Don’t soil the Mountain - landscape paintings by Yin Zhao-yang

石崖 Cliffs, 90 x 160cm, Oil on canvas, 2013

Detail

From political critique to satire on human frailties in the past few years, Yin Zhao-yang (1970 - ) has come full circle to tackle one of the essential subjects of painting, i.e. the representation of landscape.

Of the fifteen canvases in the gallery, some of them massive, but all of them were powerful display of vitality. Whether the heartfelt attentions are on the viscous layering of oils, delivery of brush strokes, richness of colours, they represent a tour de force of oil painting. There is a technical brilliance that is seldom seen on canvases these days. (With great shame, “technical brilliance” is sidelined none so ominously among all other arts than in painting.)

This series of oils under the exhibition title of ‘Descend the Mountain’ might lend to thoughts ascribing to literati paintings of the classical age(s) when painters eschewed politics and sought refuge in raw nature. With this cast of mind, the stage-set of obfuscation and pedantry contrived in the official description below would be better off buried:

“With Yin Zhao-yang, however, his veiled way of expression comes from his keen insight into the deep-rooted “crisis of statement” in which ”modern art” is trapped, an “expression crisis” that features nihility in face of myriads of critical perspectives. It is his artistic strategy towards the new world in the wake of ”the Financial Crisis” as well…*

Reading along this path would only soil the universality of landscape paintings.

綠潭 Green pond, 90 x 160cm, Oil on canvas, 2013

Detail

鬆石圖 Pine on Stone, 200 x 200cm, Oil on canvas, 2013

Detail

臥石觀雲 To appreciate the clouds when lying on rocks

200 x 720cm, Oil on canvas, 2013

Detail 1

Detail 2

*Page 43, ArtsLink Oct 2013, published by Hong Kong Arts Centre.

‘Descend the Mountain’ is held at Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre from September 27 to October 10, 2013.

這山水，勿弄髒     〈中文摘要〉

遊走於政治批判及譏諷人性弱點的課題後，尹朝陽回歸繪畫基準之一：風景創作。

展館中的十五幅作品大多屬於巨型畫布，且全部輻射強而有力的能量。觀乎厚實的油彩層次、筆跡之起伏或顔色的豐潤，此批油畫所代表的造詣已臻頂峰。箇中拍案叫絕的技巧是筆者近年少見。（令人懊惱的現實是繪畫藝術已没有高超技巧的需要；反之，著重技巧則多遭鄙視。迄今這現象是其他藝術媒介所不能接受的。）

這個以「出山」為題的展覽，內藏古典人文畫伏筆，表達作者逃避政治及隱逸於自然的渴求。但故弄玄虛及學究的搭台，包括下述的官方介紹則宜永久埋葬：

“而在尹朝陽這裡，「筆墨」的隱晦言說，則源於他對「當代藝術」所面臨的深刻的「表述危機」——形形色色的批判姿態面對深層的精神虛無的話語危機——的敏銳洞察，也是他應對「後金融危機」時代新的世界圖景的一種藝術方案﹒﹒﹒”﹡

沉溺於以上的引言只會泥染具宇宙觀的風景畫作。

﹡十月份第四十三頁「藝訊」；香港藝術中心出版。

「出山」由二○一三年九月二十七日至十月十日於香港藝術中心展出。