In Yun Yongye's studio, besides a palm-sized golden frame (purchased in France, dating from the 18th century, in the later period of the French Revolution) lays an uneven floor tile with tadpole patterns debris from the Qi state of Western Zhou. This fragment comes from the "Autumnal Spring" period of ancient China: in 770 BC, the peace that lasted in the country for nearly half a century was at last broken, and an unprecedented chaos fell unto the land. From then on, the war lasted for 224 years. A total of 36 monarchs and princes died in it, and 52 countries were destroyed.
Sitting quietly in the studio, Yun Yongye keeps touching and sniffing these two objects with their own special historical background, letting the stench of clay and the light of the gold leaf mix in the depths of his mind, and he lets himself wander in the world just like Borges in his labyrinth of the prior world. As a result, a romantic, treacherous, bloody, and stubborn night gradually appears: therein, the plants in the dim light radiate a faint light, and blood oozes from their branches; people hunting each other are pierced by the light, and there is no time to cry out from their throats.
Yun Yongye is immersed in this private time and space, blending Eastern and Western cultures, and using images to transform poetry. In the works "Nest", " Flipped" and "Waiting" to be exhibited in this exhibition, he pays tribute to the French artist Gustave Courbet and Chinese classical erotic paintings in realistically, displaying “The power of reproduction” in a brutal way; "The Forgotten Writing", " Dead Pages herein", and " A Letter From July" are testimonies to his interest in Western botany and Eastern herbal medicine, presenting a post-chaotic land; "Hunting" , " Vespers", " Vibrant Metaphors", "Lost", and "Two Selves" extract classic images and allusions from Western religion and culture, re-endow them with a special context and clues to their narrative, and create a space for their interpretation.
In the works shown in this exhibition, he disrupts the chronological order of stories and plots, and responds to his understanding of the present with thematic creations that transcend reality: "Autumnal Spring" is not only a private night, but also an imaginary "Peach Blossom Spring"; it also refers to those eras that have gone by in history and have retained a special significance; it is also a metaphor for the continuous cycle of nature, and of how the law of "natural selection" will flow eternally in this universe.
Yun Yongye was born in Hainan in 1990, and graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts in 2012. He now works and lives in Wuhan. He has held a solo exhibition entitled "New Moon" at HdM Gallery in Beijing, another entitled "Complete with missing parts" at Gallery-Nothing Happened in Shenzhen, and " L'Innomable" at Wuhan RS_PROJECTS. He has also participated in group exhibitions at Beijing HdM Gallery, Shenzhen Wonespace Space, Tong Gallery+Projects, Wuhan Fine Arts Literature Art Center and many others.
