Galerie du Monde is proud to present the Solo exhibition, "RED •MEMORIES” by the internationally recognized Chinese contemporary artist, Zhu Yiyong from October 11 to December 1, 2012. The exhibition will showcase the recent significant oil painting series entitled “Memories” by the artist.
Zhu Yiyong graduated with honors from the Oil Painting Department of the Sichuan Academy of Art, where he is now a Professor. Through years of practice and continuous exploration, Zhu has mastered very exceptional technical skills in oil painting and attained an extraordinary sensitivity in portraying human characters. Since the Chinese Contemporary New Wave movement, Zhu has experimented with “ Scar painting” and “ Rustic Realistic painting”; with some of his significant works , such as “ Village Inn“ , “ Morning”, “Father and Son”, of which several were acquired by national museums in China. During this period, he became one of the most important artists in Contemporary China. In the late 90s, Zhu returned to a more traditional classical style with less focus on the accurate sense of reality of the world and daily life. His works have aroused a great deal of attention worldwide and left a profound impact in the artistic realm at that time.
After years of creativeness, Zhu decided to express his concern over issues of reality in contemporary society. He then created another remarkable series of work, entitled “Memories”. Zhu has portrayed people from different social classes, ranging from schoolyard children, peasants, cosmopolitan beauties to working laborers, etc. He also employed the motif of the children’s game Cat’s Cradle that is a recollection of China’s most famous symbol in the History of Revolution to reminisce on the non-materialistic memories that had gradually faded from people’s field of vision.
Zhu has his unique interpretation regarding contemporary culture and life and he has searched for yesterday’s memories and today’s thoughts through his paintings. In the series, he adopted the Cat’s Cradle motif to reflect the psychological status of people in the society of the time. In the canvases, the portrayal of the delicate facial expressions of the characters have formed a strong visual contrast with the traditional Cat’s cradle game. The emotionally provocative and symbolic “five-pointed star” has awakened people’s memories in the pursuit of purity and sublimity of the bygone era. The evolution of time and psychological status of people have been exquisitely and beautifully conveyed in the works by Zhu. Through these means, the forgotten part of Chinese history and the collective memories of people are now being reinterpreted.
