Yang Jiechang — Tale of the 11th day — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: October 13 → November 26, 2011

Following Yang Jiechang’s solo exhibition “On Ascension” at the gallery in 2008, we are pleased to present this coming autumn a two-part exhibition by the artist entitled “Tale of the 11th day” in our two Paris spaces, left bank and right bank. The two-part exhibition mark our commitment to an artist whose work we have been following for over 20 years. The Galerie Jeanne-Bucher presents a selection of exceptional paintings from the 1990s including the 100 Layers of Ink series.

“Les Magiciens de la terre”: after the exhibition

Yang Jiechang’s work was shown outside China for the first time in the 1990s, when he became known for the series of works entitled One Hundred Layers of Ink (1989-1999) which were shown by Jean-Hubert Martin in the exhibition “Les Magiciens de la Terre” at the Pompidou Centre. It was at this time that the artist settled in Paris and married German art critic Martina Köppel, thus moving frequently between France and Germany.

The following decade saw him pursue his work on the powerfully introspective One Hundred Layers of Ink series, applying layers and layers of ink on rice paper, he created a kind of mental landscape built from simple black forms, rough and elegant, void and full, contemplative and dynamic at the same time. One is confronted with the traces of the process of self-sublimation, which sets free the potential to precise action and intervention. This internationally acknowledged series was followed by a creative period in which his interest switched from contemplation to intervention and participation. Yang Jiechang endeavoured to question both social and political events of today’s societies, as well as those of his own life as a Eurasian artist constantly working between Europe and Asia.