Acrylic，Mixed media on canvas

72.5 x 61 cm.28 1/2 x 24 in.

Signed in Chinese and Pinyin，dated on lower right

LITERATURE Anna Ning Fine Art，Hong Kong，China，Ye Yongqing--A Journey Of Art，Mar 2008，p.131.

EXHIBITED Hong Kong Arts Center，Hong Kong，China，As Free As A Bird：An Exhibition of Works by Ye Yongqing，5-9 April，2008.

Ye Yongqing b. 1958

Ye Yongqing was born in Yunan，and studied together with Zhang Xiaogang and Zhou Chunya in Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. He was also in the same cohort with Luo Zhongli，He Duoling and other figures whose names would be written on art history.However，he avoided the scar art and nativist realism of the last generation，and was influenced by masters of modernism in the west at an early stage. As early as 1983，his landscape series of ‘Gui Mountain in Yunnan’ adopted a Paul Cézanne way of division of painting and scumbling technique to present the landscape of his dear birthplace. After 1985，Ye Yongqing went to Beijing and，together with Zhang Xiaogang，Mao Xuhui and others，formed a research group on art in the Southeast region，which became an important power in the ‘85 New Wave Movement’ of art. After 1989，he started his ‘Big Poster’ series，in which he produced the texts he had edited，signs and symbols on silk to explore a more profound social reality. Many of his later works outline unique imageries and meanings with seemingly arbitrary lines and scribbles，non-directly approaching a new era of concept art.

Created in 1998，“Distant News” showed an extensive range of symbols which the artist created with acrylic，collage and other media on canvas. All sorts of combinations such as birds，birdcages，old photos，posters and nudity appear on the piece of work，resembling a collage of stamps. In the mid-nineties，Ye Yongqing was in a ‘graffiti freedom’，his works somewhat in the style of images in Chinese classic text Classic of Mountains and Seas，but also in an exotic style linked to his motherland in Yunnan in southwestern area，showing a erotic air of magical realism.

Birds can be found in many places on the piece of work. On the bottom part of the while canvas there is a blue bird depicted in realist style. The contrast between the blue feathers and the red claws responds to the blue and red square in the lower part near the centre of the painting，introducing another bird depicted in a children’s simple drawing style. Depiction of the same element with vastly different styles brings a visual shock to viewers. On the left of the canvas there is a white poster with American artist CY Twombly’s name on it，responding to it are the spiralling brushes on the top. This reminds us of CY Twombly’s signature graffiti series ‘Untitled’. Ye Yongqing’s graffiti and collages in grids show a hint of American graffiti，but not as wild and untamed. His works are like a wanderer stepping towards globalization，truthfully recording all the elements，east and west，appearing in the artist’s creative thinking process. ‘Birds’ as a linking symbol is a preview of the artist’s creative interest at a later stage，therefore highlighting the importance of this piece of work.

“Bird”，created in 2007，is one of the series of concept art which Ye Yongqing started deliberating on in 2000. With the reverse thinking to do ‘slow graffiti’，he has enlarged a bird to the point of losing authenticity. By drawing ordinary yet abstract lines bit by bit with a extremely delicate pen，he purposely shows a careless and spontaneous character and a bird’s true nature. Ye Yongqing loves this contrast and absurdity，which is different from conventional mindset. ‘Graffiti is thought to be quick and simple. If one is to depict something childish in a mature way，and to produce a quick image by a slow process，so that at first glance people would think it is a child’s drawing，only to discover the profound meaning in the painting later，there would be lots of fun in the process，’ he thinks. To him，this method of artistic creation virtually is to ‘set a trap，fool the viewer，and plays a jesting game but never intending to hurt anyone’s feeling’. In the traditional Chinese literary and artistic view，birds are highly anthropomorphic and symbolic. Bada Shanren’s birds roll their eyes，which is exactly an image of the artist himself who is full of resentment. ‘Bird’ is one of Ye Yongqing’s ‘more naive，more childlike’ works，and through it the artist speaks for his hustling life not unlike a migrant bird. His metaphorical style in the early stage has changed to a visual art of a symbolic style.

Price estimate:
HKD：280,000 - 380,000
USD：36,120 - 49,000

Auction Result:
HKD : 377,600