As a young artist, Huang Yan first love was traditional landscape painting.  He held a fascination for the literati art movement that influenced artists of the Song Dynasty to view nature as the primary subject in paintings.  The Literati later adopted a reverence for nature into their own lifestyle, believing in a simple life without attachment to modern accoutrements; what was originally an aesthetic movement became a spiritual one.

Huang Yan is an artist who advocates for the preservation of traditional Chinese art. Yet, his works are decidedly avant- garde.  “Traditional” and “avant- garde” sound like opposing ideals, but Huang Yan came to realise just how similar the two movements are.  Through contemporary art practices like his trademark technique of painting traditional landscapes on human canvas – or body painting – Huang Yan has adapted the literati aesthetic to contemporary life.  His works successfully convey the innate relevance of traditional to modern life; though few people practice traditional Chinese art nowadays, there is traditional within us all.

Opening Ceremony: Nov 1, 2010, 6:35pm