Ding Yi (Chinese: 丁㇠; born 1962) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

contemporary artist Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

currently based in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. He is a pivotal figure in the development of

geometric abstraction Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. Although the genre was popu ...

in China, and is currently a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts.

Early life

Ding Yi grew up during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

. He studied in the art program at your middle school, and the art education he received in Shanghai was in general not systematic. The uniquely nonlinear curriculum included making bricks for bomb shelters, drawing propaganda posters, performing in public spaces, and studying design and Chinese ink painting. He studied decorative design at the Shanghai School of Arts and Crafts from 1980 to 1983, and then went on to major in Chinese ink painting in the art program of

Shanghai University Shanghai University, commonly referred to as SHU, or colloquially Shangda (), is a public research university located in Shanghai. The 555-acre main Baoshan campus is situated in the north of Shanghai, and there are two other campuses in Jiadi ...

from 1986 to 1990. He also took part in a number of art exhibitions in 1985 and 1986.

Career

Ding Yi's enduring method of incorporating crosses into his work emerged in the late 1980s. He executed a series of painting experiments called ''Appearance of Crosses'', in which the artist adopted the shapes of x and + as a recurring motif with the intention of combining painting and design into a single form of expression. The cross, whether a + or an x, is a motif that the artist has declared as a formal mark without meaning, while the context of this work is the industrial-paced development of the

urban environment An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

in post-socialist China. His perennial idiom —-- the grid —-- speaks to a context in place and time, through its association with the frenetic communications networks and distinctive fluorescence of the contemporary city.

Style

The majority of his work features repetitions of the sign superimposed in different layers, colors, and rotations; the tiny, manually painted symbols cover the entire surface of large canvases, requiring a painstaking amount of precision and technical skill. By applying extremely rational design elements, Ding sought to “make painting that was not like painting,” and for the past thirty years he has exclusively and relentlessly executed abstract paintings with shapes of small cross. The majority of his work features repetitions of the plus sign superimposed in different layers, colors, and rotations; the tiny, manually painted symbols cover the entire surface of large canvases, requiring a painstaking amount of precision and technical skill.

Institutional solo exhibitions

*2018 ''十×30 Years — Ding Yi's Works'', Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou *2017 ''Appearance of Crosses: A Chronicle'', Xi'an Art Museum, Xi'an *2017 ''Appearance of Crosses'', Sean Scully Studio, London, UK *2016 ''Ding Yi-Art Unlimited'',

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...

2016, Booth Nr. U54, Basel, Switzerland *2016 ''Re-Appearance of Crosses, Ding Yi Solo Show'', Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, Hubei *2015 ''Ding Yi: What's Left to Appear'',

Long Museum The Long Museum () is a private art museum in Shanghai, China, founded by Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei. The museum has two locations in Shanghai: the Long Museum Pudong and Long Museum West Bund.Long Museum websiteAbout Long Museum/ref> In ...

(West Bund), Shanghai *2013 ''2013 Art Changsha'', Changsha City Museum, Hunan Province *2011 ''Specific Abstracted, Ding Yi Solo Exhibition'', Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai *2008 ''Appearance of Crosses from 1989 to 2007, Solo Exhibition of Ding Yi'',

Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna The Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna or MAMbo is a purpose-designed museum of modern and experimental art in Bologna, Italy. The , which displays a large collection of works by Giorgio Morandi, is temporarily housed in a part of it. History Now ...

, Bologna, Italy

Museum collections

His works are included in the collections of: *

Pacific Asia Museum USC Pacific Asia Museum is an Asian art museum located at 46 N. Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California, United States. The museum was founded in 1971 by the Pacificulture Foundation, which purchased "The Grace Nicholson Treasure House of Orienta ...

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, U.S.A. *Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, Guangdong *Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, Hubei *Chengdu Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu, Sichuan *The National Art Museum of China, Beijing *

K11 Art Foundation The K11 Art Foundation (KAF) is a non-profit art foundation based in Central, Hong Kong, named for an eponymous shopping centre and established by the shopping centre's operator. It supports the development of Chinese contemporary art from Greate ...

, Hong Kong, China *Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeongju, Korea; *

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

Art Collection, Sydney, Australia *Chinese Modern Art Foundation, Ghent, Belgium *

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, UK *

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art is a museum in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea, run by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. It consists of two parts that house traditional Korean art and contemporary art. Museum 1 is designed by Swiss ...

, Seoul, Korea *

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, Paris, France *

M+ Museum M+ is a museum of visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong. It exhibits twentieth and twenty-first century visual culture encompassing visual art, design and architecture, and moving image. It opened on 12 November 2021. ...

, Hong Kong *

, Shanghai *

Shanghai Art Museum The Shanghai Art Museum () was an art museum in the city of Shanghai, China. In October 2012, the museum was rebranded as the China Art Museum when it moved to the China pavilion at Expo 2010 on the former Shanghai Expo 2010 lands. The Shanghai ...

, Shanghai *

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

, Gift of the Haudenschild Collection, Los Angeles, U.S.A. *Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan *

Uli Sigg Uli Sigg (born 1946) is a Swiss businessman, diplomat and art collector. He served as the Swiss Ambassador to China, North Korea and Mongolia from 1995 to 1998. He serves as the vice chairman of Ringier, the largest media company in Switzerland. ...

Collection, Switzerland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ding, Yi Living people Chinese contemporary artists Painters from Shanghai 1962 births Shanghai University alumni