The First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

CHINA YUYOUHAN Acouple of circles (from 'Circle' series) 1986 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas 165x118cm Collection: The artist 64 Yu Youhan was born in 1943 in Shanghai, China. Following his military service (1961- 65) he studied ceramics for eight years at the Central Academy of Applied Arts, Beijing. He is currently employed at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Arts. Group exhibitions in which Yu Youhan has taken part include 'Inaugural Exhibition of the Shanghai Art Museum', Shanghai, 1987; 'Art Today', Shanghai, 1988; 'Asian Art', Tokyo, Japan, 1992; 'China Avant-garde', Berlin, Germany, 1993; and 'Mao Goes Pop: China Post-1989', Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Aus- tralia, 1993. Yu Youhan's work is represented in the collection of the Tokyo Gallery, Japan. In 1979 Yu Youhan began to explore abstraction. Six years later he produced the abstract 'Circle' series. In formal terms Yu Youhan uses simple daubs of paint to create a new visual language. An energy emanates from these works which is imbued with the richness and depth of Eastern culture. Yu Youhan's art is ultimately concerned with artistic language. He aims to simplify both the medium and pictorial space. Whilst the 'Circle' paintings contain elements that seem to have an association with fingerprints, topographic maps, the spirit of calligraphy and divination symbols, the artist insists that they do not contain any references to specific forms or metaphors. Yu Youhan breaks with the rules set down by 'mother nature' and creates his own solid and balanced order. The works are confident, and direct. The 'Circle' series, which began as an exploration in black and white, later moved into brilliant layers of technicolour red, yellow, blue, green and purple. The occasional dribble of pigment introduces an element of intrigue, chance and the unexpected and thereby enhances the rhythms inherent within the pictorial surface. Yu Youhan has stated: 'I acknowledge the connection between art and tradition. But in my view one's own beliefs must be super- imposed on the great artistic traditions of the world'. Li Xu