HUANG Qiyou: Memories in Mishan
Curated by WANG Yaoli

BONIAN SPACE and ArtPro Artist ECO jointly present the solo exhibition Memories in Mishan by artist Huang Qiyou, which will open on Friday, August 4th, at 3:00 pm at ArtPro Space. The exhibition features more than twenty newly created acrylic canvas paintings by the artist, inviting the audience to experience the charm of mountains, rivers, lakes, and the setting sun merging into the sea through his unrestrained brushstrokes.

Among the towering and steep mountains that traverse the sky and the sea, "Mishan" here refers to a group of mountains and can also represent the direction of one's heart. In Huang's paintings, within the clear and serene aesthetic charm, an "unspeakable" sense of mystery is concealed in his unique narrative about memories and experiences, nature, and transcendence.

This exhibition showcases classic works by artist Huang Qiyou created over the past four years, mostly depicting landscapes of mountains and seas. His approach to painting stems from an Eastern way of thinking, markedly different from today's prevalent Western artistic concepts. Abandoning the use of perspective and the representation of specific objects, he seeks the beauty of brushstrokes and the flowing rhythm in his paintings. The spontaneous sense of relaxation allows Huang to express literati interests without hinting at deliberateness.

We can easily perceive Huang's reflections on the prevailing cliche aesthetics in his works. Since moving from Beijing to Xiamen in 2014, he has begun to rethink the contemporary art generation and the mainstream market's creative representation. Intentionally detaching himself from the hustle and bustle of modern city life and the contemporary art scene, he attempts to create works that are devoid of vivid colors, attention-grabbing elements, and deliberate visual impact. By "recklessly" painting based on collected image materials and his intuitive feelings and understanding, he gradually explores the freedom of painting in its most fundamental sense. It was not until 2019, when he was deeply moved by the colors of the setting sun, that he started incorporating colors into his paintings and created a series of artworks with the setting sun as the backdrop, making the fiery hues a recurring motif in his creations.

His love for natural living also drives him to express more of his actual experiences of living in the mountains or close to natural surroundings in his artwork. However, he does not simply record life through his paintings; instead, he chooses to return to the essence of painting itself, using these experiences and insights as a foundation for his creative process. As a result, his paintings are filled with many peculiar and intriguing details that differ from reality, adding a touch of fantastical Eastern fables to his works.

The afterglow of fading light, the wandering traveler playing in the water, unable to hear the conversation of white doves among the trees. In the nameless valley, memories of the past no longer weigh heavily; a light breeze disperses the mist, revealing a person leisurely resting by the Peach Blossom Lake. Huang Qiyou's paintings connect with memories, conveying a delicate sensibility while exuding a sense of ease and indifference. His paintings' indistinct and unnamed landscapes seem to correspond to a familiar place, but we can't quite recall where.

About Artist

Huang Qiyou was born in Guangxi in 1987. He graduated from Guangxi Art University in 2010, and gained the 2020-2021 Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Annual Artist-in-Residence. Now, he lives and works in Xiamen. Huang Qiyou's artistic practice is mostly based on composite painting, combining his personal imagination in nature with a mythological narrative that transcends time and space, with the moods of oriental landscape painting and classical texts, he creates his own vocabulary of landscape figures from his personal physical experience.

Huang Qiyou’s solo exhibition include: MANY YEARS LATER AS HE STOOD ON THE HORIZON WHERE MOUNTAINS AND SEAS MEET, HE WAS TO REMEMBER THAT DISTANT PAST WHEN HE RUSHED THROUGH THE GRASS AT SUNSET, Enclave Contemporary, Shenzhen (2023); The Bright Moon is High Up, YIRI ARTS, Taipei (2022); Boundless Wind and Moon, JM Gallery, Shanghai (2021); Private Garden, East Gallery, Nanjing (2020); If you can not say it clearly, How can you say that you know, East Gallery, Nanjing (2018); To Say The Hills Behind, FuyanCommune, Beijing (2017). His major group exhibitions include: VARIATION, Bird Gallery, Shanghai (2023); Beijing Contemporary Art Expo REUOION, National Agriculture Exhibition Center, Beijing (2023); Design Shenzhen 2023, Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center, Shenzhen (2023); Beyond Images, Linda Gallery, Beijing (2022); Landscape Painting, Hunsand Center for Contemporary Art, Shijiazhuang (2022); A New Account of Tales of the World, SEEWELL International Art Center, Fuzhou (2022); FANSHION 2, Gallery 55, Shanghai (2021); Space Colony, YIRI ARTS, Taipei (2021); Outside the Algorithm, Eternel Gallery, Guiyang (2021); Remolded Individuals, Chengdu Art Museum, Chengdu (2019), etc.

About Curator

Wang Yaoli is a curator, writer, and media worker based in Beijing, the director of BONIAN SPACE. With an MFA degree in Curatorial Practice from School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York, and a BFA degree in major Art History and minors in Psychology and Japanese from the University of Miami (UM), Florida, USA. She focuses on the practice of emerging artists and the development of the contemporary art market. Her academic research focuses on the development of ecological art and biotechnology in the post-human context, as well as geo-folk cultures and mythology in contemporary society.