Text by Curator：THE GREEN SHEAF

Critical Review

2023.02.24

Text by Curator: THE GREEN SHEAF 绿束 Text / TANG YUQIAO The short-lived independent magazine The Green Sheaf (1903-1904), edited and published by artist Pamela Colman Smith (1878-1951) at the turn of last century, brought together artists of the time to bind different forms and mediums of art projects (painting, poetry, music, costume, etc.) together. All of these projects discussed mysticism, metaphysics and other occult-related subjects. Having graduated from the Pratt Institute, Pamela Colman Smith joined a roadshow theater, wherein touring enabled her to embark on a modern nomadic lifestyle. Pamela made friends with artists while she was on the roadshow tour, and also recorded her thoughts and sentimental contemplations. Like her, the three artists in this exhibition, Wang Xinyan, Yan Zhancheng and Zhu Yizhou, all unconsciously convey their spontaneous artistic creations and sensory experiences through their paintings, capturing the essence of their journey through art practice. In Wang Xinyan (b.1995, China)’s recent practice she has been looking back at the primitive symbols, totems, and ritual altars from the age of Prehistoric Civilization. Wang contemplates how artists, under the development of contemporary civilization and technological advancement, can be judged and evaluated by the painterly skills and techniques of the artwork itself rather than the standards imposed by external understanding. The contents she presents on her canvases are an amalgamation of miscellaneous inspirations gathered by stripping away external influences. These inspirations eventually converge in the objects, elements, or lifestyle she is interested in. Coincidently, Wang Xinyan's works visualize and present refections of her subconsciousness in visual language. Through a style that evokes pre-historicism and primal landscapes, Wang Xinyan’s creative process concentrates on the personal exploration of painting, while simultaneously expressing her brimming enthusiasm for life—scintillating yet packed with gravitas. Before becoming established in Beijing, Yan Zhancheng (b.1984, China) ’s artistic career moved back and forth between north and south China. From 2017, the artist began to incorporate his personal interpretation of the poetry of Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) and other Western literary novels and articles in his artworks. Incessantly, he pursues an inner sentimentality amidst an unsettling external environment of constant shift, an opposition of which lends his works a sense of poetry depicted in the literary works he admires. In Yan’s works, figurative landscapes and blurred physiognomies constitute his compositions, in which repeatedly modified and stacked paint blocks and the fluid contours delineated by markers forge a confrontation between thickness and lightness. In recent years, Yan Zhancheng’s artistic creation has gradually gravitated toward literature after transitioning from an attempt to depict randomness. By finding his painterly style and artistic language, Yan has become more confident in depicting “the things he wants to paint.” Zhu Yizhou (b.1989, China) ’s artistic career developed in tandem with the coming-of-age of Millenials. She introspects her spiritual yearnings from the collective cultural value system of the East and West perceived by her surroundings, as a means to obtain serenity. During her creative process, Zhu Yizhou is highly absorbed in the act of art making, even oblivious to the outside world, which somehow bestows her works a carefree, gratifying aura. Her works detach themselves from the constraint of certain periods and emotions, locating their content on the Zen philosophy of the East, while also introducing her sensibility. The landscapes, still lifes, and figures in her works are stripped of the temporalities and zeitgeists attached to a particular motif. The repeatedly revised and refined images in her works, overlaid with slightly fidgety brushstrokes, present an East-Asian style of solitary atmosphere. This exhibition, The Green Sheaf , showcases not the review of art practice journeys but canvas-extended creations of the three artists over the past three years. The review involves viewer reading and communicating with the insight of 「mysticism」 in artists' minds and the interpreted understanding of symbolism, ancient totems, and geo-culture presented in their works in the in the gallery space. At the same time, the exhibition also displays three artists' diverse artistic styles and their personal spiritual spaces in their works via outward, poetic, and delicate art symbols. CURATOR Tang Yuqiao, currently works at TRIUMPH GALLERY and lives in Beijing. In 2014, she graduated from Sheffield Institute of Art with a Bachelor's Degree in Art. In 2017, she graduated from London College of Communication of the University of The Arts London with a Master's Degree in Art. Her master's study was to specialize in environmental narrative and the visual guidelines of public spaces (e.g., art museums, historical museums, etc.). After achieving her Master's Degree, Tang started her studies at Sotheby's Insitute of Art (London Campus).

Artists

Wang Xinyan

Wang Xinyan was born in Beijing, China, in 1995. From 2013 to 2017, Wang Xinyan studied at the Department of Oil Painting of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and received a bachelor's degree. From 2016 to 2017, she studied at the Zurich Academy of Arts, majoring in New Media. From 2017 to 2020, she studied at the Fourth Studio of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and received a master's degree. From 2020 to 2022, she studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received Painting and Drawing MFA.

Through a style that evokes pre-historicism and primal landscapes, Wang Xinyan’s creative process concentrates on the personal exploration of painting, while simultaneously expressing her brimming enthusiasm for life—scintillating yet packed with gravitas. In Wang Xinyan’s recent practice she has been looking back at the primitive symbols, totems, and ritual altars from the age of Prehistoric Civilization. Wang contemplates how artists, under the development of contemporary civilization and technological advancement, can be judged and evaluated by the painterly skills and techniques of the artwork itself rather than the standards imposed by external understanding. The contents she presents on her canvases are an amalgamation of miscellaneous inspirations gathered by stripping away external influences. These inspirations eventually converge in the objects, elements, or lifestyle she is interested in. Coincidently, Wang Xinyan's works visualize and present refections of her subconsciousness in visual language.

Wang Xinyan solo exhibitions include: Wang Xinyan: Archaeology of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Digital Age (Asia House, London, 2019), On Innocence in Ancient Times (Exhibition hall of oil painting department, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, 2018). Selected group exhibitions include: Boundless Green, Walking towards the Mountain (Tangu Slow Flash Art Museum, Beijing, 2022), Twins (Kaph Kaph Gallery, New York, 2022), Xinyan & Amondon! (Roots & Culture Gallery, Chicago, 2022).

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Artists

Yan Zhancheng

Yan Zhancheng was born in Yan'an, China, in 1984, graduated from the Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts Oil Painting Department in 2008, and currently lives and works in Beijing.

From 2017, Yan began to incorporate his personal interpretation of the poetry of Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) and other Western literary novels and articles in his artworks. Incessantly, he pursues an inner sentimentality amidst an unsettling external environment of constant shift, an opposition of which lends his works a sense of poetry depicted in the literary works he admires. In Yan’s works, figurative landscapes and blurred physiognomies constitute his compositions, in which repeatedly modified and stacked paint blocks and the fluid contours delineated by markers forge a confrontation between thickness and lightness. In recent years, Yan Zhancheng’s artistic creation has gradually gravitated toward literature after transitioning from an attempt to depict randomness. By finding his painterly style and artistic language, Yan has become more confident in depicting “the things he wants to paint.”

Yan Zhancheng's selected solo exhibitions include: Square Hart (Author Gallery, Beijing, 2022), The Big Rock (BENFUN Gallery, Taiwan, 2021), A Step Closer to Water (Author Gallery, Beijing, 2019). Selected group exhibitions include: Perceptual alternating·One look at the Possibility of Autumn (JH Gallery, Shanghai, 2021), Time Party (MOFEIMO Gallery, Qingdao, 2020), Group Exhibition of Contemporary Portraiture (Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, 2019).

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Artists

Zhu Yizhou

Zhu Yizhou was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, in 1989. Zhu Yizhou studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York from 2013 to 2016 and received a bachelor's degree, majoring in Fine Arts. From 2018 to 2020, She studied at the Department of Oil Painting of Tokyo Art University and received a master's degree.

Zhu Yizhou’s artistic career developed in tandem with the coming-of-age of Millenials. She introspects her spiritual yearnings from the collective cultural value system of the East and West perceived by her surroundings, as a means to obtain serenity. During her creative process, Zhu Yizhou is highly absorbed in the act of art making, even oblivious to the outside world, which somehow bestows her works a carefree, gratifying aura. Her works detach themselves from the constraint of certain periods and emotions, locating their content on the Zen philosophy of the East, while also introducing her sensibility. The landscapes, still lifes, and figures in her works are stripped of the temporalities and zeitgeists attached to a particular motif. The repeatedly revised and refined images in her works, overlaid with slightly fidgety brushstrokes, present an East-Asian style of solitary atmosphere.

Zhu Yizhou's selected solo exhibitions include: The Scenery for Me (ArtPro Space, Beijing, 2022), Predictive Space (OJUN’s Room, Ibaraki, 2018), The Rooms (Waterside Gallery, Wuxi, 2015). Selected group exhibitions include: Asian Artist and Japanese Artist (The Artcomplex Center of Tokyo, Tokyo, 2019), Five People (YUGA Gallery, Tokyo, 2018), Art Next Generation (China Cultural Center, Tokyo, 2018).

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