Since the end of the 1980s, the Chinese artist Ding Yi has devoted himself exclusively to working with the theme of the cross (+) and ex (x), which he exploits to its maximum potential. All his works are the result of these small signs repeated according to a systematic principle. Devoid of narrative or symbolic significance, this approach to painting does not seek any sort of emotional expression, but instead is reduced to its minimal state. A wonderful dynamic is born out of the tension between formal variety and the minimal nature of the structural elements. The work is never the result of a mechanical reproduction, but rather of a delicate manual process. His paintings have also been seen as an accumulation of a sort of manual writing, reminiscent of a traditional savoir-faire or of the Chinese calligraphy practice. The artist has always had a talent for integrating a variety of references in a very personal way, whether it be from the preceding generation of Chinese artists or western influences such as those of Mondrian and Newman, Pollock and Warhol.
Born in 1962, Ding Yi lives and works in Shanghai. He obtained a first degree from Shanghai Arts and Crafts Institute in 1983 and a second with the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Shanghai in 1990. Ding Yi enjoys international recognition and has participated in the Venice Biennale (1993), the Yokohama Triennale (2001) and the Guangzhou Biennale (2002), among others. In 2008 the Museum of Modern Art of Bologna in Italy dedicated an important solo exhibition to the artist. Ding Yi has been an art professor at Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts since 2005.
Exhibitions
Publications
Exhibitions
Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning, Shenzhen, China
TAG Art Museum, Qingdao, China
Long Museum, Chongqing, China
Nova Contemporary, Bangkok, Thailand
Galerie Karsten Greve Paris, France
Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China
The Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Galerie Karsten Greve Paris, France
UCCA – Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Galerie Karsten Greve AG, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
HOW Art Museum, Wenzhou, China
Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
Mingyuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
West Bund Museum Gallery 0, Shanghai, China
Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
The Barn Contemporary Art Space, Shenzhen, China
Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
Shanghai Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China
Sichuan Fine Art Institute Art Museum (Tiger City University), Chongqing, China
China Art Museum, Beijing, China
The Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Qing Art Space, Shanghai, China
Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, Italy
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain
The Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Qiao Space & Tank Shanghai Project Space, Shanghai, China
Mingyuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Essence Contemporary Art Museum, Chongqing, China
Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands
Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, China
Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Busan Museum of Modern Art, South Korea
Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, China
Chun Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Castiglia di Saluzzo, Saluzzo, Italy
Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
MKM Museum Küppersmühle, Duisburg, Germany
Galerie Karsten Greve AG, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France
Deichtorhallen Hamburg – Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg, Germany
Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China; Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Karsten Greve AG, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Himalayas Art Museum, Shanghai, China
China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
The Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Downtown of Kassel, Germany
OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China
Chambers Fine Art New York, New York, USA