展览现场
When Yao Zhiyan presents his recent works in the exhibition hall of the Common Art Center, the fragmented images he creates appear scattered and disordered, or difficult to classify, but in a state of detachment, through his' filter ', facing those exposed wounds, reflecting inner anxiety and unease, framing those wandering lives, magnifying those absurdities that are ignored, and pondering the loneliness of oneself... In the flowing ambiguous and surprising visual fragments, you can not only prepare to be unfamiliar with yourself, but also discover that every person and scene seems to have a' separation 'effect with the person you meet, making the invisible visible.
——Excerpt from the preface by curator Feng Boyi
Traces of Floating Life · Dust in the Shadows 
Exhibition Site
Traces of Floating Life · Dust in the Shadows --- Zhiyan Yao’s New works Exhibition
Exhibition SiteOn January 14, 2025, the Common Art Center will exhibit a new work exhibition by artist Yao Zhiyan titled "Floating Traces: Dust in Shadows". This exhibition is curated by Feng Boyi and showcases over 40 oil and watercolor paintings created by artist Yao Zhiyan in recent years. For a viewer, the imagined facts are always so distant. More often than not, people only see the fragments depicted by him, because everything solid has already vanished into thin air! So, confinement, no way out, like a midnight nightmare without a trace. Fortunately, we can catch the loss of nowhere to hide through and utilize art. Painting is silent, leaving only scattered shadows. However, Yao Zhiyan's days of wandering and exile, whether as a human or an artist, are far from over. The exhibition will continue until February 25th.
Exhibition Site
「Traces of Floating Life · Dust in the Shadows」Review of the Opening Ceremony
Curator Feng BoyiHello everyone, thank you for taking the time to attend the opening ceremony of Yao Zhiyan's solo exhibition. I was fortunate enough to plan a solo exhibition for Yao Zhiyan at the 798 Contemporary Art Center in 2021, and now I am honored to plan his second solo exhibition at the 798 Joint Art Center. This exhibition is about four years apart and showcases Yao Zhiyan's new works in recent years. More than 20 large-scale works have been carefully selected, and if small paintings are included, nearly 40 of them can reflect his latest creations in recent years. The name I gave to this exhibition is' Floating Traces: Dust in the Shadow '. Yao Zhiyan's creations focus more on herself and the state between people, as well as between people and reality, and have a very direct presentation.I think his works have the following three characteristics:
Exhibition SiteFirstly, his works profoundly depict the absurdity of current society and our current reality. Although Yao Zhiyan lives in Shenzhen, he is more concerned about his relationships with himself, society, and others. His works fall between concreteness and abstraction, depicting characters with slightly fragmented forms and a sense of incompleteness, conveying a strong sense of absurdity. This sense of absurdity is a reflection of the reality of our era, where everyone is immersed and experiences different things.
Exhibition SiteSecondly, his works contain a sense of humor, which includes elements of black humor. When the audience appreciates his works, they may feel a knowing smile or a sense of taboo pleasure. There is a term in psychology called "dissociation", which refers to a person's self-awareness breaking away from real life and experiencing a sense of unreality in real life, that is, you have experienced everything but are like an observer. Looking at Yao Zhiyan's works, perhaps you will feel a sense of absurdity, a situation of peripheral perception.
Exhibition SiteFinally, his works carry a sense of floating and uncertainty, presenting fragmented forms. This reflects the uncertainty we face in real life, as well as our confusion about the current situation and the future. The human figures handled by Yao Zhiyan in his works are as fragile and uncertain as paper, with a floating and suspenseful feeling, which is more of a true portrayal of himself.
Exhibition SiteIn Yao Zhiyan's works, the images of legs and feet often appear and have different manifestations in many of her works. I personally understand that these images of legs and feet point more towards the origin and destination of humanity, that is, where we come from and where we are going, which is the ultimate question of human survival. Yao Zhiyan deeply expressed this meaning through the imagery of her feet and legs, triggering our reflection on our own existence and future. This is also a prominent feature of his exhibition works. Next, let's invite artist Yao Zhiyan herself to interpret some of his creative ideas and presentation methods for everyone.
Exhibition SiteArtist Yao Zhiyan
Thank you, Teacher Feng, for planning this exhibition for me. I would also like to express my gratitude to my friends and relatives who have come all the way here. Thank you for attending my solo exhibition at the Common Art Center. In my works, I adopt a unique approach that blends elements of virtual reality, absurdity, and humor to present everything I encounter and feel in life.
Exhibition SiteI transform these emotions and experiences into concrete artistic images through my perspective and artistic techniques. In my paintings, the character images and the entire picture are built on a virtual reality foundation. I extract form and color from reality, recombine and refine them, and finally present this image. These images are closely connected to my daily life and perception, and they are my unique interpretation of the real world.
Exhibition SiteIn my paintings, my life perception style runs through, which is a fusion of absurdity and reality, with elements of black humor. Books and women's legs, these elements in reality, were extracted by me to present my unique perspective and perception of the real world.
Exhibition SiteThe title of the work 'Rabbit Run' is closely related to our lives. I create these paintings not just to create a form of painting, but because of my observations and feelings about the world in daily life, ultimately presented through my artistic approach. Taking rabbits as an example, in daily life, we often think that rabbits are cunning and want to escape reality, but in reality, it is difficult to do so. And through this art form, I want to express some things in life in this way.
Exhibition SiteThese are some sketches I have drawn. Before painting an oil painting, I usually draw some sketches and use watercolor to present them. In my paintings, there are usually some images, such as animals or images I have created myself. Through this way, I use some images extracted from reality to express what I want to present.
Exhibition SiteThis artwork is called 'Having a Leg' and is closely related to my personal feelings in real life. In the adult world, the term 'having a leg' has a specific meaning, and I believe everyone understands it without saying it. This artwork was created under my overall artistic philosophy, reflecting my unique observation and contemplation of reality.
Exhibition Site
Feng Boyi, male, born in Beijing in the 1960s. Han ethnicity; The appearance of the masses; Bachelor's degree in History; Married; B blood; Rat phase; Libra, rising to Virgo. From the late 1980s to present, proficient in curation, commentary, and editing work.
Group photo of Common Art Center team「Traces of Floating Life · Dust in the Shadows」Yao Zhiyan's Works ExhibitionFor the 12th Beijing Huimin Cultural Consumption SeasonOne of the key activities in the Art Capital section
http：//www.commonartcenter.com
weibo：共同艺术中心
Instagram：commonartcenter
Facebook：Common art center
Common Art Center, 707-b03 Hongshi Square, No.2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
Founded in 2015, Common Art Center is the first contemporary art gallery with a crowdfunding membership system in China. The Common Art Center is jointly initiated by experienced curators, art dealers, collectors and other professionals in the field. It is committed to providing professional collection solutions for contemporary art collectors with a new business model. The gallery takes "paper" as the medium and works of media as its main research and management direction, because of the importance of such works in the Chinese art system and the broad development prospect in the future. Using paper and folk art as the medium, the excellent artists make paper as a tool to resist its fate, allowing it to get rid of the veil of function and reveal its own artistic value.
