Yu Jen-chih

1977

Taipei , Taiwan

Artist painter and art critic specializing in woodblock prints and oil paintings. Yu started creating prints when he was young. After graduating from the Department of Fine Arts of Tunghai University in 1999, he went to Paris, France to study film and oil painting, and received a doctorate from the Film Institute of Paris I University. He uses traditional ink painting as the basis for his engraving, and explores new development based on the style of European woodblock prints Therefore, in terms of techniques, Yu first used the traditional ink brush as the medium to draw a complete image on the wooden board, and then used a knife to remove the white part according to the lines, thus creating the feeling of flowing lines in ink painting. The precise marks demonstrate Yu's ability to express the traditional oink aesthetics that emphasizes lines.

In 2013, with Michel Bohbot, French curator and poet, Yu Jen-chih prepared an artist’s books (Haïku with five wood engravings), Ce qui me fait signe, in a limited hand-made edition. In 2018, Yu especially created a wood engraving of 720x122 cm for Les Moyens du Bord, an art centre located in the historical tobacco factory in Morlaix, France. French national newspapers Ouest France and Le Télégramme praised this exhibition in several reviews.

Over the years, Yu has had over thirty solo and group exhibitions around the world, including France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Ukrain, Argentina, Colombia, Georgia, Bahrain, Taiwan, Hong Kong. Major solo exhibitions include Reminiscence, Museum Bernard Boesch, France, 2025; Holzwege, V12 Gallery, France, 2022; Painting, Print and Drawing by Yu Jen-chih, Galerie Raulin Pompidou, France, 2020; Between Titans and Giants, Kwan Hwa Information and Culture Centre, Hong Kong, 2017. Recent important group exhibitions include a joint exhibition with Tsai Ciawei, Avignon Festival, France, 2024; Salon 49 Perspectives, Contemporary Art Space at Former Stables of Slate Quarries, France, 2021-2023.

Yu Jen-chih is also a published author and has written for several magazines and newspapers: Panorama Monthly and Eastern China Daily (China), Ming Po Monthly and Apple Times (Hong Kong), China Times, Music & Audiophile and INK Literary Monthly (Taiwan). He has collaborated with Milan Kundera and Carlos Fuentes for their first major literary reviews in Chinese. Since 2011, Yu Jen-chih has worked with Fernando Arrabal on his Chinese language publications. In 2011, his monthly column on art (2007) for INK were assembled together with his paintings and photos by INK Publisher in a book entitled Interior/Exterior: Still Life & Landscape, an updated edition was designed by New Star Press for Mainland China in 2012.

Yu's works were collected by National Library of France, Francois Mitterrand Media Library, Gulf Media Libraries, Royal Library of Belgium, to name a few.

Yu Jen-chih has been based in Paris since 1999. Alisan Fine Arts has exhibited his works at Taipei Dangdai, 2020.

BIOGRAPHY
1977 Born in Taipei, Taiwan
1985 Started to experiment with different engraving techniques
1995-1999 Studied Fine Art at Tunghai University, Taiwan
1999 Studied film history at Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, gained DEA postgraduate degree, Paris, France
2011 Monthly column on art (2007) for INK were assembled together with paintings and photos by INK Publisher in a book entitled Interior/Exterior: Still Life & Landscape, an updated edition was designed by New Star Press for Mainland China in 2012
2013 Started to create artist's handmade books with several French poets
2018 Created a wood engraving of 720 x 122 cm for Les Moyens du Bord, an art centre located in the historical tobacco factory in Morlaix, France
Present Live and work in Paris, France

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025

Reminiscence: Yu Jen-chih, Museum Bernard Boesch, Le Pouliguen, France (until 29 July)

2023

Maison de l'Edre, Nantes, France

2022

Galerie Raulin Pompidou, Paris, France
Holzwege, V12 Gallery, Angers, France

2020

Painting, Print and Drawing by Yu Jen-chih, Galerie Raulin Pompidou, Paris, France

2019

Red Zone Arts, Frankfurt, Germany

2018

Les Moyens du Bord, Morlaix, France

2017

Between Titans and Giants, Kwan Hwa Information and Culture Centre, Hong Kong

2014

Red Zone Arts, Geneva, Switzerland

2012

Give time to time/Donner du temps au temps, Espace des Blancs Manteaux, Paris, France

1997

Backyard Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

1994

Painting Exchange and Appreciation Association, Taipei, Taiwan

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024

Yu Jen-chih & Tsai Charwei: Taiwan's Expose Taiwan’s Visual Arts, Festival Off Avignon, Couvert des Cordeliers, Avignon, France

2021-2023

Salon 49 Perspectives, Contemporary Art Space at Former Stables of Slate Quarries, Trélazé, France

2021

Affordable Art, Alisan Fine Arts-Aberdeen, Hong Kong

2020

Taipei Dangdai Art & Ideas Contemporary Art Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan

2019

La Biblioteca Municipal d'Eivissa, Ibiza, Spain
Patricia Erbelding Studio, Paris, France
Ancient Wash-house, Flagy, France

2014-2015

National Museum of Latin America, La Plata, Argentina

2014

Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Quimper, France

Red Zone Arts, Geneva, Switzerland

2013

Municipal Library, Boussy St. Antoine, France
Town Hall, St. Julien du Saut, France
Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France

2010

Joint exhibition with Russian born artist Masha S., National Music Centre, Tiflis (Tbilissi), Georgia

2009

Galerie Saphir, Dinard, France
Municipal Museum, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukrain
Alliance Française, Bahrain
Town Hall, Bogota, Colombia
Ex Carcere Borbonico, Avellino, Italy

2008

Alliance Française, Paris, France
Galerie Saphir, Paris, France

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
National Library of France, Paris, France

Francois Mitterrand Media Library, Le Releq Kerbuon, France
Gulf Media Libraries, Vannes, France
ADEF Residence, Ivry-sur-Seine, France
Archives and Museum of Literature, Royal Library of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium

PUBLICATIONS
2011 Interior/Exterior: Still Life & Landscape, INK Publisher, Taipei, Taiwan
2012 Interior/Exterior: Still Life & Landscape (updated edition), New Star Press, Shanghai, China

ARTIST'S HANDMADE BOOKS
2019 Red Landscape I (with Patricia Erbelding)
2018 Sunset, Seashore Landscape (with Michel Bohbot)
2016 Big Flowers (with Michel Bohbot)
Milarepa (with Michel Bohbot)
2013 Ce qui me fait signe (with Michel Bohbot)