• Danysz Gallery - Shanghai is pleased to celebrate The Year of the Tiger with a new solo exhibition by Chen Yingjie! The works presented follow the daoism component of Chen Yingjie's paintings and unleash the 'tiger' in our hearts. The artist indeed believes that there is a tiger in everyone's minds: vivid, majestic and powerful but also brave and fearless. It is up to us to boldly release it as a strength and wisdom of life.

  • CHEN YINGJIE

    Chen Yingjie, aka Hua Tunan, is the new sensation in the Asian Contemporary art scene.  The  work of the artist, who was named one of China’s “30 Under 30” by Forbes in 2020, and one of "25 Contemporary Chinese Artists You Need to Know" by the American Complex magazine, is collected by the more sought after collectors in China and is part of many world-class public collections. As the world is entering the Tiger Year according to Chinese zodiac, the 30-year-old artist is confronting himself to the symbolism of the traditional celebration, offering a vibrant and energetic tribute to this sign through his solo show “The Year of the Tiger” at Danysz gallery.

  • Tiger symbolism
    饥饿生存 61 - Stay Hungry LXI, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 x 4 cm

    Tiger symbolism

    In the past, the tiger in Chen's paintings was used to represent anger, but through time it gradually came to express a catharsis for the complex emotions in our hearts, as well as the chasing of dreams as conveyed by the animal’s strength and beauty. For the artist: “we need to overcome the challenges in our journey and trust our instinct. We will grow through struggles, find strength in defiance and courage in fear."

     

    Taking “hunger” as the core idea to depict portraits of animals, Chen Yingjie has developed a series of paintings entitled ‘Stay Hungry’: diary-like artworks based on the artist’s own experiences, aiming at observing his delicate emotions, life stories and life journey. The “hunger” also contains different creative states and experiences, and has gradually become a driving force to encourage exploration and innovation in a diversified era. 

    • Chen Yingjie 虎稿 #1 - Tiger Sketch #1, 2022 Acrylic on paper 76,5 x 57 cm 29 7/8 x 22 1/2 in
      Chen Yingjie
      虎稿 #1 - Tiger Sketch #1, 2022
      Acrylic on paper
      76,5 x 57 cm
      29 7/8 x 22 1/2 in
      Enquire
    • Chen Yingjie 虎稿 #2 - Tiger Sketch #2, 2022 Acrylic on paper 76,5 x 57 cm 29 7/8 x 22 1/2 in
      Chen Yingjie
      虎稿 #2 - Tiger Sketch #2, 2022
      Acrylic on paper
      76,5 x 57 cm
      29 7/8 x 22 1/2 in
      Enquire
    • Chen Yingjie 虎稿 #3 - Tiger Sketch #3, 2022 Acrylic on paper 76,5 x 57 cm 29 7/8 x 22 1/2 in
      Chen Yingjie
      虎稿 #3 - Tiger Sketch #3, 2022
      Acrylic on paper
      76,5 x 57 cm
      29 7/8 x 22 1/2 in
      Enquire
  • a commitment to animal preservation
    虎稿 #1 - Tiger Sketch #1, 2022, Acrylic on paper, 76,5 x 57 cm

    a commitment to animal preservation

    The tiger has actually always been an important figure to paint for Chen Yingjie. This fascination arose when the artist joined the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to take part in initiatives to study and protect wild tigers in the forests of Cambodia. It led the artist to create a series of works on this specific subject in response to global environmental issues that enabled him to push further the limits of his painting talent.

     

    One of the main goals of this series is to show the world of endangered animals in an artistic way, calling on the world to protect animals and respect nature. Depicted with love, the animals in his works are full of vitality, with a variety of vivid expressions, postures and kinetic energy.

    "We must be in awe of Nature."

    - Chen Yingjie

  • an art deeply rooted in tradition
    再造乾坤-第二十四号 - Reconstruct Universe XXIV, 2021, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 90 x 60 x 5 cm

    an art deeply rooted in tradition

    “Chinese traditional culture has a significant impact on my creation.”
    - Chen Yingjie


    Taking a contemporary approach to the work of Chinese Old Masters, Chen Yingjie uses a variety of unconventional techniques while keeping with the spirit, the strength and vitality of ink painting and calligraphy. His style shows a great balance between dynamism and contemplation, influenced by age-old concepts that lie at the heart of Chinese art practices and philosophy: the Yin and Yang, as well as the idea of a cosmic flow permeating all things. “You may feel,” he says, “that dynamic and invisible qi flowing around my works.”

    • Chen Yingjie 饥饿生存 12 - Stay Hungy XII, 2020 Acrylic on canvas 120 x 80 x 4 cm 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 5/8 in
      Chen Yingjie
      饥饿生存 12 - Stay Hungy XII, 2020
      Acrylic on canvas
      120 x 80 x 4 cm
      47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 5/8 in
      Enquire
    • Chen Yingjie 饥饿生存 53 - Stay Hungry LIII, 2021 Acrylic and mixed media on canvas 120 x 80 x 5,5 cm 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 2 in
      Chen Yingjie
      饥饿生存 53 - Stay Hungry LIII, 2021
      Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
      120 x 80 x 5,5 cm
      47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 2 in
      Enquire
    • Chen Yingjie 饥饿生存 61 - Stay Hungry LXI, 2022 Acrylic on canvas 60 x 50 x 4 cm 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 x 1 5/8 in
      Chen Yingjie
      饥饿生存 61 - Stay Hungry LXI, 2022
      Acrylic on canvas
      60 x 50 x 4 cm
      23 5/8 x 19 3/4 x 1 5/8 in
      Enquire
  • an unconventional technique

    an unconventional technique

    A painter, Chen is also something of a performer. His way of working is greatly gestural. Inspired by traditional ink painting, he physically engages with the canvas, with dynamic moves and splashing techniques. American art critic Harold Rosenberg, who coined the term “action painting”, famously argued that the American abstract painters of his time, the likes of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, were using the canvas as “an arena in which to act.” This applies very fittingly to the work of Chen Yingjie.

    “Creating is like fighting, you’ll never know your opponent’s next punch, and the most important thing is to observe the current paces and adapt to circumstances.”
    - Chen Yingjie

  • “From ink painting on paper to easel painting, to large-scale murals, to live performance art and spatial installations, Chen Yingjie has successfully combined the art language of traditional Chinese ink painting with Western street graffiti art to create an expressive language that belongs to 21st century pop art.”

    - Victoria Lu, first female curator and art critic in Chinese contemporary art

     

  • Chen Yingjie was born in Foshan, Guangdong province, China, in 1991. He studied at Raffles Design Institute in Singapore. His...

    Chen Yingjie was born in Foshan, Guangdong province, China, in 1991. He studied at Raffles Design Institute in Singapore. His work has been presented in major institutions in China and around the world, among which Tank and Power Station of Art in Shanghai, CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, or the ArtScience Museum in Singapore. He has collaborated with many international brands like Cartier, Volkswagen, Louis Vuitton, Adidas or Volvo. In 2020, he was named by Forbes one of China”s “30 Under 30”. His work is present in many world-class private and public collections, including Honolulu Museum of Art, BMW China Automotive or CapitaLand Group. He currently lives in Foshan.

  • Stay tuned for more:

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