Artist Profiles

Huang Yan

Huang Yan was born in 1966 in Jilin Province, where he still lives and works. During the 1990’s he primarily followed conceptual approaches and conducted mail art projects. For his thirtieth birthday he published a series of postcards illustrating his own work (including a photo of his own faked suicide) and posted them to addresses throughout the country. He also handed out invitations for a big solo show that existed only in his imagination. His biggest contribution to experimental Chinese contemporary art, however, is his combination of classical landscape painting and body art. Like a number of artists of the Chinese avant-garde, Huang Yan calls on China’s tradition of ink and colour painting in his works. His photos of a male model whose torso is painted in traditional Chinese landscape combine one of the great Chinese art forms with the human body. Body replaces paper and the traditional art form becomes signifier. The series is called Tattoo, a play on the finished product but also an indication of something which cannot easily be removed.

Other Works By This Artist [ click to view larger images ]