Yang Liming ( b.1975，China) has been quietly working in the field of monochromatic painting for nearly twenty years, and stands as a leading position in this field in China. In 2001, he resigned from his teaching job and embarked on a career as a professional artist. After a few years of art experimentation, he resolutely moved from Chengdu to Beijing and rented a studio, where he carefully "established his independent kingdom". This kingdom consists only of himself, accompanied with an impressive sound system and a bookshelf of CDs.
Yang Liming hold a gift to find the studio with a good location. While other artists often face the stress of frequent relocations, he has remained calm and focused on his paintings in studio. When we observing an artist, we often missed these details, perhaps this is a stroke of luck or a strategic wisdom. At the same time, we mistakenly assume that the success of an artist comes from finding the right conceptual approach.
Yang Liming's artistic journey of monochromatic painting began around 2003. At that period, he was unaware that he would become one of the few pursuing the field of monochromatic painting in China. The field of Korean Dansaekhwa（Korean monochromatic painting）was elite gathering, but Yang has limited knowledge of it(Korean Dansaekhwa) until today .
Yang Liming started his solitary work without the contextual background of references. This situation carries a certain danger. Most artists in such circumstances either lose their direction or hold an outdated idea. We can assume that while Yang Liming may not be fully understand of everything happening in the world outside his art studio, he recognizes the possibile competitions that surround him. Yang‘ artistic work cannot be solely focused on the joy of painting. His artistic strategies often become intensely deliberative outside the studio.
However, Yang Liming remains unaffected by anxiety. On the contrary, he seems even more tranquil. He appears to adopt a selfless attitude towards Western elitist concepts. Non-self (Chinese:无我) is an ancient Eastern philosophy that emphasizes simplicity of meaning, devoid of the need for argumentation—only experiencing the progress. Western thinking is complex and logical. It is exerting a strong allure over Asian artists, particularly with postmodernist philosophy.
Xu Bing ( b.1955，China) once said, "For us (Chinese artists or Eastern artists), how can contemporary art succeed without seeking tradition?" This view, reminiscent of Zen philosophy, vividly illustrates the artistic style of Yang Li Ming and similar artists. They they embrace contemporaneity without entirely aligning with the Western culture and value, and they form their uniue artistic language stystem and own identity.
Therefore, the contemporaneity of Yang Liming's art aligns with Xu Bing's perspective. Yet, it is simultaneously more personalized, hidden, and studio-centered. Nonetheless, Yang's vision remains broad, perceiving the convergence of Eastern and Western historical civilizations and positioning himself as an observer from different cultures. He has created the legend of using a brush to paint with oil. He possesses an array of tools, such as sheep's wool, pig bristles, and nylon round-tipped brushes. He dilutes oil paint with turpentine to improve the brush's application on the canvas. The diluted oil paint is kept in a basin, resembling the ink used for traditional Chinese ink painting or calligraphy. This process of creating "oil ink" evokes a sense of Zen, connecting to a series of unique techniques. Yang Liming's studio is always tidy, and he regularly reorganizes the space when the work causes disorder. We won't provide a detailed description of the details of his work on the canvas. Instead, we suggest that those who interested in his artwork to observe Yang‘s paintings as it will evoke a wonderful space of imagination.
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