
ShanghART Gallery is pleased to announce that Yang Fudong’s solo exhibition Endless Peaks opens on 8th November at the gallery’s Westbund space. ‘Huihua dianying’ or ‘Painting as a film’, a concept that Yang Fudong has been developing for years, evolves in this exhibition as the main way to investigate the spiritual landscape of people. Works on display span painting, photography to video installation, and intend to reconstruct the narrative structure of viewing. The exhibition will run through 24 January 2021.
The title of the exhibition, Endless Peaks describes the continuous mountain ranges lying in an endless sea of clouds appearing when looking into the far distance from the top of a mountain. Developing from the concept, the artist draws figures and stories from traditional paintings in different dynasties as the source of his works. The textures exuding from materials allow the artist to re-portray contemporary spirituality with his re-creation implied in the ancient classics. Painting as the accumulative history of observation presents the influential correlations of ‘Huihua dianying’(or ‘Painting as a film’) between the ‘sensory’ and ‘imagery’ through the commonality of individual cognitive traces and distinctive creation. Exhibited works closely collaborate with the gallery’s two-storey characteristic architecture, which creates layered viewing dimensions for audience to interact with works and immerse themselves in the space.
Yang Fudong’s works are known for his signature temperament and avant-garde perceptions of moving images. In recent years, his works endeavour to practice and challenge multi-boundaries and limits of creation including the definition of film itself, the critical point between viewing and the viewed, relationships between medium and narrative etc. Inspired by ‘sense’, the crucial range of Chinese aesthetic thinking as the core trajectory, the artist unearths and recreates from the fragments of history and culture to continually query the essence of human’s spiritual life.
Yang Fudong was born in Beijing in 1971. He graduated from the China Academy of Fine Arts, Oil Painting Department in Hangzhou. He is among the most successful and influential Chinese artists today. He was one of finalists shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Prize in 2004 and received this honor as the third Chinese artist after Cai Guoqiang and Huang Yongping. Now he works and lives in Shanghai.





A respected voice in contemporary art discourse.
Focusing on ambitious storytelling and insightful art-world commentary. Ocula Magazine publishes in-depth interviews, critical essays and timely analysis on the artists, exhibitions and ideas driving the global art world.
Learn more about Ocula Magazine
Showcasing the best of the art world.
Ocula partners with galleries from around the world to highlight their artists, artworks and exhibitions. Gallery membership is by application and invitation, with each member vetted by an independent panel.
Learn more about Ocula Membership
Specialises in the sale of major artworks.
Led by a team with deep ties to the world’s leading auction houses, galleries and collectors. Ocula’s advisory team offers bespoke services to high-net-worth clients from around the world who are looking to acquire the best of contemporary and modern art.
Learn more about our team and services
