Shang Yang (; born 1942, former name Shang Nengquan) is a contemporary Chinese painter based in Beijing and is considered one of the most important painters of the life-stream movement. Known for his oriental humanist thought he believes landscapes are living things and puts their spirit into his brushwork. In 1965 he graduated from the Hubei Art Academy, where he then taught for several years. He received his masters from the Hubei Art Academy in 1981. Yang became the Associate President in 1989. Shang Yang became a Professor and the Officer-in-Charge of Fine Arts at the Research Institute of South China Normal University in 1993. Also in 1993, he became the Vice President of the Chinese Art painting Society. Shang Yang has exhibited extensively in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

since the 1980s, including at Shanghai Biennale in 1996, and has shown internationally at galleries in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, and

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. Shang Yang's work often appropriates images from traditional Chinese landscape painting, which are screened onto the canvas by a machine; he then distorts the image with graffiti or obtrusive geometrical designs. His works combine avant-garde exploration and solid artistic skill to create unique works of expressionism oil painting.

Career Timeline

1942 Born at Honghu,

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

Kai County Kaizhou District (), formerly known as Kai County, Kaixian or Kaihsien () is a district under the jurisdiction of Chongqing Municipality, in southwestern China, bordering Sichuan province to the west. It has an area of 3,959 square km. As of th ...

, Sichuan Province by Origin 1957 Studied in Hubei Art Academy Attached Middle School 1965 Graduated from

Hubei Institute of Fine Arts Hubei Institute of Fine Arts (HIFA, ; colloquially 湖美, pinyin: Húměi) is an art university in China. It is the only top institution of higher learning in fine arts in central China. It is regarded as one of the best and most selective acad ...

, then Served as Art Editor in Hubei People's Publishing House 1981 Graduated with M.A. in Oil Painting Department from

1985 Trustee of Chinese Artists Association 1987 Professor of

1989 Vice President of

1995 Director in Institute of Fine Arts of South China Normal University and Vice Chairman of Chinese Oil Painting Association. 1997 Professor in Fine Arts Academy of Capital Normal University 2000 Director in Fine Arts Academy of Capital Normal University 2009 China Artists Association, Vice Director of the Oil Painting Arts

Style

Shang Yang was trained Soviet Realism but after 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 was one of the first artists to reject his training. He started creating mixed media works in the early 1980s. Shang Yang's work tends to use images from traditional Chinese landscape paintings. The images are then screened onto a canvas by a machine. He then distorts the image with graffiti or obtrusive geometrical designs. Shang Yang has demonstrated an infatuation with the yellow earth plateau remote from southern culture. In the years 1984-1985, Shang Yang created a series of oil paintings on Korean paper about the conditions and customs of northern Shaanxi, clearly signaling his change in artistic style. In his painting 'Yellow River boatmen' you can see the beginnings of his fascination with the

loess plateau The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surroun ...

, and this wells forth in an uninhibited way in his later works in the fundamental timbre of yellow. In 'Mother of the

Loess Plateau The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surroun ...

' the artist loves the barren mountainous area of the Yellow River Basin and its people. In this work, the image of the mother, the stone wall behind her, and the loess hills in the background link together, hinting at the inseparable bond created by life in a warm and intrepid environment.

Yellow Theme

"When Shang Yang was an art student he applied for a field trip to northern

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ningx ...

in 1981, many of his fellow students considered the artist to be “a little under the weather.” Though revered as the cradle of Chinese civilization, the Yellow River Basin was then one of the poorest areas in the country and few of his classmates could understand the artist's passion for the region. The trip, though, proved to be a life-changing experience for the artist, providing the inspiration for nearly three decades of work, which have earned him the reputation as the “evergreen tree” for his endless stream of artistic creativity and a place as one of the country's most accomplished artists. According to Shang, while in

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

, he felt completely removed from the materialism of the world around him and was able to connect on a fundamental level with the region's natural surroundings. He was greatly inspired by

’s landscapes and rural communities and created many oil paintings revolving around the theme of the Yellow River, which are still among the artist’s most famous works. Painted in a burst of yellow hues, His

paintings often depicted the hard lives of the locals, such as the Yellow River’s taut and tanned boat trackers or women with weather-beaten faces, and all resonate with a deep sense of human compassion." Shang Yang's use of warm yellow tones endows the landscape of rock and loess with poetry. While stillness and warmth replace the bare desolation, the gate of worn stones and the barren earth and slopes are imbued with a rich ro- mantic air. In these works, what some critics described at the time as 'Shang Yang's yellow' came to be the central player. This side-lit loess with its duller brownish yellow was not at all coquettish in its appeal, exhibiting only a nat- ural mood. Shang Yang's later works progressively began to break loose from the bewitchment or control exerted by the colors of the region, as his paintings gave fuller play and expression to subjective elements.

Controversy/Conflict

In June 1989, Shang Yang lost his position as head of Wuhan's Academy of Fine Arts after he marched with some of his students in

Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen (" ...

. 3 months before the march, Yang exhibited a series of paintings at Beijing's National Gallery called "State". These works appeared to express Yang's dissatisfaction with the current state of China and his own frazzled state of mind. Shang Yang regained respect in 1992 with the release of his piece "Morning Tea" which is said to examine concerns for lost values in Chinese culture. One of his latest works, titled "Bride", reveals Yang's worries of commercialism in China. The piece is a Mono Lisa covered in labels of fast food to represent the connections between culture and the market.

Growth

Shang Yang's paintings have been increasing in value. ''Hard Labor'', an oil on canvas piece, was estimated to sell for up to $995,797 at a 2009 auction. Shang Yang participated in the Post-89 Chinese New Art exhibition. It was held in the massive Hong Kong Arts Center in January and February 1993. There were more than 200 paintings, sculptures and installations by more than 50 artists.

Dong Qichang Project

Since 2002, Shang Yang has attempted to collage and print mechanically-reproduced images on his already-mature “the Great Landscape”. Shang Yang: the Dong Qichang Project explores the idea that the aggressive intervention of contemporary culture has fragmented and flattened the solid traditional Chinese logic of self-sufficiency, harmony and unity. This exhibition marks Shang Yang's first solo show within more than five decades of art production; it promises to deliver a comprehensive display of his impressive skill and conceptual development presenting in his latest artworks. His self-imposed mission to “contribute to modernism” in the pursuit of art has had wide practical significance to the development of Chinese contemporary art. His “Dong Qichang Project” is a summarization of his “Big Scenery Series”. Since 2003, Shang has continuously worked on this subject to remind us of our interdependent relationship with the nature. Dong Qichang was a great painter in

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, who had great influence on painters with his excellent landscape paintings and his theories of painting. Therefore, Shang borrows patterns from Dong to create his own works. Scenery here becomes artificial, far from the depiction of some real things. Shang creates paintings symbols which combine time elements and historical elements. He is closely related to the tradition of Chinese landscape paintings and is trying to develop this tradition in a modern form. Dong Qichang was a painter, calligrapher and an experienced art critic during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

Solo exhibitions

2013 Shang Yang's Art in Suzhou, Suzhou Museum 2012 Diaries and Scripts, VA Center Academy of Art Design Tsinghua University, Beijing, China 2009 The Dong Qichang Project, Beijing Center for the Arts. Beijing, China. 2006 Essence of Sketch – Shang Yang's Painting Exhibition, Chengdu Blue Space 　　Art Gallery, Sichuan,China.

Invitational Exhibitions and Awards (Recent Years)

2015 ''Inframince: Aura of Nature'', Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing 2011 “Across - Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition II”, Museum of Monreale Palermo,Sicily, Italy 2010 “Across - Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition I”, Spoletto Old City Art Gallery, Spoletto, Italy 2010 The State of Things — Contemporary Art from China and Belgium. National Art Museum of China Reshaping History — China New Art from 2000 to 2009. China National Convention Center. Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979—2009. Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China Unending Distance — the 3rd Exhibition of Abstract Art. PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China Research and Exceed — The Second Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings. National Art Museum of China Ink 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Shanghai World Expo Bureau zero carbon Museum, China The third abstract - Chinese Contemporary ink painting exhibition. Shanghai Duolun Museum of Art, China 2009 Ink not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Art Exhibition. Drexel University Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA Ink not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Art Exhibition. Warsaw Royal Castle, Hungarian Agricultural Museum, The National Museum of Contemporary Art of Romania, Sculpture Museum of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts. Yi School: Century Thinking, Today Art Museum New Image: Contemporary Chinese Ink and Paper Art Exhibition. Belarus National Gallery, Minsk, Belarus; Serbia History. Open sight - Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, The Czech National Gallery In the - abstract art exhibition in occasion of the birth of a hundred years, Beijing partial front new art space State of affairs -EUROPALIAChina Art Festival Exhibition, Belgian Royal Palace of Fine Arts Ink and wash painting calligraphy - a third abstraction, Shanghai Contrasts Gallery Traditional Easter - Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Frankfurt, Germany BASIS SPACE Collision - 27 cases of Chinese contemporary art, Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts Gallery 2009 Context spiritual elite Chinese version of the Contemporary Art Exhibition, Nanjing Qinghe Art Gallery, Beijing Art America Fund Traditional Easter - Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition Shandong Library 2009 China Art Exhibition, Beijing Central Iron Age Museum of Art Hill also has water - 2009 China Contemporary Art Exhibition, Taipei Contemplation Arts Center, Taiwan Art 60 years of New China, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China 2008 Yi School: Thirty Years of Chinese “Abstraction”, La Caixa Forum Museum of Parma,Barcelona and Madrid, Spain Inside·Outside Images – The Inviting Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Oil Paintings, Yu Xin Art Museum, Singapore Writings·Marks – Joint Exhibition of 20 Artists in Abstract Painting, Imperial City Art Museum, Beijing, China 2008 Chinese Contemporary Art Documenta, Wall Art Museum, Beijing, China The Third Beijing International Art Biennale, China 2008, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China 2D and 3D, Negotiating Visual Languages, PMK Gallery, Beijing, China Hypallage –The Post Modern Mode of Chinese Contemporary Art, the OCT Art& Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China Ink Not Ink: Chinese Modern Ink and Wash Art Exhibition, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China Expand & Fusion – Chinese Oil Painting Study and Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China The Grit between the Stones – A Meeting between Swedish and Chinese Contemporary Painting, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Sweden; National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China Sunshine International Art Annual Exhibition, Sunshine International Art Museum, Beijing, China People·History – Exhibition of Studies of Chinese Art of the 20th Century, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China Culture after Culture – 12 Chinese Contemporary Oil Painters Exhibition, YUAN Center of Art, Beijing, China Pursuing source and doctrine – Oil Painting Research Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China Art Basel Miami Beach 2008, Miami, USA 2007 The Scenery of Desire – Shang Yang and His Student Art Exhibition, Bridge Gallery, Beijing; MOCA Shijiazhuang, Shijizhuang, Hebei Province, China OTKPbITOe KNTaNCKOe NCKYCCTBO, Tocyaapctbehhbin Pyccknn My3en, St.Petersburg, Russia Rote Berge, Grunes wasser Chinesische und Beutsche Kunstler Heute, Lubecker Museum, Lubecker; Pfalz History Museum, Pfalz, Germany Landscape – Nature·Spirit, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland On Ink and Wash – A Dialogue between Contemporary Artists, Tank Loft·Chongqing Contemporary Art Center, Chongqing; Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China Trace Contemporary·Chinese Version, 2007 Credit Suisse Beijing Comprehensive art Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China Strategy on Paper – Works on Paper Invitational, Square Gallery of Contemporary Art, Jiangsu Province, China Interception – Chinese Image in Contemporary Art Invitation Show, Three Gorges Museum, Chongqing, China Decennial, Hejingyuan museum of art opening exhibition, H.J.Y. Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China 2006 Anatomical Signs – Internationally Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Baoqu Tang Modern Art Gallery, Hong Kong,China China Scenery, Square Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China Expanding Realism – Chinese Mainland Oil Painting from 1978, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, China The Second Exhibition of Chinese Art Today, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China Cross the Continent – Joint Exhibition of 11 Artists from China and Germany, Sanxian Art Space, Shanghai, China Chinese Contemporary Art Document Exhibition, Honored with the Award of Literature, Beijing World Art Museum, The China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China 2005 Dress Up, Chinese Opera Art Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China Nature and Human – The Second Contemporary China Landscape Painting • Oil Landscape Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China Asian Art Exhibition, Shunde Art Gallery, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China Up and Down The Great River: A Retrospection of New Era's Chinese Oil Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China Conspire: The 1st Exhibition of T.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, TS1 Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China The Endless Landscape, Invitational Contemporary Oil Painting Exhibition Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China 2004 Inviting Exhibition of Contemporary Art from China, France and Korea, International Art Gallery, Beijing, China Baishi / Youji, Liu Hai Su Art Museum, Shanghai; Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China The First Nominated Exhibition of Fine Art Literature, Honored with the Award of Literature, Art Gallery of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China 2003 An Opening Era, Celebration Exhibition of 40th Anniversary of Founding of China National Museum of Fine Arts, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China Beijing International Art Biennial, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China Premieres Lueurs sur L' Orient—L'aventure de la peinture chinoise au 20ème Siecle, Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris, France Fine Pieces of New Expressionism Oil Painting of Chinese Master, Liu Hai Su Art Museum, Shanghai, China The Fine Pieces Exhibition of The Third Oil Painting Exhibition of China, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China 2002 Behind The Reality, Dimensions Art Center, Taipei, China The First Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China The First Triennial of Chinese Arts, Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China Century Demeanor—Exhibition of China's Contemporary Art Masters, Beijing World Art Museum, The China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China Concept Image: 2002 China Modern Oil painting Invitation Exhibition, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shang, Yang Living people Painters from Hubei People from Jingzhou 1942 births