On January 17, 2015, A Thousand Plateaus Art Space will open the first exhibition of the new year with Xiong Yu’s most recent work series Blue Forest. As a mature artist who is constantly challenging himself and exploring in great depth painting, Xiong Yu always preserves a well-disciplined attitude and the spirit of initiative. A Thousand Plateaus Art Space have always focused on the post-1970s artists as the hard core in China’s contemporary art scene. Xiong Yu’s creation presents a consistent context and an ever-rising level, it has become an important sample in understanding the development new painting. His solo exhibition collects work from the new series in 2014, and welcomes a fresh outlook.
His paintings have always used representations in a large-eyed cartoon style to show both the childlike purity and imagination of his inner world and the joy, sadness and confusion that he has faced as an adult. In this new group of works, it’s weakened and has largely gone. Except for the theme, the greatest change also happens in the background and texture. In the new contexts, Xiong Yu introduces a painting skill similar to prints and a flattening decorating texture to make the works discolored and the sense of time highlighted. The theme Blue Forest doesn’t only depict an inner world full of imagination and thoughts, but also comes from the entangled and charming interaction between brush and vision.
In a solo exhibition at A Thousand Plateaus that was held two years ago, Xiong Yu employed forms from classical European painting, particularly their compositions. He was searching for instances in which a new framework would reveal a greater feeling of depth and commonality in the works. These works were clearly influenced by dramatic lyrical structure. In this new group of works, he carries out different attempts to exceed the classical framework and begins to seek a breakthrough in a more direct visual structure. In his most recent works, direct brushwork integrates with these effects in order to give the works a deeper level of meaning. Thus he constantly connects the viewers’ vision and emotion, resonating with them. As a result, Xiong Yu’s works and emotion become unprecedentedly authentic.
This effect appears to a great extent in the triptych New Work. It expands a space full of conception. All the three parts are composed of the branches in close shot, water in medium shot and woods in long shot. Through the color contrast, the closed things seem far, while the the really far things seem more real; he deliberately stagger the three images. The spaces don’t seem unified at first sight, however, they are unified with the scattered visions. They compose an nonobjective image. In fact instead of the scenery, it’s the artist’s inner world that is represented in vision. This may be the beginning of a bold new series in which the artist abandons his graphic style. For an artist who already has a mature image, this kind of attempt always requires a great amount of courage, but it is worth the wait.
Xiong Yu, “Portrait No.2″, oil on canvas, 40×30cm, 2014
熊宇，《肖像2》，布上油画，40×30cm，2014
Xiong Yu, “No.3″, oil on canvas, 40×30cm, 2014
熊宇，《No.3》，布上油画，40×30cm，2014
Xiong Yu, “2014 Memory Guide”, oil on canvas, 50×50cm, 2014
熊宇，《2014记忆指南》，布上油画，50×50cm，2014
Xiong Yu, “Fitte’s Novel”, oil on canvas, 50×40cm, 2014
熊宇，《菲特的小说》，布上油画，50×40cm，2014
Xiong Yu, “Blue Fores”, oil on canvas, 90×70cm, 2014
熊宇，《蓝树林》，布上油画，90×70cm，2014
Xiong Yu, “Light”, oil on canvas, 80×60cm, 2014
熊宇，《光》，布上油画，80×60cm，2014
Xiong Y
1975 Born in Chengdu, Sichuan
1995 Graduated from the Affiliated High School of Fine Arts of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts
1999 Graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts
2002 Received Master’s degree from the Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts
Associate professor, graduate student tutor.
Teaching in Art College of Sichuan University
Solo Exhibitions
2013 Xiong Yu – Time Node, A Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Chengdu, China
2012 The Flying Delusion – XiongYu Experimental Space, A Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Chengdu, China
2011 Mirrors of the Heart – Xiong Yu’s Solo Exhibition, VA Gallery, Hong Kong
2009 Angel in City – Xiong Yu’s Solo Exhibition, PIFO Gallery, Beijing, China
Shadow Castle – Xiong Yu’s Individual Works Exhibition, Art Musuem of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
2008 Tarot, Chinablue Gallery, Beijing, China
2006 Runnning on Tranquilly, Chinablue Gallery, Beijing, China
2004 Warm Wings, Yanhuang Gallery, Beijing, China
2002 Pool of Light, Yanhuang Gallery, Beijing, China
Group Exhibitions
2014 Sao Paulo China Art Brazi 2014, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Down the Wall—The 2014 Contemporary Art Exhibition in Shenyang Tiandi, LAFA, Shenyang, China
Winshare▪The New—Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, Winshare Museum, Chengdu, China
Can I ask you a personal question?—Chinese and German Artists Workshop Art Exhibition, The Art Museum of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
Within Sight—Chinese New Painting at Post Financial Crisis Era, Poly Art Museum, Beijing, China
Neo 10 – Chinese New Painting Award 10th Anniversary Invitation Exhibition, Hi Art Center, Beijing, China
2014 International Youth Art Salon, Museum of Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
Living in Chengdu, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taibei National University of the Arts, Taipei, China
2013 Curitiba International Biennial 2013, Curitiba, Brazil
Voice of the Unseen——Parallel Exhibition of Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2012 Splendid Ethics 2 – The Ego Generation, Seoul, Korea
Close Observation and Distant Meditation 2012 Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Arts, Chengdu, China
2011 Animal Talk, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore
NATURE PUR – Asian Culture BBC, Berlin, Germany
The Future is Already Here – The Fourth Anniversary Celebration of Hotspot, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Unavoidable – Contemporary Art Exhibition, Wenxuan Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Research Exhibition on “Post——70s Generation” Artists – Jianghan Star Plan 2012, Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan, China
City Views – Exhibition of Excellent Chinese Contemporary Artists, Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
2010 Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Reshaping History – China Art from 2000 to 2009, China National Convention Center, Beijing, China
Discovery – Art Exhibition 2010, Jiangshan Art Museum, Chongqing, China
Library Project – Individual/Public/Documentary, Library in Yuzhong District, Chongqing, China
2009 The Big World – Recent Work from China, Chicago Cultural Centre, Chicago, USA
The 10th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba
Corresponding- Nanjing & Chengdu, Qinghe Current Art Centre, Nanjing, China
First Chongqing Benniale for the Young Arttists, Chongqing International Exhibition Centre, Chongqing, China
30 Years on the Scene – The Oil Painting Exhibition of Sichuan Fine Arts Academy, Tokyo, Japan
2008 China:Construction/ Deconstruction – Chinese Contemporary Art, MASP, St. Paul, Brazil
GIGE2008 – MAPPING ASIA: 33 Young Asian Artists, China International Trade Centre, Beijing, China
The Third A+A, PIFO Gallery/ Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Bejing/ Shanghai, China
2007 Chinablue in Berlin, Berlin Art Center, Berlin, Germany
New Youth Oil Painting, Jianghan University Art Museum, Wuhan, China
The Second A+A, Chongqing Art Museum/ Sichuang University Art Museum/ Chinese Central Academy Art Exhibition Hall/ 798 And Art Lab, Chongqing/ Chengdu/ Beijing, China
A Retrospective of the Sichuan School from 1976-2006: Rural Modernity to Urban Utopia, Sino-Foreign Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Human Ability, Hagozae Art Centre, Seoul, Korea
Collections
Museu De Arte De Sao Paulo (MASP)
Shenzhen Art Museum
HeXiangning Art Museum
Wuhan Art Museum
