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Brush up on the extraordinary art of Chen Yifei
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THE highly anticipated exhibition “Era of Yifei: A Retrospective on Art and Legacy” is now on show at the Museum of Art Pudong, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the passing of Chen Yifei (1946-2005), a legendary figure in China’s contemporary art history.
The exhibition offers a comprehensive review of Chen’s multifaceted career, showcasing nearly 100 works spanning oil paintings, prints, sketches, watercolors, sculptures and video art, alongside rare historical documents tracing his artistic evolution.
Chen was a trailblazer who introduced the concept of “grand fine arts” to contemporary China, advocating for an immersive visual culture that transcended traditional boundaries. His influence extended beyond painting into film, fashion, environmental design and urban public art, making him a defining force in China’s cultural landscape.
Born in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, in 1946, Chen moved to Shanghai as an infant, where the city’s vibrant culture shaped his artistic sensibilities.
He graduated from the Shanghai School of Fine Arts, mastering oil painting — a medium that would later earn him international acclaim. His works uniquely blended Eastern and Western aesthetics, combining meticulous details with a romanticized vision of Chinese life and landscapes.
The exhibition highlights key phases of Chen’s career, beginning with his early experiments in graphic novels and murals during the 1960s.
A pivotal moment came in 1980 when he traveled to the United States, studying at Hunter College and later restoring paintings in New York. He traveled across Europe and further refined his technique, leading to breakthroughs in light and texture, as seen in his luminous water town series.
In 1983, Chen became the first contemporary Chinese artist to achieve widespread recognition in the West when his “Water Town” paintings were exhibited at New York’s Hammer Gallery.
The water town served as a recurring theme throughout his artistic career. At different stages, his portrayal of these landscapes evolved in various forms. The progression is not merely a shift in technique, it also reflects his changing understanding of light, closely tied to his increasingly liberated creative approach.
His “Musicians” series, with its lyrical interplay of light and shadow, bridged Eastern elegance and Western realism, captivating global audiences.
Among the exhibition’s highlights is Chen’s masterpiece “Lingering Melodies from the Xunyang River,” inspired by Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) poet Bai Juyi’s “The Song of the Pipa” and enriched by the artist’s personal encounter with pipa (a four-stringed Chinese instrument resembling a lute) music in Zhouzhuang, a water town in Suzhou. The painting creates a mesmerizing time-space where music and emotion intertwine, capturing a moment of poetic hesitation.
Chen’s composition ingeniously collages different historical elements: lavish Tang Dynasty instruments, early Republic-era costumes, 1990s makeup styles and contemporary theatrical lighting — all rendered through classical oil techniques. The diffuse lighting adds a touch of romance and nostalgia, making this work an example of his ability to fuse traditional Chinese aesthetics with modern visual language.
The exhibition also features other iconic works such as “My Neighbor” (1996), a nostalgic depiction of his ancestral home, now held in a private London collection.
Date: Through October 12, 10am-9pm
Address: 1/4F, 2777 Binjiang Ave 滨江大道2777号
Admission: 100 yuan (US$13.77)
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