Body As Art, A New Contemporary Art Movement
In his Chinese Landscape-Tattoo series and his Four Seasons series Huang Yan incorporates man and nature. Other artists such as Cang Xin, Li Wei, Liu Ren, Ma Yanling and Wu Yuren, are also using the human body as an art medium to explore contemporary Chinese art: "Some photos are humorous, others disconcerting, but all are fascinating reflections of life in China today." Cang Xin, for example, uses his own tongue to taste places that represent Chinese culture in a series called Experiences of the Tongue. Ma Yanling features photos with women bound in silk ribbons in a series titled Silk Ribbons.
These artists continue to use photography and the human body hand in hand with their contemporary art to express their society, and has been viewed and exhibited internationally. Especially with Huang Yan, he has done what many others have not been able to achieve: "capturing the fusion and the paradox" between the Chinese traditional culture and the contemporary world. Huang Yan gives art, specifically Chinese traditional art (such as lily pads, orchids, landscapes, fish, plum blossoms, etc.), a new, contemporary direction. The development of contemporary Chinese art began in the 1970s, making the human body a very contemporary art medium as well.
By using these controversial art mediums, Huang Yan is challenging the limits of Chinese traditional landscape paintings. His wife Zhang Tiemei, has been trained classically and oftentimes will execute the painting as they work together. If the face, leg, or arm moves then the meaning of the landscape can have a new twist to it. Art is part of the Chinese culture, and by painting traditional art Huang Yan is reminding society to never forget what Chinese art means to them as a part of their heritage. It is where Huang Yan enjoys to express both his Zen as well as his Buddhist ideas.
Besides being a renowned artist and published poet, Huang Yan has also published several books regarding the emergence of new, contemporary Chinese artists.
He operates his own gallery, Must Be Contemporary Art, in Beijing's 798 Factory/Art Center.
Read more about this topic: Huang Yan (artist)
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