Duan Jianyu

Duan Jianyu (段建宇, born 1970, Zhengzhou,[1] Henan Province) is a prominent contemporary visual artist from China and writer. The artist is primarily known for her surrealist-style of paintings that draw from a range of art histories, including European-American modernism, Chinese ink painting, and Chinese Socialist Realism.

Early life and Education

Duan Jianyu was raised in a well educated family in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan.[2] Her mother worked at the widely renowned state bookshop "Xinhua," known as the largest in the country, while her father pursued a career as a writer. Growing up in this environment, Jianyu developed a deep fascination with characters, particularly letters, and harbored a childhood dream of becoming a writer.

Instead of being a writer, Duan Jianyu became a well known painter. She graduated from Oil Painting Department of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1995. She currently teaches at the Fine Arts Department of South China Normal University[3] in Guangzhou.[4]

Style and Themes

Having received her education towards the end of the Cultural Revolution, Duan Jianyu's earlier works skillfully captured the ambiguous impressions and harsh transitions of that tumultuous period.[5] These experiences played a significant role in shaping a prominent psychological characteristic of the artist: an instinctive rebellion against the status quo. In her paintings, Duan aims to create images that challenge conventional acceptance, straightforwardly defying the notion of painting as a linear progression. Instead, she views her artwork as an ongoing process of aesthetic deconstruction, continually pushing the boundaries of artistic expression.

The style of Duan Jianyu’s paintings tend to start out with objects or people observed in everyday reality and then appear to fade out and slip slowly into the world of the mind. The theme of localization, which can be defined by vernacular culture, is prominently reflected in Duan Jianyu's work. This kind of narrative technique appears consistently in the artist’s creations.[6] Duan’s large-scale paintings present incongruous scenarios drawing on a wide range of sources from European art history, classical Chinese painting, and imagery of traditional rural life. Diverse elements—such as European nudes, Chinese landscapes, chickens, watermelons, and air hostesses—come together to explore with wry humor the clashes between urban and rural, tradition and modernity in a society undergoing enormous changes during a period of China's economic reforms and globalization.

She has also created multi-media installations, artist’s books, photographs, and ink paintings on cardboard.[7] Similarly, Duan's writings draw on a mixture of characters and events taken from rural life in China and references to international, post-consumerist culture.[8]

Selected works

Duan's most well-known installation work is titled Artistic Chicken (2002),[9] which she originally created for the "Canton Express" exhibition curated by Hou Hanru in 2003 for the "Zone of Urgency (Z.O.U)"[10] project within the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. Artistic Chicken comprised 100 hand-painted, realistic-looking sculptures of chickens that were installed together on the floor of the gallery. The work was re-installed at the M+ Pavilion in Hong Kong in a re-staging of the "Canton Express" exhibition in 2017,[11] although fewer than half of the original chicken-sculptures had survived.

Being inspired by her famous novelist father Duan Quanfa, she has ventured into writing as a form of expression and has successfully published a novel titled "New York-Paris-Zhumadian".[12]

Exhibitions

Duan Jianyu's artworks have been featured in many exhibitions in China, Asia, and internationally.

Her solo exhibitions include:

  • "Automatic Writing – Automatic Understanding," Pond Society (New Century Art Foundation), Shanghai, 2020;[13]
  • "Sharp, Sharp, Smart," at Mirrored Gardens, Guangzhou, 2016[14]
  • "The Seduction of Village" at Beijing, 2010[12]
  • "How to Travel with a Watermelon," at Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou
  • "Oil Paintings by Duan Jianyu," at Guangzhou, 1994;[2]
  • "A Potent Force: Duan Jianyu and Hu Xiaoyuan," at the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, 2013;[15] (Two-person exhibitions)

She has participated in numerous group exhibitions including:

Awards

Duan Jianyu is the winner of Chinese Contemporary Art Awards 2010, Best Artist.[20]

Collections

M+,[21] Hong Kong

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,[1] New York

References

  1. ^ a b "The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  2. ^ a b Duan Jianyu. Paolo Maria Deanesi Gallery. 2007. ISBN 9788874980826.
  3. ^ 新世纪当代艺术基金会, New Century Art Foundation. "New Century Art Foundation 新世纪当代艺术基金会". New Century Art Foundation 新世纪当代艺术基金会. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  4. ^ a b "Duan Jianyu | Profile | Rockbund Art Museum". www.rockbundartmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  5. ^ Dematte, Monica (2011). Duan Jianyu - Apotheosis of Imagination. Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House. ISBN 9787535647177.
  6. ^ "DUAN JIANYU: ATTACHING REALITY TO SURFACE – 艺术界 LEAP". www.leapleapleap.com. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  7. ^ "Duan Jianyu | Artist Profile, Exhibitions & Artworks | Ocula". ocula.com. 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  8. ^ "Countryside Baroque: Duan Jianyu — Mousse Magazine and Publishing". www.moussemagazine.it. 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  9. ^ "Chickens in the Gallery! Curating and Conserving Canton Express | M+". www.mplus.org.hk. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  10. ^ "Z.O.U. - Zone of Urgency, 2003. La Biennale di Venezia". universes.art. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  11. ^ "Canton Express | M+". www.mplus.org.hk. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  12. ^ a b Smith, Karen (2012). As Seen 2011 -- Notable Artworks by Chinese Artists. The Commercial Press Ltd. pp. 15–21. ISBN 9789620756023.
  13. ^ 新世纪当代艺术基金会, New Century Art Foundation. "New Century Art Foundation 新世纪当代艺术基金会". New Century Art Foundation 新世纪当代艺术基金会. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  14. ^ "Duan Jianyu: Sharp, Sharp, Smart | Vitamin Creative Space". vitamincreativespace.art. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  15. ^ "A Potent Force: Duan Jianyu and Hu Xiaoyuan | Exhibition | Rockbund Art Museum". www.rockbundartmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  16. ^ Archive, Asia Art. "Times Heterotopia Trilogy III: The Man Who Never Threw Anything Away". aaa.org.hk. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  17. ^ QAGOMA. "DUAN Jianyu". Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  18. ^ "Dai Hanzhi: 5000 Artists at Witte de With Rotterdam - Artmap.com". artmap.com. Retrieved 2020-03-07.[permanent dead link‍]
  19. ^ "Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  20. ^ "Winners Of The Chinese Contemporary Art Awards 2010 Announced". Jing Daily. 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  21. ^ "Duan Jianyu | Makers | M+". www.mplus.org.hk. Retrieved 2022-03-26.