"I want to paint the original flavor of life" - painter Yang Yulong
As a professional painter, Yang Yulong is considered a halfway monk. The reason for starting to draw was simple. In 2015, after the birth of his daughter, the warmth of the family made Yang Yulong feel that many beautiful things were worth depicting. So he switched from design to drawing.
Unlike many painters' secretive expressions and ambitions, Yang Yulong's paintings are simple and easy to understand. The scenery is the scenery, and the person is the human being, not deliberate, not deep. However, the passion in the brushstrokes, the blank space in the picture, and the collision of colors are all inspired by Yang Yulong's feelings, and each stroke contains heavy feelings. The view is moving and contemplative.
Opening scene of Yang Yulong's solo exhibition "Painting Life", ICICLE SPACE.
On November 25, 2023, Yang Yulong's solo exhibition "Painting Life" opened at ICICLE SPACE in Shanghai. In this exhibition, two series of works by Yang Yulong are presented. The first is the watercolor series, which is fascinating with its fresh and transparent colors and rich freeze-dried brushstrokes;The second is the oil painting series, which is rich in color, unrestrained in brushstrokes, and full of enthusiasm for life. These works are set in the background of daily life, and through the artist's unique perspective, the beauty of life and the people and scenes touched are captured and presented on the canvas, expressing the love for life and inner feelings.
Yang Yulong (left) takes a guided tour of the exhibition site.
A conversation with artist Yang Yulong
q：You graduated from design and decided to start drawing after working, what was the trigger for this decision?
Yang Yulong:After I got married and had a daughter, I began to record the growth of my family and children with a paintbrush, and the warmth of my family made me feel that a lot of beauty is worth painting. So in 2015, I decided to paint as my professional direction. It's been almost a decade now.
q：In your paintings, you can feel beautiful, tranquil, and serene, what is your understanding of art?How is it different from the painters of your time?
Scene of Yang Yulong's solo exhibition "Painting Life", ICICLE SPACE.
Yang Yulong:I like the beautiful pictures in life, the people and scenes that touch, and I think that art can bring people a feeling of beauty, which makes people touch and evoke memories, contemplation or resonance.
Unlike the painters of the same era,I want to paint the original flavor of life, unlike my designs can be imaginative. It's like painting my daughter at the beach, even her back, my friends can see who I painted.
When my paintings are old, they look simple and easy to understand, but I can also see the passion in the brushstrokes and the emotions in the colors.
I like to leave watercolor and oil painting blank, and it's good to feel it, maybe it's deeply influenced by Chinese culture in my bones.
q：Going to different cities to sketch and experience different cultures is very important in your creation, what are some of the most impressive experiences?
Yang Yulong:When I held a solo exhibition in Paris in July 2016, I painted 40 works for more than a month, most of them were sketches, painting people's lives, the sunshine of the Seine, the city full of time memories, and longing to hear their songs again. The heart is relaxed, the hands are relaxed, and the color brushstrokes are more casual. I know how much this city has touched me!
Opening scene of Yang Yulong's solo exhibition "Painting Life", ICICLE SPACE.
q：What kind of mood do you express in your exhibition "Painting Life"?
Yang Yulong:In Shanghai, where I have studied and worked for many years, "Painting Life" is to show my teachers, classmates, and friends why I changed to paint, and what works I have painted and how I have grown. I would like to express my gratitude to the people who helped and supported me. ICICLE Gallery is also because of the relationship between my brother and sister, so I have the opportunity to get together with teachers, classmates and friends for many years, and feel my feelings with me.
q：The exhibition features two series of works in watercolor and oil painting, can you tell us more about the works on display in this exhibition?Why did you choose these two series?
Yang Yulong:Both watercolor and oil paintings revolve around the two themes of "natural growth" and "urban memory".
The "Natural Growth" series will draw different moods with different seasons. The four seasons are renewed, the growth of nature, the flowers bloom and the leaves fall, the dry lotus by the pool, Monet's garden in summer, and the warm sun ..... in winterIn my eyes, there is something different about it.
The "City Memory" series depicts the traces of the past and present in the memory of the old city and the new city with the passage of time. Shanghai, Paris .....The same era, different cultures, intertwined.
From natural growth, small seedlings have become big trees, and as the years pass, you can see the growth rings and feel the power of nature. The city we were once familiar with has become unfamiliar, nostalgic for the city of life, because of the human touch, as well as the memory of this place. I hope that more cities will have memories of the past.
Yang Yulong's solo exhibition "Painting Life" exhibits works in ICICLE SPACE.
q：The works in the exhibition, through landscapes and people, record your experience of traveling to various places. Can you tell us more about the works on display in relation to the context of your creation at that time?
Yang Yulong:There is a picture of "The Little Girl of the Gangvi Fishing Village", which depicts the little girl in the endless lagoon and seeing the little girl of the Gangvi fishing village, I will think of my daughter, and I will think of the sea that my daughter likes.
Waiting Quietly" In this picture, the wooden boat waiting by the water and grass not far from the pier seems to be stuck to time, and the cloth wrapped in the bamboo pole on the boat is the sail. Quietly waiting for the person to return home.
These two oil paintings are places I have only been to once. In particular, I only stayed in the fishing village of Gangvi in Benin, but I always remember it, and it is deeply imprinted in my memory. Although there is a lack of material resources here, and the most important items of life are water tanks, buckets and wooden boats, the sky is high and the sea is full of freedom.
Installation view of Yang Yulong's solo exhibition "Painting Life", ICICLE SPACE.
q：You are an artist who is particularly good at depicting everyday life, and in your own daily life, in addition to painting, it is also very important to spend time with your family. What is your own daily life, and how does it relate to your creations?
Yang Yulong:Depicting everyday life is the focus of my paintings. I cherish the time I spend with my family, and these times together are very routine. I'm a safety officer at home, kids are growing, I'm getting older, and I'm getting used to quiet listening. No matter near or far, rich or poor, because of the love and confidence of my family, I can trek through mountains and rivers to create more and more beautiful works.
q：On the opening day of this exhibition, there were many people who came to the scene, what kind of views did they have about your paintings?What do you want the audience to feel from your frame?
Yang Yulong:Most of my friends feel the same way: the work is "light-hearted and pleasant." "There is vitality and hope, and it can be impetuous. "Quiet but not lonely, lively but not irritable. "The painting is loose and expressive, there is a kind of immersive, very harmonious, and it captures the most touching and beautiful moments in life"...
These affirmations and compliments are the feelings of watching my works, which are very consistent with the words I express my heart, and I am very happy that the audience has resonated with my paintingsDraw good memories of life.
Scene of Yang Yulong's solo exhibition "Painting Life", ICICLE SPACE.
q：As a painter, you have always been depicting life, describing the people and things you see and feel around you, what does painting mean to you?What kind of artist do you want to be?
Yang Yulong:Painting the joy and emotion in my heart is like painting my daughter, from the work, I can feel the sunshine and feel the joy in my heart. Looking at the infinite changes of the sea and sky, the ebb and flow of the tide, the beauty of life is in front of you and around. Just like a writer uses words to express the emotions of a story, and a composer uses ** to stir the heart, although my paintings cannot be compared with them, I use paintings to express my emotions, and my emotions are simple and easy to understand.
I've always loved Joaquín. Joaquín Sorolla's work, I hope to create more works from life, works that move me, maybe everyday, maybe ordinary. But I'll stick to my own way. Create works that have memories of the era in which I live.
q：What are your plans for exhibitions or creations after this exhibition?
Yang Yulong:After this exhibition, I will hold an exhibition of my theme works in my hometown of Nanchang in February next year. It is a work on the theme of water.
In the future, I will create more towards thematic thinking, and I also want to go to more places to learn more new things, such as learning paragliding is also a way to appreciate the great rivers and mountains from a different perspective, painting beautiful mountains and seas, painting sunrises and sunsets, and painting urban fields from different perspectives.
Draw life
Yang Yulong solo exhibition
Monday - Sunday, 10:00 - 20:00).
artist
YYLONG YENG
Curator curator
Yue Jiang & Joanna Dan.
ICICLE GALLERY