The First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

CHINA DING YI Shishi 92-4 (from 'Shishi' series) 1992 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas 140x160cm Collection: The artist DingYi was born in 1962 inShanghai, China. After graduating from the Institute of Applied Arts, Shanghai and the School of Art at Shanghai University, he is now teachingat the Institute of Applied Arts. Ding Yi held a solo exhibition in 1986 at Fudan University, Shanghai. Since1985 he has participated in group exhibitions including 'Art Today', Shanghai, 1988; 'Documentary Exhibition of 90s Chinese Modern Art', Gallery K, Tokyo, Japan, 1989; 'China Avant-garde', Berlin, Germany, 1993; 'China's New Art Post '89', Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, 1993; and 'Mao Goes Pop: China Post-1989', Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia, 1993. In 1986DingYi was awarded third prize at the 'Inaugural Shanghai Youth Art Exhibition'. 'Shishi' is a technical term used by the trade in colour printing. It signifies the precision achieved by using coordinates to 58 identify a specific spot or place. Since 1988 Ding Yi has appropriated this language to draw attention to his desire to present the appearance of that which is real. The glim­ mer and rhythm of natural colours construct the commonplace and unregulated visual experience that constitutes everyday life. In DingVi's paintings this experience is distilled into grids that are layered one upon the other and which give expression to the artist's desire for free individual, spiritual and con­ ceptual expression. The early works in the 'Shishi' series were precise, regular and rigid lattice con­ structions. The complex and repetitivenature of their production created an impression of the artist as a perfectionist. But the irrational choice of colours and an anti-aesthetic tendency inherent in the works mock the painstaking way in which the works have been executed. Ding Yi has successfully created a 'language that has no material form and which has nothing to say'. The formal mission of abstraction is put to rest in the cage that Ding Yi so painstakingly weaves. The conscious blocking, discontinuation and confusion of the line of vision has become the guiding principle of his work. Having remained faithful to themeticulous resolution of the pictorial surface for three or more years, DingYi discovered that 'precise rendering of the painted line/grid obstructed my freedom to respond to life and the world that surrounds me'. Following this realisation he slowly abandoned the precise technical and procedural aspects of his paintings and softened the look and feel of the grid. With spontaneous and free-flowing brushstrokes he reconceived the painted surface, creating works that are more chaotic, energetic and dazzling. DingYi has stated: I wish to use more spontaneous and immediate brushstrokes to articulate the spiritual dimen­ sion inherent in painting, and the ar tistic equivalent of colloquial language to explain things word by word, sentence by sentence. In searching for an independent and pure form of artistic expression, what appears as a meaningless language in fact represents the ultimate significance of artistic practice. Li Xu