.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Born in Shanghai in 1962, Ding Yi is often seen as a pioneering figure of Chinese abstract art. In the mid-1980s, he began to cast off narrative content in his paintings in pursuit of abstract art.
"At the time, Chinese contemporary artists were looking for new ways of expression and discovery. Under these pressures, I looked for my own orientation and direction and hoped that my works would be very rational. I also hoped that they would not require a complicated interpretational framework or contain too many connections with reality."
Since the exhibition of his first piece from The Appearance of Crosses series in 1988, the layered systematic intersection of vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines have become part of Ding Yi's visual rhetoric, appearing in varied combinations. The artist's strict application of "automatic colour selection" further enhances the visual impact of his works. In 1993, Ding Yi began to experiment with different mediums, moving between linen, card, watercolour paper, cardboard, finished fabrics and plays with pencils, markers, chalks, ball pens, charcoal, oil paint and acrylic paint in the application of color. This is demonstrated in Appearance of Crosses Series (Lot 167), Appearance of Crosses 94-13 (Lot 169), and the Appearance of Crosses 97-41 (Lot 168), where he is able to fully appreciate the different effects created by different mediums.
The cross is a basic symbol in the vocabulary of colour printing. The artist uses the simplest shapes to restore painting to the most elemental units.
Created in 1994, Appearance of Crosses 94-13, has been inspired by black and white printing. The systematic repetition of the motif of the cross highlights the basic relationship between black and white, provoking thought on the definition of painting. In 1997, The Appearance of Crosses 97-41 has been created on top of a piece of tartan cloth, a material commonly found in everyday life. The artist takes this medium out of its original context, and covers it with cross-shapes to create an abstract aesthetic to near perfection. The "many" re-workings of Ding Yi's "Minimalist" language adds meaning to abstract art.
"At the time, Chinese contemporary artists were looking for new ways of expression and discovery. Under these pressures, I looked for my own orientation and direction and hoped that my works would be very rational. I also hoped that they would not require a complicated interpretational framework or contain too many connections with reality."
Since the exhibition of his first piece from The Appearance of Crosses series in 1988, the layered systematic intersection of vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines have become part of Ding Yi's visual rhetoric, appearing in varied combinations. The artist's strict application of "automatic colour selection" further enhances the visual impact of his works. In 1993, Ding Yi began to experiment with different mediums, moving between linen, card, watercolour paper, cardboard, finished fabrics and plays with pencils, markers, chalks, ball pens, charcoal, oil paint and acrylic paint in the application of color. This is demonstrated in Appearance of Crosses Series (Lot 167), Appearance of Crosses 94-13 (Lot 169), and the Appearance of Crosses 97-41 (Lot 168), where he is able to fully appreciate the different effects created by different mediums.
The cross is a basic symbol in the vocabulary of colour printing. The artist uses the simplest shapes to restore painting to the most elemental units.
Created in 1994, Appearance of Crosses 94-13, has been inspired by black and white printing. The systematic repetition of the motif of the cross highlights the basic relationship between black and white, provoking thought on the definition of painting. In 1997, The Appearance of Crosses 97-41 has been created on top of a piece of tartan cloth, a material commonly found in everyday life. The artist takes this medium out of its original context, and covers it with cross-shapes to create an abstract aesthetic to near perfection. The "many" re-workings of Ding Yi's "Minimalist" language adds meaning to abstract art.