huang Rui was hang on the gates of the park facing the China Art Gallery (now the National Art Museum of China) and is part of the present exhibition as well as other early works by Huang Rui.
In Shanghai, an early movement of abstraction developed around Yu Youhan whose first abstract paintings seem to date from 1981. These abstract paintings
made their first public appearance in Shanghai in 1983 at the 83’Experimental Painting Exhibition (階段實驗繪畫展) and also in 1985 at the Exhibition of Six
Modernists (現代繪畫六人展) both exhibitions at Fudan University.
At that time, Yu Youhan was imbued with Daoism. With his Circles series starting in 1985, he adopted the circle as the best form to articulate his concept. As he
explained, “the dots (short brush strokes) express Laozi’s idea that ‘the Way gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to the universe (道生一,一生二,二生三,三生萬物)’”.
The circle as an abstract form results from the idea of “grasping things as a whole (對事物進行整體性把握)”. Yu tried to use the relationship between dots and lines to illustrate the flow and changes within the matter of the universe. His practice of allowing the paint, canvas and gravity to interact with each other in a state free from the control or interference of the artist results in those marks of freely flowing paint on the raw unstretched canvas. This practice can be a possible reflection of the Daoist idea of “action through non-action (無為之為)" *
Yu Youhan, Circle 1986-5B, 1986, Oil on canvas, 128 x 161 cm
Some of his Circle paintings evoke planets, the universe, and the infinite of the cosmos but also the infinitely small: microscopic cells, primal enzymes and bacteria.
Some other paintings of him, like the two works above (top of this text) with dots and lines, seem to derive from the initial Daoist diagrams of the Book of changes(I CHING)and Laozi’s Tao Te Ching .
Some other paintings of him, like the two works above (top of this text) with dots and lines, seem to derive from the initial Daoist diagrams of the Book of changes(I CHING)and Laozi’s Tao Te Ching .
Some other artists have been influenced by the Book of Changes ( I Ching), notably Huang Rui who's Space Structure Series has been influenced by Daoist cosmology, its hexagrams and above bagua. This form of abstraction appears deeply rooted in Chinese culture.
This early abstraction in China inspired many Chinese contemporary artists.
Among them, Yallay choosed to feature Zhang Zhenyu, who stands out as an original figure. Zhang Zhenyu exposes his canvases to the urban dust and pollution outside his Beijing studio, and then polishes their surface with lacquer. As he repeats the process dozens of times the artworks becomes shiny with a surface which is neither opaque nor transparent, but glowing with layers of urban experience.
* based on Wei Xia thesis at The East China Normal University
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This early abstraction in China inspired many Chinese contemporary artists.
Among them, Yallay choosed to feature Zhang Zhenyu, who stands out as an original figure. Zhang Zhenyu exposes his canvases to the urban dust and pollution outside his Beijing studio, and then polishes their surface with lacquer. As he repeats the process dozens of times the artworks becomes shiny with a surface which is neither opaque nor transparent, but glowing with layers of urban experience.
* based on Wei Xia thesis at The East China Normal University
Back