Self Consistent

–

Exhibition Period: June 23, 2019 – July 15, 2019

Address: Liang Project Co Space, 102, Building 18, No.50 Moganshan Road, M50, Putuo District, Shanghai, China

Sun Yao’s solo exhibition, “Self Consistent,” was held at the Liang Project Co Space from June 23 to July 15, 2019. Co-organized by the gallery and the Thames Art Fund, this exhibition was curated by American art critic Raul Zamudio, a professor at Parsons School of Design.

The exhibition features 19 large-scale artworks, including the debut of Sun’s monumental pieces, “Neverland - Landscape.” This artwork was the culmination of a two-year creative process that began in 2018, which spans an impressive 41.2 meters in length. The exhibition also featured select works from the “Neverland,” “To The Stars,” and “Oblivion” series.

Preface

The Neverland - Landscape paintings have a tendency to morph or even shift before our eyes. By working in a limited palette that could be referred to as monochromatic, there is a linking of Sun Yao’s aesthetic to Modernist Abstract-Expressionists such as Barnett Newman and the Color Field painters including Mark Rothko or even Kenneth Noland. Some works are variations of black inflected with white and this creates an active surface. Sun Yao leads us into a kind dark matter of painting akin to the mysterious, universal void we inhabit. Not only does the dialectic between light and dark heighten the energetic quality of Sun Yao’s paintings, but coupled with their monumentality they have an enveloping effect on the viewer as well. Most of the Neverland - Landscape paintings measure some 200×400cm, and this creates a relationship between the viewer in which the viewer is subordinate to them.

Excerpt from “Light Energy, Dark Matter: Notes on Sun Yao’s Neverland - Landscape Paintings” by Raul Zamudio.