Zhang Zikang
Curator of “Ding Yi: Flowing Infinity”
Director of CAFA Art Museum

The relationship between the emergence and development of Chinese contemporary art and the establishment of Chinese contemporary art museums has been one of mutual promotion. The experimentalism and knowledge production of contemporary art embody the role that Chinese contemporary art museums play in the public domain. Owing to the efforts and practices of generations of artists since the 1980s, it is the art world constructed by each artist that forms the splendid universe of Chinese contemporary art. Different artists constitute different ecologies in the narrative of art history. Good contemporary artists not only hold the universality of the times, but also create differences that distinguish them from each other with their styles and personalities in the universality. Analyzing an artist is to look at both the artists themselves and the era in which they live in. The evolution of artistic practices, global and local, contents and forms, ideas and methods, concepts and styles, these are all issues in which they combine. Because of the diversity of each artist and the richness of these issues mentioned above, artist case studies have become an integral part of an art museum’s overall exhibition sequence. Different from retrospective exhibitions, case studies often inspect one tendency of an artist’s practice to uncover information hidden in his/her art, which includes the reviewing of an artist’s previous works, presenting the process of its generation and evolution, at the same time including the organization’s formation and excavation of the concepts raised by the artist, which not only organizes but also generates new standpoints on the basis of previous knowledge. As a museum dedicated to the study of contemporary art, TAG Art Museum tries to establish the relationship between Chinese contemporary art and the world in the context of globalization from the local perspective. The two large-scale group exhibitions “Beyond” and “New Contemporary” have laid the foundation for the academic system in which it showcases the intersection of the local and global in terms of structure, while with “integration” and “dialogue” as the key words, involving the creative practices of Chinese contemporary artists of different generations as the trend. Herein, “future” and “experimentation” are the main keywords. In addition to the group exhibitions, TAG Art Museum will also carry out the research and presentation of individual artists. In case study exhibitions, TAG Art Museum will focus on representative artists in the course of Chinese contemporary art since the 1980s. As mentioned above, rather than retrospective exhibitions, case studies capture a fragment of the artist’s creative process as research object, “where trace to the origin” and “new knowledge” are the main keywords. The case study exhibitions of TAG Art Museum also utilize the museum’s unique maritime cultural background, attaching the exploration of local content to the exhibition works of the artist with novelty in the case study. After successfully holding two large-scale group exhibitions, TAG Art Museum presents its first case study exhibition, which itself reflects the evolution from macro narrative to micro research.

The first research-based case study exhibition at TAG Art Museum presents the art of Ding Yi. Undoubtedly, Mr. Ding Yi is a representative artist who cannot be ignored in the Chinese contemporary art world. Ding Yi’s unique artistic style was formed during the growth of Ding Yi as an artist and the evolution of Mr. Ding Yi’s works, which has established his international reputation since the 1990s. Why has Ding Yi been selected as the first artist for the case study exhibitions of TAG Art Museum? In my opinion, there are the following points to answer this question, and at the same time, answering this question is precisely why his works are so important today: First, Ding Yi was born in Shanghai, and to this day, he still lives and works there. Shanghai and Qingdao are similar in many ways. They are both representatives of China’s coastal cities and are inextricably linked to maritime culture where the ocean plays a very important role in the historical development of both cities. Because of the ocean, Shanghai and Qingdao are also among the most important ports in China. The Shanghai-style Culture background in which Ding Yi grew up with took Jiangnan culture as the hinterland, born in the process of China’s modernization, Shanghai-style Culture came to represent the intersection of the East and the West, and the fusion of ancient and modern. The maritime culture of Qingdao is centered on the Confucian culture of Qilu as the hinterland. In the process of modern history, Qingdao has also become a place of cultural integration. Therefore, from a certain perspective, TAG Art Museum’s presentation and study of Ding Yi’s art is an exploration of the possibilities of Qingdao as a marine city in the development of contemporary art, in which Mr. Ding Yi’s art offers a cultural reference to the city.

Second, Ding Yi’s artistic production has gone through different periods since the 1980s. From the awakening of Modernism in the early 1980s, to the moment Ding Yi consciously chose to major in traditional Chinese painting, he has tried to look beyond Modernism for China’s own artistic traditions, for a combination of Modernism and traditional Chinese art. Coupled with the influence of artistic ideas in the 1980s, Ding Yi clarified his position among the numerous clues in art history, so he chose abstract painting as his main language. It was a choice from the times and reflected the domestic cultural integration, as well as the general trend of international multicultural development in that era. Ding Yi found the link between Eastern and Western cultures from the coordinates of art history constructed by artists such as Mondrian, Liu Haisu, Guan Liang and many others. His creativity is based on different cultural traditions, driven by the tide of the times and a very strong sense of personal awakening. Ding Yi’s art typifies Chinese contemporary art since the 1980s.

Third, Ding Yi’s abstract art represents an innovative choice in mainstream discourse. Realism became the mainstream art form in modern Chinese art traditions. Painting cannot get rid of its narrative and lyricism. Thematic creation is an important part of mainstream art. The primary purpose of art is not only personal expression, but more importantly the representation and narration of reality. Issues such as the improvements of Chinese painting and the nationalization of oil painting in the fine art of the PRC are actually matters of form and style other than the expression of artists. Ding Yi’s ability to find his own artistic path in such an artistic tradition is both innovative and courageous. Choosing abstraction as a means of expression today would certainly appear with no difficulties, but in the 1980s when the artist’s personal consciousness was awakened, Ding Yi’s abstract art actually created huge problems for himself in the process of de-narrative, placing him at the far edge of the mainstream.

Fourth, Ding Yi’s exhibition history reflects the trajectory from local to global of his generation of artists. From Ding Yi’s participation in the “China/Arant Garde” in 1989 to the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993, he was never absent in both the local and international appearances of Chinese contemporary art. The “China/Avant-Garde” exhibition held at the National Art Museum of China in 1989 was a retrospect of the major trends in contemporary art since the “‘85 New Wave” that presented the achievements of Chinese artists in the process of modernization in a panoramic way. It was also the first time an official museum in China has held a contemporary art exhibition of this scale. The Venice Biennale in 1993 featured works by fourteen contemporary Chinese artists in which Ding Yi’s concentration in abstract painting distinguished him from the others. Through this exhibition, Ding Yi’s “Appearance of Crosses” series of abstract works made its way to the international stage. Taking these two exhibitions as examples, we can see the significance of Ding Yi’s work as a model of the transformation of Chinese contemporary art from a local practice to a global phenomenon.

Fifth, Ding Yi’s abstract paintings seem to start from form and style, yet ultimately, they represent a search for spirituality. He established an “absolute precision” in his paintings, which reflects his considerations on China’s own painting traditions. Chinese painting has strong literary attributes related to the creation of its subjects. For example, literati paintings are mostly created by and for the literati, and at the same time has much to do with the tradition of Chinese philosophy. In Mr. Liang Shuming’s opinion, Chinese philosophy is derived from Chinese classical literature. Ding Yi tries to establish a new artistic spirit with “absolute precision”, illustrating his departure from the understanding of traditional art. In addition to the relationship with tradition, Ding Yi’s paintings are also clearly the representative of “Chinese Maximalism”. From artistic production to the final result, Ding Yi is presented with a unified contradiction. The maximalism of his work is in fact built on the basis of minimalism, and his almost meditative approach unites this seemingly contradictory relationship. It seems to me that spirituality is an integral part of Ding Yi’s creative process evinced through his pursuit of precision, his repeated movements, and his pursuit of rationality in the creative process. The spirituality Ding Yi seeks is a hidden message in his works.

The above is a discussion of the importance of Ding Yi’s art and its representativeness within Chinese contemporary art world. Ding Yi’s artistic journey is like that of Shanghai, the city where he grew up. The Yangtze River surges from the heartland of Chinese civilization and finally joins the sea. Like the water of the great river and the fragrance of the Jiangnan region, Ding Yi’s paintings involve processes of generation and change. Its “generation” lies in the production of a picture from small details into a complete work. In this process, the grid and symbols are generated in the picture like a process of diffusion, which with fluidity gives the canvas a limitless appearance that indeed can extend Ding Yi’s works infinitely, while containing infinite possibilities on a limited scale. This kind of fluidity and limitlessness are just like the vast ocean TAG Art Museum faces. As a matter of fact, Ding Yi has created special works for TAG Art Museum with regards to its perspective of the ocean. Ding Yi is particularly interested in Exhibition Hall No. 7 of TAG Art Museum, in particularly the rectangular shaped windows of the space. Ding Yi created seven different pieces corresponding to the four windows, all of which related to the ocean. Ding Yi hopes to make the audience feel the dialogue between the work and the space, which is also a way of organizing his work in recent years.

Ding Yi’s artistic fluidity and dispersion are also reflected in his different artistic stages. From the 1980s to the early 1990s was the establishing period of Ding Yi’s artistic language. During this time, he pursued purity in painterly language. From the continuous strengthen of his “Appearance of Crosses” language, to his return to the use of primary colors of red, yellow, and blue, his purity was established through constant exercise and repetition of expression in a succinct way. At this stage, Ding Yi also explored different mediums of painting. For example, he used charcoal, chalk, acrylic, and other materials to extend the boundaries of his paintings. The emergence of his “Appearance of Crosses” also shows his reflection and introspection to the idealistic era marked by excessively high humanistic enthusiasm. Ding Yi kept his rationality and restraint during this feverish period. In the establishing period of artistic languge, Ding Yi kept an “steading” perspective towards the world, forming a basis for his ultimate pursuit of grid structure and formalism. With the advent of the new century, Ding Yi’s art entered a period of “overlooking”. This period can be understood as Ding Yi’s return from pure formalism to realism. Undoubtedly, this period presented an obvious reality that all Chinese citizens had to face in relating to the background of globalization and the pace of urbanization China was facing in the new century. Ding Yi expressed his observation of city lights through fluorescent materials. At the same time, the strong sense of planning and ordering in his paintings described the characteristics of urbanization in the era. In the second decade of the 21st century, Ding Yi’s art entered a “black and white” period. The immediate cause was that the artist’s long-term use of fluorescent colors had overwhelmed his eyes, yet this shift, in my opinion, exactly echoes the different backgrounds of the first and second decades of the new century. Contemporary art flourished in the first decade of the new century, at least in terms of its markets and institutions. In the second decade, everything was rationalized. Ding Yi’s transition to “black and white” seems like a metaphor for the times. Since 2019, Ding Yi’s works have featured “halos” around his images, signaling his entry into a period of spirituality. In Ding Yi’s own words, “This is an extraction and generalization of the images from within my personal artistic system. The strong contrast in the collision of the edges of unnatural fluorescent colors and the rest of the pattern are like the visual impact brought by the edge of light when the sun and clouds overlap. Whether these new images radiate outward from the center, or spread out across the full layout, they are all about the expression of an inner world view and self-consciousness.” At the same time, Ding Yi took a trip to Tibet in 2022, which he believes has opened a new phase for him, allowing him to look inward and find spirituality.

The four periods are bounded by the year 2000. In his pursuit of formalism, Ding Yi transformed form into a part of content, and eventually his work moved from a surface-level expression to a deeper level of abstration in the spiritual realm. This process is the transformation of his purity in artistic language to the sublimation of his artistic spirit. In my opinion, the spirit of an artist has more infinite possibilities of fluidity and dispersion compared to the materialized works. Once an artist’s spiritual core is formed in their artistic creations, it becomes a thing in itself. Ding Yi’s expansive approach to medium has also gradually become prominent in his practice in recent years. For example, his public art works transformed his private expressions in the studio into a public expression. His work Painting Stand is based on his life, combining his experience from previous works, personal life, and thoughts on the unique attributes of the public space. In addition, he has also begun to explore digital art. As technology has gradually become more closely associated with contemporary life, the combination of technology and art has become a hot topic in Chinese art world in recent years. Starting from his painting practice, Ding Yi has expanded his creative media to the field of digital art. He believes that although painting is more essential, there is no way to achieve a broader statement, nor to carry a sense of flowing time. When a painting is complete, its sense of time and the details of its creation are erased, while digital works can complement this lack of expression, and this current exhibition at TAG Art Museum will also feature a video work.

The narrative thread of Ding Yi’s exhibition at TAG Art Museum is a process of linear development. Of course, the pandemic has profoundly affected every aspect of the world since 2020, and the epidemic will surely become a collective memory of the people in this era. Ding Yi, who lives in the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai, has apparently been affected. In conversation with curator Alexandra Munroe, Ding Yi showed the positive and reflective consciousness of an artist in the face of crisis. On the one hand, he continued to devote himself to creation to fight against reality, on the other hand, he thought about the many problems Chinese art faces in the global context. From a realistic perspective, Ding Yi chooses to face the time and space of his life with continuous art creation. He states, “In an epidemic, the concept of time can be divided into three stages: pre-, mid-, and post-stage. In the pre-stage, most people felt confused because they were not sure what would happen or what to expect, and time became an unfathomable concept at this stage. By the mid-stage, people try to fill their time and move towards some possibility of regaining freedom. Later in the post-stage, a more optimistic trend emerges.” In a broader historical context, Ding Yi’s thinking extends to the grand proposition of the world’s future. The crisis of the world’s common destiny caused by the epidemic has made Ding Yi think about more profound and essential issues. This essential dialogue can be seen in his exhibition in Tibet in 2022, including in his dialogue with nature and with Tibetan traditional culture. The natural geography and religious culture of Tibet point to a realm of high spirituality and purity. In 2022, Ding Yi crosses from the high altitude of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the East coast of Qingdao’s TAG Art Museum. The span of space itself creates a flowing tension. In the context of a unified China, these two completely different forms of humanity echo within our civilization. Ding Yi’s action in 2022 not only enters the depth of the heart of civilization, but also stands at the forefront of the globalized metropolis. Ding Yi’s practice has a sense of positivity in the tense situation of the pandemic. He states, “The pandemic has made art more important because art produces positive things that can make good impacts on people’s lives.”

In general, Ding Yi’s art has different stages in the vertical linear clues, but also incorporates various media and spiritual layers in a horizontal cross-field and cross-cultural background. The purification of Ding Yi’s artistic language and the complication of his own artistic system are two constantly developing trends. It is precisely in this way that Ding Yi has become an artist that we cannot avoid when discussing the Chinese art world today. This is also the value and significance of Ding Yi as a case study. To study Ding Yi’s works is also to look back at the magnificent course of Chinese contemporary art since Reform and Opening Up. “How Ding Yi Became Ding Yi” is the history of an artist’s growth and also the history of social development behind it, which will also provide references for future artists.

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Ding Yi：Flowing Infinity

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