Yu Youhan 2009-03-03
Yu Youhan's Home,
Shanghai
“I originally did abstract painting, but then changed to pop art because I got a small book about pop art that featured the work of Andy Warhol and others. I looked over the book and thought it was pretty interesting, especially because I had been working on abstract painting for so long. Actually, I began the Circle piece in 1985, but I had been doing the abstract paintings since 1980 and continued for about eight more years… The thinking in society at the time was all about how to move society forwards, so I thought, ‘What were these circles doing?’ It’s like calling everyone to get lazy and hide in an ivory tower, in a small room without any connection to the outside world. I felt a bit ashamed. Once I saw pop art, I felt great. You could put anything in it.”
Biography:
Yu Youhan (b. 1943, Shanghai) is an artist and currently lives and works in Shanghai.
In 1973, after graduating from the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts in Beijing, Yu became a teacher at the Shanghai College of Arts and Crafts. His Mao series, which he developed in 1988, attracted international attention and in the 1990s became some of the most recognizable images of political pop in China.
Yu’s works have appeared in many international exhibitions, including the 45th Venice Biennale (1993), the ‘China Avant-Garde Exhibition’ (Germany, 1993) and the 22nd Sao Paulo Biennial (1994), to name a few.
Yu continues to paint and also exhibits widely.
