Fu Yao : Scenario

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Tang Contemporary Art is honored to announce the representation of artist Fu Yao in the Asia region. Scenario is the first solo collaboration between artist Fu Yao and Tang Contemporary Art. The show will feature over 20 representative pieces of her creative work in the past decade, selected from four series that create a vivid theatrical spectacle together. By exploring the profound and multifaceted nature of the artist’s creative spirit, all of which is expressed through her captivating and enigmatic imagery.

Fu Yao’s paintings contain many unrealistic, symbolic iconographies. Through intricate brushstrokes and delicate textures, she seamlessly combines realism with imagination to create a contradictory dramatic effect. A series of diverse and unique scenarios then smoothly combine these virtual characters with their surrounding environments. The dual structure of reality and fantasy overturns the conventional imagery of any given era- it is neither a traditional Chinese landscape painting nor a classical Western representation; it is not simply an appropriation of imagery, nor is it created according to the conventions of Oriental painting. On the contrary, she handles masterfully the relationships – whether if they are about space or structure – among each element in her paintings, ultimately arriving at a comfortable conflict. By connecting the realms of imagination, symbolism, and reality, Fu Yao leaves the audience with a script that travels through time and space.

In this exhibition, the works on display include Fu Yao’s series “Escape”, “Wanderlog Memories”, “A Thousand and Two Nights”, as well as her latest creation, the “Scenario” series. These series collectively depict the artist’s spiritual journey of self-discovery, tracing her path from escape to wandering, and ultimately coming to terms with the transience and impermanence of life. We begin the exhibition with “Escape”, which not only marks the beginning of the artist’s creative journey but also symbolizes the start of a life journey – an escape. Why did she escape? Where did she escape to? What happened later? The artist never provided any narrative explanation for the cause and effect of the “escape”, so we can only search for some possible clues within the images. After escaping, it was a life of wandering, of floating, a liberation from self-imposed limitations, a freedom of expression on the canvas, a soft murmur of brushstrokes, and a further sublimation of the ideal form.

Thus, we can confidently assert that the artist, through her brush and imagination, endeavors to create a new allegorical style – one that synthesizes destiny, culture, life, death, existence, and void into a simultaneous panorama. It is a bucolic, yet intelligible painting lexicon that she seeks to impart. As you explore her works, close your eyes and immerse yourself in the idealism reminiscent of Don Quixote, pushing upstream against the absurdity of the world; feel the aestheticism of the rebellious genius Oscar Wilde, resilient and true to oneself despite setbacks; feel the tragic grandeur portrayed in the works of Tennessee Williams, searching for reality within a fabricated world; experience the heroism depicted by Calvino, facing the cruel world with ease and a smile…

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Fu Yao's work is filled with thriving lives, in addition to characters; there are horses, deer, dogs, rabbits and all kinds of birds and other unknown flowers. These creatures are also the masters of the picture, who have established intimacy with mankind since ancient times have the same status as other beings. All living organisms and human-beings are co-located interdependently in the "Garden of Eden" built by Fu Yao. In addition to Fu Yao's peculiar sense of natural life, this kind of "harmony between man and nature" method also reflects her interpretation of the subject under the rhetoric of modern art with expression of symbolism and surrealism.

Her highlighted solo exhibitions include: “Fu Yao: Scenario”, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong (2023); “Endlessness” Fu Yao’s solo exhibition, Beijing Time Museum, Beijing (2021); “ART CHANGSHA”, Changsha Museum, Changsha (2019); “The Unworldly Existence- Fu Yao’s Art Exhibition”, Poly Art Museum, Beijing (2018); “Tipsy Life” Solo Exhibition, Yihe Club, Sanlitun, Beijing (2014); “The Same I” Solo Exhibition, Bridge Gallery, 798 International Art District, Beijing (2010); “Fu Yao’s Solo Art Exhibition”, Chantilly Art Center, Shanghai (2008).