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présentation - 展览介绍 :
Yuan Space is pleased to present an exhibition of carefully selected paintings of the great Chinese painter YU Youhan. Under the title “一斑yībān” the exhibition is dedicated to give a large overview of YU Youhan’s various work periods. Early and late abstract works, such as landscapes, his famous political pop paintings and very early expressionist paintings will be presented in YU’s first solo exhibition in Beijing.
YU Youhan’s sophisticated paintings are heavily saturated with his own language of form. Tiny specks and marks run throughout his entire work. These infinite variations of spots and strokes may seem meaningless at first, but actually hide a richer spiritual content. The title 一斑yībān can be understood as starting from a small point, but directing straight towards a bigger structure, perhaps towards a vast spiritual world. As in Chinese the pronunciation of一斑yībān is the same than一般, common and mundane, YU's modest, indifference to fame and self-deprecating nature, characterizes him not only as a person, but also as an artist.
Throughout his works the influence of the classic modern painters can be clearly distinguished. Lines can be drawn to Cezanne, Chagall or even Van Gogh, but clearly displaying characteristic traditional Chinese techniques. A strong tension is created by the combination of elements of French impressionists with components of Chinese iconography. His powerful expression captures the viewers’ attention, especially his abstract works which reveal a very unique practice of form, color and elaborate brushstroke. At times, his marks appear thin, subtle and delicate, but then one is surprised by their bold thickness. Every stroke has its own individual personality. At times it appears his paintings act like organic microcosms and release associations to cellular forms and to botany. YU uses muted monochrome shades, demonstrating a highly sophisticated spectrum of color. Often the borders between figurative and abstract seem to blur. His choice of color varies, sometimes bold and vigorous, sometimes subtly discrete. An elaborate orchestration of lighting creates beautiful contrasts between light and dark planes. A subtle eclecticism of different styles plays an important role in his body of works and decisively contributes to his game of dazzling the viewer's eye.
It is his proper formal vocabulary, underlined by a distinguished flow, which figures the combining element throughout his various themes. Regardless of which work period, the artist leads the viewer through maze-like forms and patterns, arranging a confused, misty state of mind, leaving him to confront by himself the sensational effect without giving any concrete answers. His oeuvre demands an emotional approach and the viewer is free to read his work however it speaks to him.
YU Youhan is mostly known for his big format abstract paintings and humorous political pop. This exhibition is not only showing some of YU’s most famous works, but also offering a unique possibility to see his early works which are not easy to come across in publications. Yuan Space is proud to present these mostly small paintings on paper, which have never been exhibited before.
YU Youhan was born in 1943 in Shanghai and studied art at the Central Academy of Art & Design in Beijing. After his graduation in 1973 he pursued his painting, which he never really abandoned. He was one among other Chinese artists to be exhibited for the first time at the Venice Biennale in 1993. YU has widely shown his work in many important art institutions in China and abroad, and has contributed a significant part to Chinas Art History.
艺术家余友涵在北京的首次个展将于2013年6月在元•空间举办。此次展览向观众展示余友涵各个时期不同风格的作品，包括早期和最近的抽象作品系列、风景系列、非常早期的印象派风格系列，以及他最富盛名的政治波普系列。
余友涵的作品画面经常出现小小的斑点和线条，这种极具艺术家个人色彩的艺术表现手法和语言，在其抽象作品中表现得尤为突出；看似毫无意义的斑点和线条, 其实蕴藏着无穷无尽的变化，包含了深刻的精神内容。“一斑”作为此次展览的标题，正是试图从一点一斑绘制成的整幅作品，从“道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物”的中国传统哲学构建起的整个精神世界，来解读余友涵作品的丰富内涵。在中文里，“一斑”与“一般”同音，这也正是艺术家谦逊平和，淡泊名利，甚至有些幽默自嘲的个性和处世哲学的写照。
余友涵的作品风格深受现代主义画家的影响，线条笔法可以看到夏加尔、塞尚，甚至梵高的影子。在创作的过程中，他将法国印象派的元素与中国传统绘画技法相结合，营造出了一种特殊的张力。在绘画技法和画面上，作品通常具有非常独特的表现形式，特别是抽象系列：开始仿佛落笔很轻、很薄，随后又变得厚重和浓烈，每一个笔触都带有极强的个性，而整体布局则经过了深思熟虑的精心安排，从某种角度来看，所有的作品就是有机联系在一起的整体。在色彩运用上，尽管艺术家基本使用黑、白、灰等中性色彩，同时却表现出他对色彩极强的驾驭能力，物体之间的边界通常都是模糊的，象征与抽象的边界不再那么明显，时而大胆，充满活力，时而含蓄，隐藏禅意，非常微妙的呈现出一种渐变的风格。
无论是哪一个时期的作品，余友涵都不急于给出一个明确的答案，带领观众进入的是画面中看似存在的一种渺茫，迷离，无法揣测的状态，通过作品希望引起的是一种情感共鸣，让观众都能够自由的去解读作品想要传递的信息，感受其内部所蕴含的感情力量和感性因素。
余友涵最为人所熟知的是大尺幅的抽象风格油画和带有幽默色彩的政治波普作品。此次在元•空间的展览不仅能够让观众看到余友涵这些时期最为重要的作品，还给观众提供了一个欣赏他非常早期印象派风格系列的机会，其中大部分的作品都是第一次展出，甚至在出版物中也先鲜有提及。
余友涵，1943年生于上海，后就读于中央工艺美术学院陶瓷系。在1973年毕业之后，他开始转向绘画，对此倾注了其一生的热情。他是中国第一批参加1993年威尼斯双年展的艺术家之一，作品广泛在众多中外知名艺术机构展出，是当今最重要的中国当代艺术家之一。
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