Stain No.11

Through the pictorial construct that transcends the limits of still lifes, Zhu Yu's Stain No. 11 (Lot 42) depicts an image of tea stain - one that the artist had carefully observed day after day for months-and the complexity as well as contingency carried within. Taking away technicalities such as lights and shadows to create timeless atmosphere, Zhu's treatment of the large canvas distinguishes itself from the refinement of figurative paintings, ultimately achieving a mirror image that is simultaneously abstract and spiritual.The subtle gradation of colour, outlines and contours, are reminiscent of a sensibility at the heart of Chinese ink-wash painting. The tannin in the tea effectively stains the cup in the same way that ink creates a bleeding effect on paper. However, this is not ink-wash painting, this is oil painting that comes from a completely separate cultural and conceptual lineage. It is this sensibility that has held the Chinese imagination captive for two thousand years. Scholar's rocks and the natural patterns of marble that resemble landscapes inspire quiet contemplation on a spiritual and aesthetic level. This is the 'qi yun' or spirit resonance that informs Chinese traditional aesthetics, and not the surface formal techniques of traditional Chinese art.


Born in 1970, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. Zhu Yu studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and received his BFA in 1991. Major exhibitions of the artist include: Post Sense and Sensibility: Alien and DelusionABeijing, ]1999^F Fuck Off! AShanghai, ]2000^, and The Third Guangzhou TriennialAGuangzhou, ]2008^FPlay Thing, Long March Space, Beijing, China (2010); Image Fetish and Phobia, Shangh ART H - SPACE, Shanghai, China (2012). Zhu Yu currently lives and works in Beijing