Lot 1583: YE YONGQING

YE YONGQING
(B. 1958)
Banana Paddies & Sugar Cane Field
signed in Chinese; dated '85.10' (lower left)
oil on canvas
80 x 110 cm. (31 1/2 x 43 1/4 in.)
Painted in 1985

Ye Yongqing was a founding member of the "South-West Art Group", a group representative of the new generation of artists strongly inspired by the indigenous rural life in the southern west region of China in the 1980s. In contrary to the rapid development of cities in China at that time, Ye sought inspiration from natural landscapes and depicted the ingenuous forest in Banana Paddies & Sugar Cane Field (Lot 1583). A story seems to be concealed behind the deep colors of plants and human, leading the viewers to contemplate the meaning hidden.

In 1987 Ye began developing a personal artistic style by employing various mediums in his works including oil, cloth, India paper, newspaper, posters and rough straw paper. London Diary (Lot 1584) is telling of such experimentation, showing how Ye records and releases his experiences and emotions through art. Through his liberal and experimental style, Ye's displays his innovative and broad vision.

With extensive travels in over a hundred cities, Ye projects his nomadic philosophy of life and unique international perspective into graffiti like paintings such as Drawing of the Bird No. 1 (Lot 1585). Inspired by the famous French contemporary master, Marcel Duchamp, Ye approaches with works conceptually, attempting to understand the simultaneous use of complexity and simplicity. Studying philosophy encouraged him to depict a bird as a "non-bird" through simplistic lines, demonstrating conciseness and emptiness while adopting Chinese calligraphic techniques to produce new poetic feelings and aesthetics.