Chinese artist feature: Cao Yong

Chinese artist feature: Cao Yong

  10:12 PM    Jlu17

---

There are so many Chinese artists that I discovered during my time in Beijing. I think that my discoveries are relevant to my GIP blog because the Global Scholars Program encourages the sharing of different cultures. Not only is traditional visual art in China completely different from western art, but Chinese poetry is also unique because of the amount of flexibility that China's character system provides for poets. I hope to make my features into a series. First, I would like to highlight Cao Yong's art (which is not traditional Chinese art).

"The Wall"

"Voice of the East"

No amount of words can capture the vibrance and beauty of Cao Yong's art.

I discovered his Beijing gallery in the 798 Art Zone while wandering through the streets. His work is absolutely phenomenal. The detail in the painting above cannot be captured through a digital screenshot. Up close, the brushstrokes are still nonexistent because the detail goes beyond what my eyes can detect. Since the showcased painting in the gallery was not the original, there was also a special glimmering effect that came with the type of canvas used for this print. I was amazed.

  

Cao Yong's biography is pretty intense.

• He was born in China during the Cultural Revolution, a time when being wealthy or distinguished was harmful. His family received huge discrimination because of their previous status, so he was forced to do work as a child while others attended kindergarten. 
• He studied with a prominent artist in Beijing as he grew up, eventually earning the highest marks in the National Entrance Exam of Art Universities. He was rejected the first year he applied because of his family background but was accepted into Henan University the second year. 
• After graduating, he became a professor at Tibet University, eventually living with only a horse for almost a year to study prehistoric cave paintings in Tibet. 
• He then created such magnificent art that he held a one-man show in Beijing in 1989 which gained international attention. Chinese authorities felt threatened by his work, so they burned seven of Cao's paintings before Cao escaped to Japan with his fiance. 

I returned to the gallery a few weeks after my first trip to look at the art again and to buy some postcards. While looking through potential postcards, I found one with this painting on it:

"After Shower"

Recognize the scenery? I was so shocked.

"This street near my home is part of the old town of Pasadena. I often stroll down the sidewalk enjoying the everyday charm of bustling people, passing cars, and noisy bars. But the moment of the day that I appreciate most on this street is captured in this painting: the moment when the dust of a busy day has just been washed away, when afternoon has said its good-byes, and evening offers a familiar greeting." Source

Turns out, after fleeing to Japan for a while, Cao Yong moved to New York for a while before moving to Pasadena. Out of all places, he decided to continue painting here. To be fair, this isn't much of a coincidence because he lived in Pasadena before I was even born in Beijing. However, I still see this coincidence as absolutely amazing.

"Santa Monica"

Cao Yong has a "Golden Coast" series, where he paints his surroundings from Catalina Island to San Francisco. I love this series so much because I recognize so many of these areas. Here's his "Golden Coast" series and their captions.

Now that I look back at my experience, I think that it is so ironic that I discovered Cao Yong's work in China, a place he previously fled from government prosecution. Clearly, he is now celebrated by the Chinese government. Isn't the government inconsistency interesting?

Cao Yong's full gallery is here, his detailed biography is here, and his professional timeline is here.