Ding Yi: Recent Works

Timothy Taylor is delighted to present an exhibition of recent works by Ding Yi at the gallery’s new London space. Join Professor Shane McCausland for a special tour of the exhibition Ding Yi Recent Works on 4th November, 6–7pm at Timothy Taylor, London. Shane McCausland is the Percival David Professor of the History of Art at SOAS, University of London. He is an historian of visual arts and material culture, with a particular focus on the painting and calligraphy produced in dynastic China. McCausland is also a curator of Chinese contemporary art, curating Ding Yi’s exhibition What’s Left to Appear at the Long Museum (West Bund) in Shanghai, 2015.

As one of the most celebrated artists working in China today, Ding Yi has been painting crosses since the late 1980s. The cross, whether a ‘+’ or an ‘x’, is a motif that the artist has declared a formal mark without iconographic meaning. Such an icon mirrors the fast-paced development of the industrial urban environment in post-socialist China - the accumulation of these marks come to resemble complex gridlike structures. This series of paintings, whether predominately black, or elaborated in fluorescent colours; on basswood or on paper, all bear the same title, Appearance of Crosses with a corresponding date.

The group of works in this exhibition represent the latest development of Ding Yi’s ongoing, rationalist approach to painting.

Recent exhibitions for the artist include The Challenging Souls at Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China (2019), ⼗x30 Years — Ding Yi’s Works, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China (2018), Ding Yi: What’s Left to Appear, Long Museum (West Bund), Shanghai, China (2015).

Ding Yi’s work is held in private and public collections internationally including the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Daimler Art Collection, Berlin; DSL Collection, Paris; Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; Long Museum, Shanghai; M+, Hong Kong; and Yuz Museum in Shanghai.