On the afternoon of January 9, 2016, the large-scale solo exhibition of the artist Yuan Yuan “Prism – The Art of Yuan Yuan” was unveiled at Hall 1 in Today Art Museum. The exhibition is organized by Today Art Museum and CAFA, President of CAFA Fan Di’an serves as Academic Chair of the exhibition. The exhibition includes the new creations by the artist in the recent three years, including more than 30 huge paintings of the “Prism” series, “Dreamland” series, and “Destruction and Birth” series, since he entered the transformational period, these works are collectively on display for the first time, and the creative ways are involved in many media such as installation, painting, mixed media.

The exhibition is the third solo exhibition for the artist Yuan Yuan in his art career, and it is a landmark solo show for the artist himself that it is a report exhibition of the new creative style by the use of “transferring print”. The opening ceremony was boisterous, and the leaders, teachers and students from CAFA, and art lovers were present at the opening ceremony, together to witness the transformation of the artist. The honor guests who attended the opening ceremony included the President of CAFA Fan Di’an, Party Secretary Gao Hong, Deputy Party Secretary Sun Hongpei, Prof. Du Dakai from the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University, Director of Postgraduate Division of CAFA Chen Qi, Director of Editorial of CAFA Yin Shuangxi, the Personnel Director Jin Rilong, Minister of Propaganda Department Qin Jianping, and the teachers and staffs from the Department of Oil Painting, Department of Mural Painting, Department of Fundamental Education for Plastic Arts.

Yuan Yuan was admitted to the High School Affiliated to CAFA when he was 16 years old, and studied in the first studio of the Department of Oil Painting, CAFA when he was 20 years old, and he learned from his mentor Du Dakai in the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University and graduated with a master’s degree. He started to teach in CAFA, and was admitted to CAFA as a doctoral candidate in 2010, his mentor was Jin Shangyi. As a typical artist growing up with a college education, Yuan Yuan makes every effort to inherit the realistic traditions of the academy and the rich experiences of Chinese and western representational paintings, thus presenting an excellent shaping ability and solid realistic skill in the work of figures, landscape, etc. At the same time, he hopes to break this academy standard mode to realize the transformation from traditional realism to a very personal perspective.

Before the exhibition opened, a discussion was held at the teahouse near the exhibition hall. The honor guests had an in-depth and effective discussion on the topics such as “Origin and Meaning of the Transformation of Yuan Yuan’s Creation; the Use of Creative Methods and New Material Language; Dialogue between Painting, Installation and Space; Trial of Wiping Off Features of Painting”, in an relaxed and open atmosphere.” They said such kind of exhibition was a risk for an artist engaged in easel painting, and they praised his courage of exploration and trial. At the same time they praised the young teachers from CAFA who searched for a breakthrough and strived to transform while adhering to the advantage of academy.

When Yuan Yuan was asked his expectation of the exhibition in the interview, he said that he hoped it was able to present a dreamland, through the paintings on the mirrors, mutual refraction between many paintings, as well as the new images created by the refraction of the man going through the mirrors, to map out some kind of life and mental state in the “Cloud Era” of big data, showcasing a transcendental reality. He said that he chose the element of mirror face was also derived from the special feeling produced by the people in the elevator. We often had an embarrassing feeling because of the strangers of the elevator, but this kind of feeling helped the artists think, how to show the missing of the relationship between people? For the idea of the exhibition, Yuan Yuan hoped the audience could get some sort of thought or a moment of relaxation when they saw the painting installation or the reflected images in the mirrors.

Academic Chair of the exhibition Fan Di’an who named the exhibition “Prism”, has a profound understanding of Yuan Yuan’s art, he said at the discussion that: how to transcend painting language was a very difficult question. Continuously adjusting the relationships between sticking to and breakthrough, between inheritance and transcendence, looking for a new route, the artists from CAFA especially demanded such kind of academic courage and spirit. On the original solid shaping foundation, Yuan Yuan was able to form the images dialoguing with the public, trying to find a good breakthrough in this aspect. No matter how the lane changed, development was the target, so it was valuable.

Text by Zhu Li, Photo by Yang Yanyuan/CAFA ART INFO

Translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO