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Lot Essay
Advocating 'Form as spirit', Ding Yi has been hailed as one of the pioneers of Chinese contemporary abstract art. Since the mid-1980s, he has replaced narrative content in his paintings with layers of systematically intersected and crisscrossed signs that were methodologically and precisely laid down on canvases. Such a rigorous method of 'automatic color-selection' resulted in the visually stimulating series Appearance of Crosses. He was invited to collabrate with a French leading fashion brand because of the outstanding artistic quality of the series, which implied the significance of his works. The attractiveness of Appearance of Crosses also reflects the nature of the series as an interdisciplinary artistic language. It is not only a metaphysical exploration, but also the representation of quotidian life.
Appearance of Crosses 93-17 (Lot 103) offers the viewers an abstract visual experience of quasi-meditation. The sign replicated in this work came from the reticulation used in the colour process of printing. The sign has no symbolic or associative meaning for the artist, which grants itself great power of pursuing a pure expression in terms of line, colour, and structure. Appearance of Crosses 93-17 was created in 1993 when Ding Yi began to experiment with different medium such as chalks, charcoal, and linen. During that period, he tried to create different experiences and visual effects with various media and materials. The coarse texture of linen that may contort or blur the lines drawn by the artist provides these geometric crosses with random variation, which faithfully embodies the artist's creative philosophy - 'freedom with precision.' Drawing in an ascetic manner, Ding Yi mechanically replicates identical signs and graphics in pursuit of the quintessence of art.
Appearance of Crosses 93-17 (Lot 103) offers the viewers an abstract visual experience of quasi-meditation. The sign replicated in this work came from the reticulation used in the colour process of printing. The sign has no symbolic or associative meaning for the artist, which grants itself great power of pursuing a pure expression in terms of line, colour, and structure. Appearance of Crosses 93-17 was created in 1993 when Ding Yi began to experiment with different medium such as chalks, charcoal, and linen. During that period, he tried to create different experiences and visual effects with various media and materials. The coarse texture of linen that may contort or blur the lines drawn by the artist provides these geometric crosses with random variation, which faithfully embodies the artist's creative philosophy - 'freedom with precision.' Drawing in an ascetic manner, Ding Yi mechanically replicates identical signs and graphics in pursuit of the quintessence of art.