| Landscape of Childhood will be the first time Yan Pei-Ming has produced a show without canvases by experimenting with installation. |  |
Guo Xiao-Yan
Landscape of Childhood will be the first time Yan Pei-Ming has produced a show without canvases by experimenting with installation. Huge landscapes directly painted on the walls of UCCA’s Big Hall frame a series of painted flags representing portraits of 20 Chinese newborn babies. Imagined as an abounding walk through faces and urban views, the exhibition powerfully conveys Yan Pei-Ming’s intentions and gives the audience an opportunity to discover a vision of our world in a landscape of crisis and beyond.
The artist is famous for his monochromatic large portraits executed in either black and white or red shades. “I have never felt it necessary to put some things around the persons; I just want to draw portraits,” Yan states. His portraits, furiously and quickly executed with a strong, large brush stroke technique, reflect the artist’s concerns on social conflicts and international politics, and present his ongoing concern for problems of universal human nature.
“Yan Pei-Ming has become the ultimate artist portraying the iconic characters of our time. His work stands as a major reference on the international contemporary art scene, and this show should remain a milestone in history since it features the portraits of the icons of tomorrow: the next generation of Chinese citizens framed into an empty landscape, the future,’’ said Jérôme Sans, UCCA Director and co-curator of Landscape of Childhood.
Yan Pei-Ming’s solo exhibition Landscape of Childhood is on view at UCCA, Big Hall, Beijing in October, 2009.
