By Wei Xiangqi (Deputy Research Curator, National Art Museum of China)
In the recent paintings by Yao Hao, there is a hidden emotion. The faces in the paintings are presented in the form of masquerade, with heads bowed and eyes avoiding the viewer 's gaze. It’s a gaze to the inside. Although the artist uses the simplest brushwork to outline the faces of the figures, the inherent nuances can still touch the viewer 's sensitive nerves. The artist referred to photography. From the garment in the images, it can be inferred that they are from the beginning of Reform and Opening-up. F
Obviously, Yao Hao was a teenager when he created these images. In his paintings of the past years, we can find him depicting a young boy standing by a green curtain with his back to the viewer. If this is a kind of "self-narrative ", an excavation into the depths of his memory or emotion, his new works are a kind of reminiscence of the "other ", which is an expansion of the "self-narrative " imagery world. In this respect, Yao Hao 's new works are constructing a visual world for an absent teenager. There is still a "teenager " in the new works, but it has become a blurred figure and no longer appears in a "real " space.
In Yao Hao’s paintings, we can get an enhanced sense of color. The flat and simple sense of color is evident in the history of Western modern painting since Matisse and continues with the paintings by David Hockney in recent years, which has taken the Chinese art world by storm. All these factors have inspired Yao Hao 's passion for painting, which is direct expression, or painting in the most explicit way. Therefore, we can notice the pictorial presentation of Pop Art in Yao Hao 's paintings, but the spirituality of his subjects is far different from it. In Yao Hao’s creations, instead of absurdity or playfulness, it is a pure and beautiful remembrance of the past. He does not show the imagery of going back to that era, but rather, he metaphorically distances himself from the present with a palette of strong colors.
The scenario is just like the "old photos " online we keep seeing about the Republic of China, New China and the Reform and Opening-up Period in recent years. Although we do not know the names and stories of the people in the photos, we are easily touched by their good state of mind, which is the aura of time. Yao Hao replaces the real faces in the photos with masks to make the images more vivid. It does not make the imagery detract from the historical sense but gives the viewer a clearer impression of that era. Is this a purification or simplification of language and modeling? Purification is a concept for stylistic awareness getting more accurate, while simplification is to challenge the traditional value and allowance. Yao Hao has combined both. With the masquerade, Yao Hao distances himself from the stylistic system of New Chinese realistic figure painting established by Xu Beihong and Jiang Zhaohe. This also prompts Yao Hao to move towards a modern path of art creation that pursues self-consciousness in language and form and open a new direction for his personal exploration.
As an example, in the painting Green Peaches, there are two girls in red sitting at a table, three hens placed on the table, a blue vase with seven red tulips standing in the middle of the composition next to the table, and twelve green peaches scattered on the table. This peculiar combination of objects is clearly beyond the real-life scene, as the image becomes a juxtaposition and fusion of various oval shapes, collars, bottlenecks, back and tail feathers of the chickens, etc., all indicating that Yao Hao is doing research on formal rhythm. This will be the most interesting topic for Yao Hao in the coming days. He is looking for the relationship between forms and shapes. The curves activate the dynamic effect of his images, making his paintings filled with a kind of vitality. Yao Hao does not choose straight lines, perhaps because they are not natural forms. This is also a manifestation of his pursuit to make his body get back to a relaxed state when creating art, rather than making his muscles tighten. Yao Hao strives to achieve a balance between his mind and his hands, but it is not easy. The best result is only possible by painstaking work.
Of course, we can also examine Yao Hao’s works in the context of contemporary Chinese ink art, except that he is far different from the group of artists who have rediscovered and recreated traditional Chinese aesthetic ideas. We can even say that he has almost abandoned the brushwork and system of ink art, so that what we see in his images is more the imprint of European modern art. Yao Hao 's artistic practice proves that the historical and theoretical system of contemporary Chinese ink is unable to activate its inherent discursive logic, and that ink is only the appearance, like the skin of the body. However, in many cases, Yao Hao extends his practice within the pictorial spectrum of Chinese painting and ink painting, which is where he started. These new creations by Yao Hao can also always return to contemporary Chinese ink creation, which is the historical cultural context that he or we must face. Yao Hao has entered in an open space and is on his way to forming a path of his own.
in Shanglong Xili, Dongcheng, Beijing, June 2021
