Long Museum presents one of the most representative 70's Chinese artists Yin Zhaoyang's latest solo exhibition——Cold Mountain.
Among the contemporary artists, Yin Zhaoyang is quite admirable for the talent displayed through the development of his painting language and his ability to fight alone that has been revealed through the evolution of his style. When we look back over his nearly twenty-year artistic career, we can see the overall trajectory of Chinese contemporary art as well as his unique ingenuity at every major point along the way.
Yin Zhaoyang has been proactive in not establishing a certain unique skill too early, nor falling into the trap of overly deep concepts and images. He has been less proactive or persistent in terms of technique and language, because no matter what themes he explores, he has always continued to pursue progress and evolution. Every shift in subject matter is connected to the issues he is pondering at the time, thoughts about art and about life. That is to say that his employment of these themes stems not only from an irrepressible desire for expression but also to test whether or not a sudden inspiration can be conveyed through a particular chosen form. Yin Zhaoyang possesses a driving ambition that leads his talent to burst out suddenly like magma, while he also has clear self-control which allows him to reel it back in. His power is released in short, concentrated bursts, and so his artworks naturally show quantum growth in technique and content. Of course, most obvious is that unique vigor.
When Yin Zhaoyang began to create themes relating to tradition, or began to draw inspiration from traditional art, not only did it precede the recent throwback trend, he also did it in his prime, unlike other successful artists. These two forms of “first-mover advantage” will become even more apparent in the time to come.
The valuable points of Yin Zhaoyang are that he discards the basic traditional method to conjure the neither-fish-nor-fowl contemporary images and neither uses the form talent as an oil painter to polish the nondescript ink language, even getting rid of the literal mould of traditional painting to create tepid picture. He chooses directly the landscape painting, which is of the most religious feelings and humanistic temperament in traditional painting, to make a serious conversation with the latter by using a brand new technical language and sketching the spirit without forms, which is neither an offense nor an imitation to the ancient but a salute as well as a development. Yin Zhaoyang has approached landscape painting with the same ferocity that marked his earlier creations, so when this landscape series emerged, it was sweeping and audacious rather than bland and stagnant.
They say that “art makes no distinctions in time, only in skill.” The artist should be highly sensitive towards good works of art, regardless of where and when its maker lived. The artist must maintain this sensitivity, or as they say, “all of the things which pass before my eyes are mine”; good works of art are both standards and sources of pressure. Technique, then, is the release of this pressure. “Every stroke of the brush has its source.” This pressure builds up, and though the artist is aware of it, he is not aware of where it comes from or where it leads. Ancient painters were fond of saying that “Spirit enters into the eyes, and soul is released from the wrist.” Yin Zhaoyang has both a wise eye and the skills of the hand to release that soul. Whether it is the work of the ancients or of nature, it all belongs to me, and though I do not necessarily understand it, I can use it and make it new. Thus, we have no need to pursue the question of what new things Yin Zhaoyang has found among the ancients or what kind of nourishment he derives from the painted landscapes of China. Even when he bestows his works with ancient and romantic names, they can only be his own landscapes, his original creations.

Tickets Info

Ticket Price: 50RMB/person
Concessions: 50% discount for seniors over 70, teachers and college students with valid certificates;
Free Ticket: Middle school and primary school students, soldiers and person with disability.
Group Ticket: 30% discount for groups with 20 or more persons (Telephone reservation required at 86-21-68778787, This cannot be used in conjunction with other preferential terms)