08.11.24 – 18.01.25

Galerie Karsten Greve Cologne

Galerie Karsten Greve is pleased to announce Constellations, the 9th solo exhibition by the Chinese artist Ding Yi with the gallery. Opening upon the occasion of Art Cologne 2024, the exhibition presents 20 new works by Ding Yi. In line with his historical oeuvre, the works manifest the artist’s tenacity and keen observation, as well as their aesthetic autonomy.

In his new works, Ding Yi introduces the star as a new element to his repertoire. The former constellations of crosses emerge as ‘cross-stellations’, referencing both the sky-scraping architecture of modern metropoles, as well as a cosmic order and artistic message. Recalling the maps of stars or astronomic views – constellations – the works form a continuation of Ding Yi’s formal and material investigations.

In the early years, Ding Yi’s work has alluded to science and modern technology. Since the 1990s, the artist has been translating the experience of living in modern mega cities such as Shanghai or Beijing into his painting. The frenzy and pace of these cities, particularly of Shanghai where the artist lives, become perceivable through the accumulation and configuration of signs and symbols. Based on a principle of repetition, Ding Yi employs the x or +, and now the *, as a means of expression and symbol of communication.

Appearance of Crosses 2023-4 is an impressive composition in red and black. Composed of vertical lines of stars on a fine underlying grid, the work alludes to the vague light streams of a city seen from above, or radar images on screens. Tiny marks in red, orange, and white introduce an irregularity which emphasises a sense of cosmic depth. Yongwoo Lee, the curator of Ding Yi’s solo exhibition Cross Galaxy (2023) at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning in Shenzhen, China, in which Appearance of Crosses 2023-4 was presented, writes:

“Ding Yi’s paintings contain various messages that allow us to read about the changes in the city, environment, and consciousness, along with social, epochal, and ecological changes following the evolution of modern science and technology.”

By turning to the stars and employing the star as a symbol, the artist introduces a spiritual element to his work. In 2022, Ding Yi’s work was presented in Multi-verse: Ding Yi in Tibet, at the Jebum-gang Art Center & Shide space in Lhasa, China. The encounter between this religious place and the Shanghai-based artist marked the beginning of his investigations towards the spiritual. This link to spirituality – and ritual – is particular apparent in the two paintings Appearance of Crosses 2023-19 and Appearance of Crosses 2023-17. The motifs in form of star-shaped patterns recall the vajra, a Buddhist ritualistic object symbolizing invincible wisdom. The surface of pigment, pastel and charcoal on linen evokes leather or parchment, the paintings seem maps to past wisdom or hidden meaning.

While Appearance of Crosses 2023-4 is carved in wood, after the artist applied numerous layers of acrylic paint, the latter two paintings are executed on linen. Working in a wide range of media, the artist follows a meticulous technique requiring enormous precision and skill, leaving each act of the work to Ding Yi himself. Presenting a selection of works on paper alongside works on wood and canvas, Constellations shows the artist’s versatility towards material and his inventiveness within a strictly limited formal repertory.

Ever since, Ding Yi’s work has been characterised by its monumentality. Presented in the exhibition, Appearance of Crosses 2019-B 27 is a 300 x 468 cm drawing on rice paper. The motif of poignant stars in numerous shades of gray creates an immediacy and a sense of attack, the viewing experience is irritating and agitating.

The size of Ding Yi’s works provides for a physical immersion, emphasised through the sense of depth created by the rich accumulation of signs. By taking away the paintings’ centre, Ding Yi creates a pictorial space in which the eyes hover across the canvas or panel. The encounter is non-centred but centering, mesmerizing towards the indefinite.

Ding Yi himself describes his practice as an exploration of “the relationship between superficiality and space in painting.” He refers to his technique as “colloquialisation” involving two aspects: the repetition of simple symbols and a levelling out and directness of technique. The signs, for Ding Yi, carry no particular meaning but instead express a rejection of the necessity of meaning itself. In the artist’s words: “Do not look for the meaning of the painting, but look, feel, and contemplate for yourself”. This message contains a social and political element embodying an equality both universally and vis-à-vis the art work.

For nearly 40 years, Ding Yi has stretched and developed art and abstraction through his unique visual language. The artist has become a pivotal figure in geometric abstraction, his works speak without speaking, expressing both urgency and meditation – a curse and its cure – and thus prove their topicality for the present.

Ding Yi: Constellations