Yang Jiechang
Introduction
For many artists, the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and the subsequent purges signaled the end of inquiry into and exchange with the West. However, Yang Jiechang was fortunate enough to spend his time learning classical Chinese from reviewing ancient texts and distinguishing between fragrant flowers and poisonous plants as a member of the Red Guard. Yang Jiechang was born in 1956 in Foshan, Guangdong. After graduating from high school, he began studying Chinese ink painting and calligraphy at the Foshan Folk Art Institute in Guangdong. in 1978, he attended the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts where he was exposed to Western art through a lecture series given by Joan Lebold Cohen (the noted Chinese art historian and curator) and Taiwanese art magazines. After graduating in 1982, Yang stayed at the academy as a teacher and also engaged in long-term research on Chinese art history under Professor Chen Shaofeng (1923-1997). In 1989, he was chosen to participate in Magiciens de la Terre, at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. At the event, he created his large-scale “Hundred Layers of Ink” series which caused quite the stir in the international art scene. The paintings from this series are the result of focused repetition, and Yang applied ink to the same piece each day, every day until the paper became completely saturated. Since then, Yang has lived and worked in Paris in France and Heidelberg in Germany, and has participated in numerous biennials around the globe, including Venice Biennial, Lyon Biennial, Liverpool Biennial, Gwangju Biennial, Shanghai Biennial, Chengdu Biennale, Wuhan Ink Biennale, Guangzhou Triennale and Shenzhen Ink Biennial. His artistic style, materials, and inspirations are diverse, encompassing various art mediums such as painting, calligraphy, ceramics, installations, performance art, and video.
Yang's solo exhibitions in museums have taken place at prestigious venues such as Guimet Museum; Galerie de Sèvres, Paris; Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum; Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai; OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen. Currently his monumental "Hundred Layers of Ink" is on view at the Museum: Modern and Contemporary Collection, Centre Pompidou, Paris; and work from the "Tale of the 11th Day" series is on show in M+ as part of an exhibition Shanshui: Echoes and Signals. In recent years, other significant group exhibitions that he participated in include A Blueprint for Ruins, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2023-2024; Ink in Motion: A History of Chinese Painting in the 20th Century, Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France 2022-2023; Ethnological Collections and Asian Art, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany, 2021-2022; Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA, 2021; Ink City, Tai Kwun, Hong Kong, 2021; Arts of China, Arts of Asia Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA, 2019; Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, The Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA, 2018; Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, 2013-2014.
As part of Le French May, Alice King guest curated his solo exhibition at the Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Hong Kong in 2001, and again in 2015 as part of Le French May, Alisan Fine Arts held an exhibition at the Hong Kong Central Library for the artist, documenting his artistic career. In 2017, we had his solo exhibition at Alisan Central and included his works in Art Basel Hong Kong, Art 021 Shanghai and Asia Now in Paris.
Yang's works have been collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Rockefeller Foundation, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Berkeley Art Museum, California, USA; Contemporary Art Foundation of the French Cultural Centre, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France; Ullens Foundation, Switzerland; Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan; Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyongju, South Korea; Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China; Yageo Art Foundation, Taiwan; Hong Kong Museum of Art; M+, Hong Kong; University Museum and Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong, to name a few.
BIOGRAPHY
1956 Born Foshan, Guangdong, China
1974 – 1978 Studied paper mounting, folk art, calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting at the Foshan Folk Art Institute, Foshan, Guangdong, China
1978 – 1982 Studied traditional Chinese painting at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China
1982 – 1989 Taught at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China
Engaged in long-term research on Chinese art history under Professor Chen Shaofeng (1923-1997)
1984 – 1986 Studied Daosim with Master Huangtao at Mount Luofu, Guangzhou and studied Zen Buddhism at Guangxiao Temple, Guangzhou, China
1989 Moved to Europe to live and work in Paris, France and Heidelberg, Germany
1992 – 1993 Fellowship, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, USA
2003 Residency at the Kunst Werke in Berlin, sponsored by French AFAA and German government
2005 Visiting artist at Stanford University (February)
2008 Sterling visiting scholar at the Stanford University Medical School, Department of Chemical and Systems Biology
2016 Documentary film “Yang Jiechang’s Gu and Qi,” in the series "The Enduring Passion of Ink", directed and produced by Britta Erickson and filmed by Richard Widmer
2021 Listed in Chinese Ink Art Year Book 2020, Culture and Art Publisher, Beijing, China
Present Lives and works in Paris, France and Heidelberg, Germany
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024-2025
- Hundred Layers of Ink, M+ special exhibition, M+, Hong Kong (Oct 2, 2024 - May 25, 2025)
2024
2022
- Carte Blanche à Yang Jiechang, Guimet Museum, Paris, France
2021
- Yang Jiechang: Tale of the 11th Day, Galerie de Sèvres, Paris, France
2019
- 3 Souls 7 Spirits, Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- From Heaven to Hell, Beyond Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
- Yang Jiechang, Taipei Dangdai, Nangang Exhibition Centre, Taipei, Taiwan
2018
- Six Two Zen, Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
- Seed Garden, Boxes Art Museum, Foshan, China
2017
- This is still Bird and Flower Painting, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Mustard Seed Garden: Mayland Lake, Art House, Guangzhou, China
- Earth Roots, Ink Studio, Beijing, China
- Yang Jiechang:The Whip, Chamber Fine Arts, New York, USA
2016
- Yang Jiechang: I Often Do Bad Things, Phoenixhallen/Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
2015
- Yang Jiechang: Good Morning Hong Kong, Le French May, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Central Library, Hong Kong
- Early Works by Yang Jiechang: 100 Layers of Ink, Le French May, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
2014
- Yang Jiechang: This is Still Landscape Painting, Ink Studio, Beijing, China
2012
- Tale of the 11th Day, OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China
2011
- Stranger than Paradise, La Criée, Centre d’art Contemporain, Rennes, France
2010
- Underground Flowers, Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Rouen, Festival Automne en Normandie, Rouen, France
2009
- On Ascension, Galerie Jaeger Bucher, Paris, France
- Territoria, special project, Associazione Culturale Cantiere d’Arte Alberto Moretti-Galleria Schema, Prato, Italy
2008
- No – Shadow Kick, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
- Venice Biennial, Tibetan Pavilion, Edicola Notte, Rome, Italy
- In God We Trust, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, California, USA
2007
- The Most Beautiful Country of China, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
2005
- Hei Ji Sheng Xiang, Shenzhen Painting Institute, Shenzhen, China
- Who Occupies the Space?, Isola Art Center, Milan, Italy
2003
- Lookchat, Centre A, Vancouver, Canada
- For Emily, 4A Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2002
- Der längste Tag, Kunstverein Nürtingen, Nürtingen, Germany
2001
- Enlightened Blackness: Ink Paintings by Yang Jiechang, Le French May, curated by Alice King, University Museum and Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong; Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
2000
- You - Double View, Project Room, ARCO 2000, Madrid, Spain
1999
- Another Turn of the Screw, Gallery of Central Fine Arts Academy, Beijing, China
1998
- Your Customs – Our Customs, Altes Zollamt, Frankfurt, Germany
1994
- Cut the Fingernails from My Body, Espace d’Art Contemporain Le Faubourg, Strasbourg, France
1993
- Rencontres dans un couloir, private apartment of Hou Hanru, Paris, France
1992
- Troisième demeure mondiale, Frankfurt, Germany
1991
- Works on Paper, Frith Street Gallery, London, UK
1990
- Voyage au Mexique, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico
1986
- Xinghe Exhibition, Central Park Gallery, Guangdong Artists Association, Guangzhou, China
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024-2026
-
Shanshui: Echoes and Signals, M+, Hong Kong
2024-2025
- The Writings of Today Are A Promise For Tomorrow, SAMOCA, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Sept 26, 2024 - Feb 18, 2025)
-
The Journey of Ink: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Paintings from the Musée Cernuschi, Bund One Art Museum, Shanghai, China (Until Jan 5, 2025)
2024
- Mightier Than the Sword-Writing Freedom, Heidelberg University Museum, Germany (Oct 11 - Dec 19, 2024)
-
Museum: Modern and Contemporary Collection, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2023-2024
- A Blueprint for Ruins, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
-
Delight in the Invisible: Abstract Narrative of Momentary, Ming Yuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2023
-
Chengdu Biennale: Time Gravity, Chengdu Art Museum, Chengdu, China
- Minimal: The Art from East Asia, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany
2022-2023
-
Ink in Motion: A History of Chinese Painting in the 20th Century, Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France
2022
-
Asia Now - Paris Asian Art Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France
-
Beyond Ink, Qualia Contemporary Art, Palo Alto, USA
2021-2022
-
Ethnological Collections and Asian Art, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany
2021
-
Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
- Ink City, Tai Kwun, Hong Kong
2020
- Ink Sky: Exhibition of Chinese Ink Art Year Book 2020, An Art Museum, Beijing, China
-
Waves and Echoes: A Process of Re-contemporarization in Chinese Art Circa 1987 Revisited, Inside-out Art Museum, Beijing, China
2019
- Art 021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China
- Arts of China, Arts of Asia Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
- 10th International Ink Art Biennial of Shenzhen: Ink at Current, Shenzhen Fine Art Institute, Shenzhen, China
- 5th Collector's Contemporary Collaboration, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2018
-
Beyond Ink: 20th China Shanghai International Arts Festival Program, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
-
Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, The Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA
2017
- In Flux: Chinese Contemporary Art, Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
- Art 021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair 2017, Alisan Fine Arts, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China
- 1st Wuhan Ink Biennial, Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan, China
2016
2015
- La Chine ardente, Sculptures monumentales contemporaines, Mons - European Cultural Capital, Le abbattoires, Mons, Belgium
- Harmony and Transition, Chinese Landscapes in Contemporary Art, MARTA Herford, Herford, Germany
- Tracing the Brush, Transformed Text, Ink Asia, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
2014
- Advance through Retreat, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- China’s Changing Landscape, Nordic Watercolor Museum, Skärhamn, Sweden
2013-2014
- Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
2013
- Essence of Contemporary Chinese Ink, Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
- Zizhiqu/ Autonomous Regions, Times Museum, Guangzhou, China
- From Gesture to Language, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- Yuandao, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
2012
- Reactivation - Shanghai Biennial, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
- Sehnsucht, Castel Gaasbeeck, Leenik, Belgium
- Clouds, The Museum of Sketches - Archives of Public Art, Lund, Sweden
2011
- The World Belongs to You, Palazzo Grassi, Foundation F. Pinault, Venice, Italy
- Death Matters, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Tracing the Milky Way, Tang Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China
2010
- New Ink Art: Painting & Installation, ART HK10, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
- Hareng Saur: Ensor et l’art contemporain, MSK and S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium
- L’Océan, Espace Bellevue, Biarritz, France
- Le Jardin Emprunté, Jardin du Palais-Royal, Paris, France
- Thirty years of Contemporary Chinese Art, Minsheng Museum, Shanghai, China
2009
- Against Exclusion - 3rd Moscow Biennial, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia
- 10th Lyon Biennale: The Spectacle of the Everyday, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
- Qui a peur des artistes? Une sélection d’œuvres de la Fondation François Pinault, Musée de Dinard, Dinard, France
- Becoming Intense, Becoming Animal, Becoming…, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
- Hong Kong International Art and Antiques Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
- Ding Yi, Shen Fan, Yang Jiechang, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
2008
- Onda Anomala – Manifesta 7, Trento, Italy
- Too Early For Vacation, RV&A, Limerick, Ireland
- 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
- Our Future, special project, UCCA, Beijing, China
- Hong Kong Art: Open Dialogue Exhibition Series II – New Ink Art: Innovation and Beyond, curated by Alice King, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
2007
- One Hundred Layers of Ink: Yang Jiechang and Recent Works of Wei Ligang, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
- Metamorphosis - The Generation of Transformation in Chinese Contemporary Art, Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
- Made in China, Louisiana Museum, Kopenhagen, Denmark
- New Wave ’85, UCCA, Beijing, China
2006
- Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK
- Laboratoires pour un avenir incertain, La Force de l’Art - 1st Paris Triennial, Grand Palais, Paris, France
- La revoluzione siamo noi, Isola Art Center, Milan, Italy
- Micro-Macro Politics, Macau Museum of Art, Macau
- 5th Shenzhen International Ink Biennial: Taste, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
- Capolavoro, Palazzo di Primavera, Terni, Rome, Italy
- Infiltration – Idylls and Visions, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2005
- Beyond, 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
- Layered Landscapes, Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford, USA
- Biennial of Emergency, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
- Experimental Ink, Museum of the University of Science, Taipei and Taichung, Taiwan
2004
- French Diaspora, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- La Nuit Blanche, Paris, France
- Le moine et le démon, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
- A l’est du sud de l’ouest, Villa Arson, Nice; Credac Sète, France
- Odyssey(s) 2004, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- All Under Heaven, Muhka (Museum of Modern Art), Antwerp, Belgium
2003
- Zone of Urgency, 50th Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
2002
- Shenzhen Ink Biennial, Shenzhen Painting Institute, Shenzhen, China
- 1st Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
- Pause: Gwangju Biennial, Gwangju, South Korea
2001
- 20 Main Chinese Painters, National Art Museum of China, Bejing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- China: 20 Years of Ink Experiment, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2000
- Paris pour Escale, Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
- Fuori Uso – The Bridges, Pescara, Italy
1999
- Asiart 99 - Biennale d’arte contemporanea, Museum of Contemporary Art Genova, Genova, Italy
1998
- Les magiciens de la terre, Anina Nosei Gallery, New York, USA
- 2nd Shanghai International Biennial, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1997
- In Between Limits, Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyongju, Korea
1996
- East-West, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany
1995
- Hölderlinturm, Hölderlinturm, Tübingen, Germany
1994
- Out of the Centre, Museum of Modern Art, Pori, Finland
1993
- Coalition, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, UK
- Silent Energy, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK
- Construction in Process No. 4 - My Home is your Home, The Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland
- Mao’s Untamed Children, Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, Germany
1992
- The Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland
- History of the Rocket, The Tree of Life - A Journey to Asian Contemporary Art, Saitama Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
1991
- Exceptional Passage, Museum City Project, Fukuoka, Japan
1990
- Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico
- Chine demain pour hier, Pourrières, France
1989
- China/Avantgarde, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
- Les Magiciens de la Terre, Centre d’Art Moderne Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Rockefeller Foundation, New York, USA
Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Contemporary Art Foundation of the French Cultural Centre, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France
French Television Channel Canal +, France
François Pinault Foundation, France
Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany
Lausanne Museum, Switzerland
Ullens Foundation, Switzerland
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyongju, South Korea
Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Yageo Art Foundation, Taiwan
Eslite Inc., Taiwan
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
M+, Hong Kong