Yu Hong (喻红) is known for her large-scale figurative paintings that depict the experiences of contemporary China. Trained in the Socialist Realist tradition, the artist evolved a style that uniquely and intimately represented her own experiences, reflecting those of her generation, witnessing the rapid social changes that took place in China. Working primarily with acrylic paint alongside pastels, fabric dye on canvas, silk and resin, Yu Hong approaches her work through a distinctly female lens, considering the relationship between the individual – in particular the role of the woman in society – within the community as a whole.
Often using photographs or existing visual materials as starting points, Yu Hong rearranges compositions to analyse the way memory is created. In the artist’s Gold series (2010-2011), we see an intensive study of the ancient Chinese paintings of Dunhuang and the murals of the Kizil Cave complex, as well as Western painterly traditions, all interwoven via the medium of gold leaf into the fabric of daily life.
Yu Hong’s recent works are epic in both scale and theme, uniting art and architecture to create immersive painterly environments. Concurrent Realms (2014-15) is a series of works that enter into the fantastical space and time of fables, albeit populated with real figures from Yu Hong’s life. She combines emotionally macro- and microscopic points of view to conceive an allegorical fresco of contemporary life in all its complexity. From the inner world to the infinite universe, the individual to the collective, the world of Yu Hong is suspended between the real and the dream, extending far beyond the canvas. “You only need to change your perspective to discover that this world is very unfamiliar,” she notes.
Yu Hong was born in 1966 in Xi’an, China. In 1984, she studied oil painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing and graduated with a post-graduate degree from the oil painting department in 1996. Since 1988 she has been a teacher at CAFA.
Yu Hong’s recent solo exhibitions include ‘The World of Saha’ (2019) at Long Museum (Shanghai), ‘Garden of Dreams’ (2016) at the CAFA Art Museum (Beijing), ‘Concurrent Realms’ (2015) at the Suzhou Museum (Suzhou), ‘Golden Horizon’ (2011) at the Shanghai Art Museum (Shanghai) and ‘Golden Sky’ (2010) at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing). Her work was also featured in ‘Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World’ (2017) at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York).
Yu Hong
Lives and works in Beijing, China
1994-96 Oil Painting, Postgraduate of Fine Arts, Central Institute of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
1984-88 Oil Painting, Bachelor of Fine arts, Central Institute of Fine Arts Beijing, China
1966 Born in Xi’an, China
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 ‘Yu Hong: The World of Saha’, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
2016 ‘Yu Hong: Garden of Dreams’, CAFA Annual Fine Arts Nomination Exhibition 2016, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
2015 ‘Yu Hong-Concurrent Realms’, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China
2013 ‘Wondering Clouds: Yu Hong’, Long March Space, Beijing, China
2011 ‘Yu Hong Golden Horizon’, Shanghai Museum of Art, Shanghai, China
2010 ‘Yu Hong: In and Out of Time’, The Opposite House, Beijing, China ‘Golden Sky’, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2009 ‘Yu Hong: In and Out of Time’, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2007 ‘Yu Hong’, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, Chinese Taiwan
‘What Do You See?’, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, Chinese Taiwan
2006 ‘Yu Hong’, Loft Gallery, Paris, France
2003 ‘Witness to Growth: An Exhibition of Yu Hong’s Artworks’, Museum of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, Wuhan, China
‘A Woman's Life: The Art of Yu Hong’, Halsey Gallery, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA
‘A Woman's Life: The Art of Yu Hong’, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, NY, USA
2002 ‘Witness to Growth: And Exhibition of Yu Hong’s Artworks’, Ocean Art Center, Beijing, China
‘Witness to Growth: And Exhibition of Yu Hong’s Artworks’, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
1990 ‘Yu Hong's Paintings’, Gallery of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
‘Stepping out!’, Lillehammer Art Museum, Lillehammer, Norway
‘Common Ground: UCCA 15th Anniversary Patrons Collection Exhibition’, Beijing, China
2021
‘2021 Beyond’, TAG Art Museum, Qingdao, China
‘The logic of painting’, Xinjiang Art Museum, Urumqi, China
‘Right now, right here: stand by here’, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
2020
‘When speed become form-Live in your mind’, Wind H Art Center, Beijing, China
‘Duration: Chinese Art In Transformation’, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
‘The logic of painting’, Shijiazhuang Art Museum, Shijiazhuang, China
‘And Now’, White Rabbit Gallery, Sidney, Australia
‘Wuhan 5th Documentary Exhibition of Fine Arts: Physis - Production of Nature, Human and Technology’, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China
2019
‘Beyond Boundaries – An interaction between the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing and the Slade School of Fine Art’, UCL, London, Somerset House, London, UK
‘Speculative Cultures: A Virtual Reality Exhibition’, Parsons, The New School, New York, USA
‘Afterimage: Dangdai Yishu’, Lisson Gallery, London, UK
‘So Far, Still So Close: Yu Hong and Nikita Shalenny’, Synthesis Gallery, Berlin, Germany
‘The Red Bean Grows in the South’, Faurschou Foundation, New York, USA
‘Silk Road: From tradition to contemporary’, National Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2018
‘Discipline with Master’s Dignity-Teaching & Research Exhibition of No.3 Studio of the Department of Oil Painting, CAFA’, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
‘The Return of Significance -- The Art by the Department of Oil Painting of CAFA in the Progressive Tense’, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
‘The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China 2017’, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
‘RITUAL SPIRIT’, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
‘Chinese Resonance -- Chinese Oil Painting International Itinerant Exhibition’, Ala Brasini, Roma, Italy
‘TURNING POINT -- 40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art’, Long Museum, Shanghai, China
‘Art Basel in Basel-Unlimited’, Basel, Switzerland
‘Figurative Diaspora’, New York Academy of Art, New York, USA
‘Portraits of the Time’, Imperial Ancestral Temple, Beijing, China
‘Virtual Reality Art Yu Hong’, Faurschou Foundation, Beijing, China
2017
‘Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World’, The Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
‘Shanghai Project’, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China
‘Loom -- The Contemporary Art Exhibition’, Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China
2016
‘Shan Shui Within’, MOCA Shanghai, Shanghai, China
‘M+ Sigg Collection -- Four Decades of Chinese Contemporary Art’, Hongkong, China
‘Echo of Civilization Crossing Dunhuang’, Ancestral Temple, Beijing
2015
‘The Temperature of History -- CAFA and Chinese Representational Oil Paintings’, China Arts Museum, Shanghai; Ancestral Temple, Beijing; Jinling Art Museum, Nanjing
‘Chinese Utopia’s Revisited -- The Elephants’, BOZAR Arts Museum, Brussels, Belgium
‘China 8 -- Contemporary Art from China in the Rhine and Ruhr Region’, MKM Museum, Duisburg, Germany
‘Collection Works of the Invitational Exhibition of the National Art Museum of China’, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
‘Traditional and Innovation: The Human Figure in Contemporary Chinese Art’, Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin Madison, USA
2014
‘Re -View: Opening Exhibition of the Long Museum, West Bund’, Shanghai, China
‘Central Academy of Fine Art High School 60th Anniversary Exhibition’, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
‘Resonance: Faculty from the Central Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition’, Indonesia Fine Arts Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
‘Heartbeat, Beijing: 55th Annual Venice Biennale Parallel Exhibition’, China Millennium Monument Contemporary Art Museum, Beijing, China
2013
‘Portrait of the Times: 30 Years of Contemporary Art’, Shanghai Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, China
‘From Beijing: Artworks from the Central Academy of Fine Arts Professors’, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, USA
‘CAFA Professors: 2013 Artworks from the Central Academy of Fine Arts Professors’, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
‘New Horizon: Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition’, Conde Duque, Madrid, Spain
‘Inspired by Dunhuang: Re-creation in Contemporary Chinese Art’, China Institute, New York, NY, USA
2012
‘Face’, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
‘In Vogue: First Women’s Invitational Art Exhibition’, Yue Art Museum, Beijing, China
‘In Contemporary: Chinese Oil Painting Biennale’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘Visual: Artworks of Faculty from the Central Academy of Fine Art’, Wimbledon Art Academy, London, England
2011
‘A History of Collecting: New Chinese Art’, Chengdu MOCA, Chengdu, China
‘A New Horizon: Contemporary Chinese Art’, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia
‘Looking Back on 60 Years’, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Tianjin, China
2010
‘Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art from 1979-2009’, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
‘Reshaping History: Chinese Art from 2000 to 2009’, National Convention Center, Beijing, China
‘China International Gallery Exposition (CIGE)’, International Exhibition Center, Beijing, China
‘Trans-Realism: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition’, Christie’s, New York, NY, USA
‘Creation: Artwork from the Faculty of the Central Academy of Fine Arts’, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
‘Fresh Ink’, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
‘Self-Portrait: Women’s Art in China from 1920-2010’, Central of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
‘Power From Academy -- CAFA Contemporary Art Exhibition’, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
2009
‘Talk: Cross-Strait Contemporary Art’, Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Chinese Taiwan
‘Talk: Cross - Strait Contemporary Art’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘Illusion: Female Contemporary Art from China’, Europalia Festival, Brussels, Belgium
‘Art in Use - Sculptural and Daily Objects’, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, China
2008
‘Deep Breath: Contemporary Chinese Women’s Art’, Suhe Art Center, Shanghai, China
‘Half-life of a Dream: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Logan Collection’, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
‘2008 Chinese Sex Appeal’, Yi Xiang Space, Beijing, China
‘Art Exhibition Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Opening of China’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2007
‘Spirit and Character: Chinese Contemporary Realism Oil Painting Research Exhibition’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘Yan’ An’, Long March Space, Beijing, China
‘Black White Grey: A Conscious Culture Stance’, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
‘Made in China’, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
‘Made in China’, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
‘Asian Internet City’, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
‘Net: Reimagining Space, Time and Culture’, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China
‘Awakening From A Ten-Year Long Sleep 1997-2007’, HJY Art Center, Beijing, China
2006
‘Western Eye: Early Contemporary Chinese Paintings Collected by Mr. and Mrs. Jürgen Ludwig Fischer’, Imperial Palace Museum, Beijing, China
‘Long March Capital’, Long March Space, Beijing, China
‘The Grand Promenade’, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece
‘In the View’, Srinakharinwirot University Art Museum, Bangkok, Thailand
‘Another Look’, Long March Space, China, Beijing
‘Blossoming of Realism: Oil Painting of Mainland China Since 1978’, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Chinese Taiwan
‘Woman in a Dually Sexual Society’, Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok, Thailand ‘Spirit and Character: Chinese Contemporary Realism Oil Painting Research Exhibition’, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
‘Art in Motion: Conversation of Contemporary Art’, Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
2005
‘Loft of Language: Eight Female Artists in China’, 3/4 Gallery, Beijing, China
‘7th Sharjah Biennial 7’, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
‘Conceptual Art: Chinese Contemporary Painting Exhibition’, Macao, China
‘Expression’, The Heart of the Art, Luoyang, China
‘Contemporary Chinese Art’, Tamayo Art Museum, Mexico City, Mexico
‘The Wall: Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art’, China Millennium Monument Art Museum, Beijing, China
‘2nd Beijing Biennale’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘Up and Down the River: New Era of Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2004
‘Regeneration: Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US’, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA
‘Me! Me! Me!’, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China
‘Dreaming of the Dragon: Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition’, Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
‘Existence of Image: Shanghai International Biennale’, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2003
‘An Era of Opening’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘3rd Annual Exhibition of Chinese Oil Painting’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘1st Beijing Biennale’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2002
‘Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition’, Goedhuis Gallery, New York, NY, USA
‘Golden Harvest’, Contemporary Art Museum, Zagreb, Croatia
‘East + West: Chinese Contemporary Art’, Vienna Artists’ Home, Vienna, Austria
‘China Contemporary Art’, Art Museum of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
‘Beijing – Paris’, Pierre Cardin Art Center, Paris, France
‘Guangzhou Triennial: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990 – 2000)’, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2001
‘Living in Time: Modern Art from China" National Gallery in Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany
‘China Art Now’, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
‘A New Image: Chinese Contemporary Art’, Traveling Exhibition: National Art Museum of China (Beijing); Shanghai Art Museum (Shanghai); Guangdong Art Museum (Guangzhou); MOCA Chengdu (Chengdu), China
‘Shelves: Chengdu Biennale’, Chengdu MOCA, Chengdu, China
‘The First Impression: Contemporary Works on Paper Exhibition’, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
2000
‘Natural Colour: The Third Exhibition of Female Painters of the World’, Beijing International Art Gallery, Beijing, China
‘Exhibition of Painter’s Works on Paper’, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
‘Reincarnation: Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art in 2000’, Upriver Art Museum, Chengdu, China
‘20th Century Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1999
‘20th Century Chinese Art" The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL, USA (Traveling Exhibition)
‘1999 Chinese Art’, LIMN Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
‘Exhibition of Upriver Art Museum’s Collection’, He Xiang Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
‘Exhibition of Dong Yu Art Museum’s Collection’, Dong Yu Art Museum, Shenyang, China
1998
‘Exhibition of Upriver Art Museum’s Collection’, Upriver Art Museum, Chengdu, China
‘Century – Woman’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1997
‘47th Venice Biennale’, Venice, Italy
‘100 Years of Chinese Oil Painted Portraits’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘Chinese Contemporary Woman Artists’, Chicago, IL, USA
‘97 Asian Art Show’, Dhaka, Bangladesh
1996
‘Power of the Line: Second International Contemporary Sketch Exhibition’, Duchamp Art Space, Gaoxiong, Chinese Taiwan
‘First Annual Exhibition of the Association of Chinese Oil Painting’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1995
‘The Second Exhibition of the World of Women Artists’, Beijing International Art Gallery, Beijing, China
1994
‘Between East and West: Transformation of Chinese Art in the Last 20th Century’, The Discover Museum, Acton, CT, USA
‘Yu Hong & Liu Xiaodong’s Work’, OIPCA, New York, NY, USA
‘Transformation’, Mark Tansey Studio, New York, NY, USA
‘Chinese and Korean Women Artist Exhibition’, Beijing, China
‘Power of the Line: Second International Contemporary Sketch Exhibition’, Artland Gallery, Hong Kong, China
1993
‘Chinese Avant-Garde’, Traveling Exhibition: Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, Berlin, Germany; Kunsthal Rotterdam, Holland; Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, England
‘45th Venice Biennale’, Venice, Italy
‘Contemporary Chinese Art’, Z Gallery, New York, NY, USA
‘Red Star Over China’, Keen Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1991
‘New Generation Art’, Chinese History Museum, Beijing, China
‘Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘Century: China’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1990
‘The World of Women Painters’, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
1989
‘Monte Carlo International Art Exhibition’, Monte Carlo, Monaco
‘The 7th Annual All Chinese Art Exhibition’, Nanjing, China
‘Elite Chinese Women Artists Exhibition’, Macau, China
‘Chinese Women Artists Exhibition’, Traveling Exhibition: Japan
1988
‘The Sketch Exhibition’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
‘Nude Painting Exhibition’, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1986
‘Oil Painting Exhibition’, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Collections
Burger Collection, Hong Kong, China
CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
Chengdu Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu, China Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, USA
Dongyu Art Museum, Shenyang，China
DSL Collection, Paris, France
East West Bank, Los Angeles, USA
Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Guozijian Oil Painting Art Museum, Beijing, China Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Ludwig Gallery, Cologne, Germany
M+, Hong Kong, China
Modern Media Group, Guangzhou, China
National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia National Museum of China, Beijing, China
Parkview Green, Beijing, China
Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Star Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China
Taikang Group, Beijing, China
Ullens Foundation, Switzerland
Upriver Art Museum, Chengdu, China
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia