Secret Reflection

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Exhibition Period: December 23, 2012 – January 31, 2013

Address: Shanghai Art Museum, No. 325 West Nanjing Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China

Sun Yao’s solo exhibition, “Secret Reflection,” was presented at the Shanghai Art Museum from December 23, 2012 to January 31, 2013. Organized by the Shanghai Art Museum, the exhibition was directed by Mr. Ronald Kiwitt and academically chaired by Mr. Simon Kirby.

The exhibition brought together 14 seminal early artworks, including “Deep Forest,” “Trace,” and the “Landscape of Face” series. A catalogue of the same name, “Secret Reflection,” was published concurrently by the Shanghai Art Museum to coincide with the exhibition.

Preface

Oil paint on canvas can be a profoundly expressive medium, which is capable of capturing the artist’s spontaneous and intuitive movements. The movements of the artist’s hand and body, extending to the spirit, are visibly embodied in the layered marks that texture the canvas surface. Through the act of painting, Sun conveys the depths of his inner world, translating his emotions into vibrant, swirling colors that flow across the canvas. His works evoke a range of imagery, from enigmatic, partially veiled faces to mysteries of the night sky, or the contours of a fetus.

Oil paint on canvas allows for highly expressive and dynamic works, where the artist’s physical presence is evident in every layer. Sun’s paintings embody his inner world, conveyed through the physical energy of his brushstrokes. With bold, flowing oil paint, he creates vibrant swirls of color that evoke a range of imagery, from enigmatic faces to celestial constellations and the curves of a fetus. This fusion of color and form invites the viewer to explore the depths of Sun’s inner world.

From a Western art perspective, these intricate and majestic scenes evoke the 18th-century aesthetics of “the sublime,” recalling the breathtaking landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich, the ethereal seascapes and skies of J.M.W. Turner, and the spiritual allegories of William Blake.

In contrast to Western art, which evolved into distinct schools, traditional Chinese painting experienced a parallel development towards naturalism, abstraction, and expressionism during a similar period. For Chinese landscape artists, the ultimate goal of an artwork is to capture the artist’s observing and art expressive force, which is achieved through the innovative and masterful use of painting tools.

Notably, Sun’s remarkable works on canvas exemplify this notion. He masterfully blends Western emotional abstraction with a poignant narrative of a troubled spiritual realm. Through his art, the captivating essence of his personality is fully embodied.

Excerpt from “Secret Reflection” by Simon Kirby.