Yang Maoyuan
Born in 1966, Yang Maoyuan is a highly regarded artist well known for his large and diverse body of work encompassing painting, sculpture, photography and installation. Owing to his archaeological experience in the desert during his younger years which distinguished him from general academic artists, he’s nicknamed the “walking artist in the wild” while having a broader perspective on the treatment of subjects. He often explores the shapes and misshapes of human and animal bodies. His spherical horses and other bloated animals are widely known.
As one of the five artists elected to attend this year’s Venice Biennale, Yang Maoyuan creates one of the five installations named All Matters Are Visible and will have it exhibited in the Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2011. It shows thousands of medicine pots of all sizes on the ground, with nothing contained in the pots except for the smells of medicinal herbs.
Traditional Chinese medical prescriptions will be carved on the interior of these pots and their outside will be decorated with traditional designs. “According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, all things are visible, be it the acupuncture points, meridians or collaterals; but they do not exist at all to modern science,” Yang illustrated.
Developing an instant affinity for art since his youth, Yang Maoyuan enrolled and graduated from the Print Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1989. He currently lives and works in Beijing now. Yang has won the top prize at the China Contemporary Art Award in 2002. His works have been exhibited in a number of international museums and expositions. Recent exhibitions include “Yang Maoyuan 2010” (2010) at Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; “Look Inside” (2009) at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy; And There was Light Michelangelo Leonardo Raphael” (2010) at Eriksbergshallen, Goteburg ,Sweden and “Taswir: Islamische Bildwelten und Moderne” at Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany. His works are widely collected by public institutions and private collectors, including Dong Yu Gallery, Shanghe Gallery, Taida Contemporary Art Museum and Rockefeller family.
BIOGRAPHY
1966 Born in Dalian, China
1989 Graduated from the Printing Department, Central Institute of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2002 Prize for Contemporary Chinese Art CCAA Award
Lives and works in Beijing, China
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 Yang Maoyuan2010, Today Art Museum,Beijing, China
2009 Look Inside, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy
2008 SILENCE! 88 BUDDHAS FOR SHANGHAI. Outdoor Project of ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES
BERLIN I BEIJING and WHITE SPACE BEIJING in ShContemporary 08, Shanghai, China
THE ARCHETYPE, THE HORSE & THE QI, ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES BERLIN I BEIJING, Berlin, Germany
2007 TRACE OF THE TIME, WHITE SPACE BEIJING, China
2006 Look Inside, DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China
Look Inside, The Danish Art Exchange, Beijing, China
2002 Food in the Cattle’s Stomach, One World Art Central, Beijing, China
1999 Yang Maoyuan’s Paintings, Guanyuan Hotel, Beijing, China
1994 Created and show series Wasteland Sculpture: Family and Road, Sign Luobupo (China) to be completed in approximately 10 years, China
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010
GREAT PERFORMANCES, Pace Beijing, Beijing, China: AND THERE WAS LIGHT; MICHELANGELO LEONARDO RAPHAEL, ERIKSBERGSHALLEN, Goteborg, Sweden;
2009
Taswir - Islamische Bildwelten und Moderne, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany;
CHINA – Ein anderer Blick, Kunstverein Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany;
ART SUMMER 2009, Hellerau – European Center for the Arts, Dresden, Germany;
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, USA;
Facing China, Haugar - Vestfold Museum in Tonsberg, Norway / Kuopio Art Museum, Finland / Salo Art Museum, Finland / Ystads Konstmuseum, Sweden
2008
Facing China, Stadtgalerie Schwaz, Austria / Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria / Akureyri Art Museum, Iceland;
Under the Sky – International Positions in Contemporary painting, WHITE SPACE BEIJING, China;
We shall come over! Li Space, Beijing, China
Hypallage – The post-Modern Mode of Chinese Contemporary, Hua Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
DIE WAHREN ORTE I/ II, ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES BERLIN I BEIJING, Berlin, Germany
2007
DDM Warehouse 2000-2007, DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China;
ARROGANCE & ROMANCE, Ordos Art Museum, Ordos, China;
78910—Wang Yin, Lu Hao, Yang Maoyuan, Xiao Yu, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China;
Emotion Aesthetics, dARTex, The Danish Art Exchange, Beijing, China
2005
Clues - Fang Lijun | Wang Yin | Xiao Yu | Yang Maoyuan, WHITE SPACE BEIJING, China
Mahjong – Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland
Dog Days, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, U.K
2004
Red New Year: Chinese Art Films Midway Law, the Horse Hospital, Contemporary Art Centre, London, U.K
Degenerated, Modern Chinese Art Foundation (MCAF) Gent, Belgium
First session China international construction art Biennale, Beijing, China
2003
Alors, La Chine, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of Poland, Warsaw, Poland
Artificial Respiration, Sanhe Art Centre, Beijing, China
2002
When it rains, the roof leaks, DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China
Dream, Red Mansion, London, UK
w.x.y, China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing, China
Too Much Flavor, 3H Art Center, Shanghai, China
Exchange, One World Art Centre, Beijing, China
2001
The Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Paintings, Villa Breda, Italy
New Jumping-Off Point, Warehouse of Artists, Beijing, China
Weighlessness, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany
Chengdu Biennale 2001, Chengdu, China
2000
Ache – Yin, Xiao Yu, Yang Maoyuan Private Exhibition, Beijing
Museum of Design, Beijing, China
Fuck off, Donglang Art, Shanghai, China
1999
Open Channels, Dongyu Museum of the Fine Arts, Shenyang, China
Chinese Contemporary Arts by Four Artists, Odden Ladegaard, Denmark
1998
Collection of Shanghe Gallery, He Xiangning Gallery, Shenzhen, China
1997
New Image-Exhibition of Conception Art Photography, Beijing Sighting Art Center, Beijing, China
1993
Chinese Oil Painting Biennale,China Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Exhibition of Contemporary Arts in North-East Shenyang Art Gallery, Shenyang, China
1989
China Avant-Garde Art Exhibition, China Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Image Courtesy of Yang Maoyuan's Studio