Lin Yan
With xuan paper as her major material, creates installations and sculpture paintings equipped with architectural characters. In her hands, xuan paper is not merely the submissive medium of painting; rather, it can be shaped to possess weight and layers of its own. Black and white, firmness and softness are harmoniously juxtaposed; each quality implicates the other, like the constant negotiation of void and fullness in tai chi, or the yin-yang balance in traditional Chinese philosophy. Also interested in spatial and architectural forms, LIN has created many large site-specific installations lately. These works sustain the subtle contrast between their massive appearance and their light weight and feel. In the kaleidoscopic world of contemporary art, LIN seizes the oldest and modest material to unfold her everlasting affections for her surroundings, culture, and history.
LIN was born in Beijing, China. After graduating from The Central Academy of Fine Arts, LIN pursued further studies at L’École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1985. Then, she obtained her master’s degree from the Department of Art Studio at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA. in 1989. She moved to New York in 1993. Her most recent solo exhibitions include: “Lin Yan: Inverted Shadow” at Leo gallery in Shanghai(2018) “Lin Yan : Gateway” at Fou gallery in Brooklyn(2017). “Lin Yan” at Taipei Eslite gallery(2016). Most recent selected group shows are “Useless Value” at Wanying Art Space, Shijiazhuang, “Crisscrossing East and West: The Remaking of Ink Art in Contemporary East Asia” at Museum of Contemporary Art – Yin Chuan.“The Dark Matters” at White Rabbit gallery in Sydney. Her works are collected by the Deutsche Bank in New York, Long Museum in Shanghai, National Art Museum of China in Beijing and White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney.
LIN YAN1
Born 1961, Beijing, China
Lives and works in New York
EDUCATION
1989 M.A. Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Department of Studio Art, PA
1986 L’École national supérieur des Beaux-Arts, Atelier of Technique of Painting, Paris
1984 B.F.A. Central Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Oil Painting, Beijing
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
Lin Yan: Inverted Shadow, Leo gallery, Shanghai. July 7 - September 1
2017
Lin Yan : Gateway, Fou gallery, Brooklyn, New York. February 28 - March 21
2016
Lin Yan, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan, April 9 - May 8. (Brochure)
2014
Lin Yan: Enshrouded, Cheryl McGinnis Gallery, New York, May 8–June 16, 2012.
2009
Lin Yan: Remaking, China Square, New York, February 5–28, 2009. (Catalogue)Lin Yan: Beyond Xuan, Officina, Brussels, November 14–December 14, 2014. (Catalogue)Lin Yan: Dispelling the Clouds, Tenri Culture Institute, New York, February 15–March 13, 2014.Lin Yan: Paperweight, Fou Gallery, New York, February 28–March 21, 2014.Lin Yan:
Embracing Stillness, Sprint Flatiron Prow Art Space, Cheryl McGinnis Project, New York,February 14–May 15, 2013.
2006
1996Lin Yan: To Beijing, Open House Exhibition, New York.
1991Lin Yan: The Beginning, Twin Cranes Gallery, Seattle.
1988Lin Yan: Tai Chi in Painting, Haas Gallery, Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania.Lin Yan: Echoes in the Moment, China 2000 Fine Art, New York, 18 May–24 Jun, 2006.(Catalogue)2 of 6
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 Useless Value - Lin Yan, Yin Xunzhren and Ai Jing, Wanying Art Space, Shijiazhuang, China, December24, 2017 – March 27, 2018.(Brochure)
Loom – Contemporary Art, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China. June 24 – August 27, 2017
Crisscrossing East and West: The Remaking of Ink Art in Contemporary East Asia, Museum ofContemporary Art – Yin Chuan, China. June 27 - August 20, 2017 (catalogue)
Twenty Years of Contemporary Ink Art at Kaikodo, Kaikodo gallery, New York. May 2 - June 28, 2017
The Dark Matters, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia March 8 - July 30,In Perspective, Chambers Fine Art, New York, November 17, 2016 – January 28, 20172017Brochure & Catalogue)The 3rd CAFAM Biennial, CAFA Art Museum, November 9, 2016 – January 28, 2017Boundaries of the Spirit, NanHai Art, San Fransisco, CA, Jun 18 - July 23 (Lin Yan & Wei Jia: A Garden Window, Kwai Fung Hin Gallery, Central, Hong Kong, November 17 -December 16, 2015 (catalogue)Sovrapposizioni Di Immagini, Casa Dei Carraresi, Treviso, Italy, June 20- July 1, 2015Double Vision: The Culture China Overseas Chinese Women’s Invitational Exhibition, He Xiangning ArtMuseum, Shenzhen. November 8-March 8, 2015. (Brochure & Catalogue)China Twelfth National Art Exhibition - Mixed Media Paintings, Hebei Museum, Shijiazhuang. September16 - October 30, 2014. (Catalogue)Modernity 3.0: Bridging East - West Art, New York University 80 Washington Square East Gallery, NewYork, June 5-July 12, 2014. (Brochure & Catalogue)2013New York Beijing, Here There, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, October 24–November 5, 2013 2012201120102010.200920083 of 6Tales of Two Cities: New York & Beijing, Bruce Museum, Greenwich, May 3–August 31, 2014.(Catalogue)Transcending Boundaries: Qin Feng, Wei Jia and Lin Yan, Amy Simon Fine Art, Westport, May 3–August31, 2014.Start from Tradition: Lin Yan & Wei Jia, Cheryl McGinnis Gallery, New York, May 1–June 1, 2014.4th Taipei Contemporary Ink Painting Biennial, National Democracy Memorial Hall, Taipei, December 7–18, 2012. (Catalogue)Art on Paper 2012 Biennial, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, October 21, 2012–January 13, 2013.(Catalogue)Vaulting Limits, Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, New York, May 4–25, 2012. (Catalogue)Asian Variegations, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, December 8–16, 2011.2011 Paper Art Biennial, National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria, May 5 –June 5, 2011. (Catalogue)Giving and Receiving: A Collaborative Exhibition of Contemporary Artists from China and the USA, CU ArtMuseum, University of Colorado, Denver, April 8–July 22, 2011. (Catalogue)Echoes from the Past, Amy Simon Fine Art, Westport, CT, November 6–December 11, 2010.3rd Contemporary Ink Painting Biennial, Taipei National Museum of History, Taiwan, August 13–September 12, 2010. (Catalogue)Spring Equinox, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, March 21-April 21, 2010. (Catalogue)Intertwining Layers - Wei Jia & Lin Yan, Cheryl McGinnis Gallery, New York, January 22-February 26,Here & Now: Chinese Artists in New York Chapter 1, Museum of Chinese in America, New York,September 22-November 2, 2009. (Catalogue)Making It, Deutsche Bank 60 Wall St. Gallery, New York, April 2-July 31, 2009. (Catalogue)From Realism to Abstract : The 2nd exhibition of Chinese Abstraction, One Moon Contemporary, Beijing,November 22, 2008–January 3, 2009. (Catalogue)Art Graduate Reunion Exhibition, Class of 1980, Studio III, Department of Oil Painting: Celebrating 90thanniversary of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Loft 3 Gallery, 798 district, Beijing, September 20–October28, 2008. (Catalogue)20064 of 6Shanghai MoCA Envisage II: Butterfly Dream, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, September 10–November 9, 2008. (Catalogue)Cross Reference: 11Artists from NY, Shuimu Art Space, 798 Art district, Beijing, July 19–September 7,2008. (Catalogue)Then and Now: Chinese Art from 1710 to 2007, Lamont Gallery, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH,July 8–July 30, 2008.Chinese Gardens for Living: Illusion into Reality, The Dresden State Art Collections, Germany, June 28–October 31, 2008. (Catalogue)The Transforming Marks of Ink, The Dresden State Art Collections, Germany, June 27–September 14,2008. (Catalogue)Chinese Traditions Reconfigured, Amy Simon Fine Art, Westport, CT, May 10–Jun 14, 2008.Touched by Women’s Hands, curated by Lin Yan, Smithsonian Institution - Flushing Town Hall, New York(2007), Cheryl McGinnis Gallery, New York, February 22–April 5, 2008. (Catalogue)2007Reboot - the 3rd Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum, China, September 14–October12, 2007. (Catalogue)Responding & Corresponding, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, June 30–July 9, 2007. (Catalogue)In and Out, 2x13 Gallery, New York, 2007.Language / Environment, Contemporary Museum of Art of Beijing, May 26–August 26, 2007. (Catalogue)Qi Yun: International traveling exhibition of Chinese Abstract Art, Contemporary Art Terminal of HeXiangning Art Museum, Shen Zhen. Traveled to: Beijing Now Gallery, Beijing; Hanart T Z Gallery, ArtistCommune, Hong Kong; China Square, New York, June 1, 2007–March 1, 2008. (Catalogue)Translucent, Transparent, Transported, Cheryl McGinnis Gallery, New York, April 5 –May 5, 2007.Visible / Invisible, One Moon Contemporary, Beijing, December 2, 2006–January 30, 2007. (Catalogue)Curators’ Choice: China, Art, Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA, September 24, 2006–January 14, 2007.Travelers Between Cultures–Xu Bing, Gu WenDa, Lin Yilin, Lin Yan and Zhang Hongtu, Visual Arts Centerof New Jersey, NJ, 2006. (Catalogue)Trans-Boundary Experiences, Spool MFG, Binghamton, NY, April 8–April 23, 2006.Brooklyn, Westport Arts Center, CT.New Chinese Occidentalism–Chinese Contemporary Art in NY, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York,January 19–February 28, 2006. (Catalogue)2005Simplicity in Life, Crystal Foundation Gallery, New York, October 15–November 20, 2005.2003The Paper Chase: Creations in Paper, curated by Lin Yan, China 2000 Fine Art, New York, March, 2003.2000Art Span: Three Generations, Nine Artists in One Family, satellite show of Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai 1999Open Salvo, White Box Gallery, New York. 199819951994Qi, Gallery of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. 19911990Pang Family Painting Exhibition , Lung Men Art Gallery, Taipei. (Catalogue) 1987From Central Academy of Fine Arts, Museum of Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo 1985National Youth Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing. 1984Beijing City Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing.19791st Annual Exhibition of China Oil Painting, Association Zhongshan Park, Beijing.Three Generations of Chinese Modernism –Qiu Ti, Pang Tao, Lin Yan, Soho20 Gallery, New York.5 of 6Traveled to: National Art Museum of China, Beijing; Art Beatus Gallery, Vancouver. (Catalogue)Recent Paintings by Chinese-American Artists, The Cork Gallery, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, NY.Man Woman Child/ Husband Wife Son, Gallery Contempo-Jubilee Arts Center, New York.Second Spring: Contemporary Chinese Painting & Sculpture, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA;San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.PUBLIC COLLECTIONCAFA Art Museum, BeijingChengdu Contemporary Art Museum, Chengdu, China Deutsche Bank Art Corporate Citizenship – Art, New YorkNational Art Museum of China, Beijing6 of 6Long Museum, Shanghai Pang Xunqin Museu, ChangshuTeda Contemporary Art Museum, TianjinWhite Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia