Research
Abstract painter You Si (游思): A recent discovery from 1986
This untitled scroll painting by You Si (游思), dating to 1986, was recently purchased through ACAE on behalf of a private client. The work was exhibited in Melbourne, at East and West Art Gallery, in You Si’s solo exhibition, 'Painting Reaches The Way Through Penetrating Qi', June 2nd - 23rd, 1988. New research locates the piece being exhibited in Beijing in 1987, during the era of China’s avant-garde ‘apartment art’ (公寓艺术). The name reflects the lack of commercial galleries in Beijing in the 1980s, leading to exhibitions in private apartments. The striking composition, so reminiscent of natural forms, conveys a feeling of peering into an interstellar cloud, with intricate details contained therein. The image is nicely balanced by the three red seals of the artist. Works such as this are a reminder that abstraction was a topic of profound interest for artists in China throughout the nascent period of contemporary art. In You Si’s case, abstraction is as much located in the traditions of Chinese ink painting as it is suggestive of later Western modes.
You Si 游思 was born in 1954 into a family of artists, in Beijing China. His father Ha Qiongwen 哈琼文 (1925 - 2012 ), and his mother You Longgu 游龙姑 (1923- 1995) were known for their propaganda posters designs. You Si studied stage design at the Shanghai Theatre Academy and graduated in 1982. Later, during his course of employment as a stage designer at China Central Television, he was also very active in the emergent art scene, and created a large number of abstract ink-and-wash paintings. In 1987, You Si was invited to go to Australia as a visiting scholar. The following year, he left for the United States, staying there for the next 20 years.
Latest
