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| Interpreting the sensibility in Yu Hong’s paintings |
| By Chen Danqing |
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 Editorial Note: 'In and Out of Time — Yu Hong' exhibition opens from 10 April to 7 May 2009 in Guangdong Museum of Art. Curated by Guo Xiaoyan (Senior Curator, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing). The exhibition is organized by the Guangdong Museum of Art and co-organized by Long March Space, Beijing. The following pieces is written by the famous artist Chen Danqing, describing the growth of Yu Hong as a female artist.
 u Hong and her husband Liu Xiaodong are possibly the luckiest and most successful couple to come out of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in the last three decades: with unwavering style, consistent breakthroughs and continuous output, they have had the fortuitousness of surviving throughout the times. I first met the charmed pair in 1992. A year later, I attended their wedding in New York. The bride, with raven hair in white gown, was quite a sight to behold. Today, the talented and beautiful Yu Hong has become a leading figure amongst the group of female artists hailing from the post-1980s period of reform and opening up.
Now I would like to write a few words regarding Yu Hong’s art. In thinking of her work, several outstanding female oil painters from the Republic, early Republic, 1980s and present times come to mind. They are all heroines and darlings of the fine arts world, talents in their own right who have enriched the palette of the times. Compared to her predecessors, Yu Hong is fortunate.
 Guan Zhilan, the gifted beauty from the 1930s and 1940s, is undoubtedly the most outstanding female painter to come out of the May Fourth Movement. Her paintings were bright, beautiful and sumptuous, and had a natural gracefulness. Her contemporary, Qiu Di of the Storm Society (Juelanshe) painted subtle, refined and smart works. Both talented women could be considered avant-gardes of their times but due to the political climate of the 1950s having an unfavorable stance toward fine arts, Guan Zhilan put away the brush at a young age and vanished from the painting world. Qiu Di died young. Furthermore, the latter remained in the shadow of her husband, Pan Xunqin. As such, these two immensely talented predecessors were forgotten by the art world for nearly four decades, and it was only in the 1990s that a very limited selection of their works was exhibited. To this day, they have yet to receive the recognition and praise they deserve.
There was no dearth of gifted artists from the new generation of female artists from the 1950s and 1960s. Of the generation belonging to Yu Hong’s teachers’, quite a few stars made their mark. But due to the Cultural Revolution starting shortly after they graduated, precious time was lost, and while to some extent they were represented, their art was greatly restricted by the mandates and constraints of revolution era themes. Despite their enthusiastic and earnest attempts, they remain ostracized due to the stigma attached to that era. The art world has written them off and it is very difficult to extol their works.
Therefore, Yu Hong is fortunate: she hails from the first crop of post-Cultural Revolution recruits to the middle school attached to the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Not long after graduation, she was the first and youngest of the female painters of the 1980s generation to achieve success. By chance, the growth and development of her generation of artists were no longer hindered by the times; their works no longer forcibly distorted or at risk of perishing within the folds of history’s tumultuous path. Young and in their prime, this generation is utterly free and uninhibited. They paint and become whatever and whoever they want. They move ahead, in stride with the times – creating, exhibiting, marketing and garnering fame. Through diligence, they mold their own destinies.
 Therefore, Yu Hong’s paintings are similar to her appearance – bright and simple, like her fate. Her early works are similar to Xiao Dong’s and quite self-involved: she depicts her own youth, from her days as a Young Pioneer to her transition into a cosmopolitan woman. The 1980s ushered in a sleek and minimal animation-inspired aesthetic. In the 1990s, Yu Hong became a mother. Through her daughter, she looks back on her own idyllic childhood. The 21st century produced an autobiographical series of works that juxtapose personal family snapshots with iconic news images. This is Yu Hong’s personal dialogue with the works of her previous generation rendered in the grand narrative style. The insertion of personal life experiences into a national grand narrative imbues the latter with a sense of warmth and authenticity.
After nearly two decades of being surrounded by images of herself as part of a couple, Yu Hong has in recent times re-imagined herself in classical style paintings, surrounded by youth. This form of personification and reproduction exhibits both motherly and daughterly traits. It also represents the hope a female artist endows in the next generation. Within this extended imagining, Yu Hong’s brush conveys a honed succinctness and ease. In a welcome turn, Yu Hong has successfully transcended the grand narrative themes and classical figure painting  conventions of her teachers’ generation. She meets her Republican period predecessors on a different set of terms: they painted because of their beauty, and through painting, their beauty evolved. Similar to the still life and landscape paintings that vigorously complimented their artistic talent, Yu Hong weaves an allegory of youth that is given over to her paintings time and again.
I believe every time Yu Hong paints herself anew on canvas or with a different medium, she reaffirms her talent and beauty. For her, painting is the youth in which she lingers and dwells.
February 5, 2009, Beijing
 Chen Danqing：Born in 1953, Shanghai, Chen Danqing graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Art in 1980. As a famous painter, he also published several books on art.
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