JP\/19\/CARLA<\/p>\n
Bali in the paintings by Yu Xiao Fu<\/p>\n
Carla Bianpoen
\nContributor\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Chinese modern and contemporary art has been taking the art world
\nby storm since China's remarkable transformation to a diverse
\nmarket economy in the past few decades.<\/p>\n
Names like Gu Wenda, Wang Guangyi, Zhang Xiaogang, Fang Lijiun
\nand Yue Mingjun are now household names, their art surpassing any
\nexpectations that one may have had before, and reverberating in
\nIndonesia since the early years of the new millennium.<\/p>\n
But quite different is the art of Yu Xiao Fu, which will be
\nshown from Sept. 6 on, in a three-day exhibition at the
\nMercantile Club. Reminiscent of a juxtaposition of Western modern
\nart styles, one would recognize in his works features attributed
\nto expressionism, impressionism, cubism, the abstract and the
\nsurrealistic.<\/p>\n
This may come as a surprise, since the 55-year-old Yu is only
\nfive years older than the renowned contemporary installation
\n"hair-artist" Gu Wenda, who now resides in New York.<\/p>\n
There is a ten-year difference with his younger colleagues,
\nwhose art styles became known as Political Pop and Cynical
\nRealism.<\/p>\n
According to Indonesian curator and art critic Agus Dermawan,
\nYu Xiao Fu's style emerged as a reaction to their newly acquired
\nfreedom at the time.<\/p>\n
Yu Xiao Fu did not wish to go with the flow. It must not be
\nforgotten that Yu, who is a graduate of the visual arts
\ndepartment of the Shanghai Drama Institute in Shanghai, a city
\nsaid to be the gateway through which Western art was introduced,
\nhas remained there as a teacher who is now serving as the dean of
\nhis alma mater.<\/p>\n
Yu Xiao Fu has kept to painting with oil on canvas. He won the
\nArt Prize of the Shanghai Fine Arts Exhibition on show at the
\nShanghai Art Museum in 2001.<\/p>\n
The exhibition of 40 paintings is titled "The Philosopher,
\nThinking on the Canvas."<\/p>\n
It is inspired by the island where dozens of foreign artists
\nhave been before. Like them, Yu Xiao Fu has been touched by
\nBali's atmosphere where even simple everyday themes appear to be
\nspecial, mingling with meandering memories of countries he once
\nvisited.<\/p>\n
Yu's Bali has, therefore, a touch of China, Russia and Europe,
\nsays Dermawan noting Yu's Rembrandt-like palette.<\/p>\n
Yu's excellent technical skills are matched by an imagination
\nthat blends reality with the illusionary. This includes a
\npainting depicting Affandi and Picasso in a becak in Bali (where
\nthese three-wheeled vehicles are nonexistent).<\/p>\n
Yu Xiao Fu, said to be one of the ten greats in oil painting
\nin China, came to Indonesia at the invitation of art collector
\nRudy Akili, who urged him to paint Bali. The exhibition will be
\nopened by another art collector, Deddy Kusuma.<\/p>\n
The Philosopher, Thinking on the Canvas
\nSolo exhibition of 40 paintings by Yu Xiao Fu
\nMercantile Club, BCA Building, 18th Fl, Jl. Sudirman kav. 22-23,
\nJakarta
\nUntil Sept. 8<\/p>\n
Opening cocktail and dinner attended by the artist
\nSeptember 6, at 6:30 p.m. (open to the public)
\nContact: Rosna 0811133821, Lusi 08161919546
\nor 352 3133, 231 0001<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp19carla-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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