Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.

Featuring over 50 works selected from various important stages of Ye Jianqing’s artistic career spanning 30 years, his latest solo exhibition themed on “Dimensions of Dwelling” was presented by the Gravity Art Museum in Beijing. It outlines a quiet and transcendent spiritual realm created by the artist between tradition and the present through five themes: “Retrospective”, “Matrix”, “Illusion”, “Transcendence” and “Silence”.

“Dwelling” refers to the general state of human existence, which can echo and resonate with time, including the past, present and future, as well as space, from the local, global and even the world; It is also related to the individual’s feelings, pursuits and deep thinking about the ideal “residence” and the situation of life. The “dwelling” in Ye Jianqing’s art does not only contain a creative context and realistic dimension, but it also reflects the his philosophical thinking and aesthetic dimension.

Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.

He Xiao states in her article “Dimension of Dwelling: Translation and Aesthetic Reconstruction of Time and Space in Ye Jianqing’s Art”, “Ye Jianqing’s artistic practice shows a way of living: taking root in his own culture while observing the common future of mankind. In his paintings, tradition is no longer a heavy burden, but a nutrient that nourishes innovation; Technology is not just a cold tool, but a counterpart that stimulates the ontological value of art. With his unique creative path, Ye Jianqing proves that contemporary painting can still participate in the contemporary cultural dialogue in a profound, long-lasting and energetic way. ”

Blue Peak, Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.

Located at the entrance of the Gravity Art Museum, “Blue Peak” is a huge landscape painted by the artist in Prussian blue, with several “stone” installations standing for mountains and rocks in front of it, constructing a huge landscape field. The fusion of mineral pigments and ink painting creates a unique misty atmosphere, with the rich layering of oil paints pointing to the the blue association in the genealogy of modern aesthetics. The  non-plane structure in his paintings conveys how the artist draws inspiration from ancient and modern times, between the East and the West, and he deeply explores the relationship between the aesthetic context of traditional Chinese art and the spirit of contemporary art.

Blue Peak, 300x750cm, Oil on canvas, mineral colors, 2022-2023.Blue Peak (detail), 300x750cm, Oil on canvas, minerals, 2022-2023.

In the first section “Retrospective”, Ye Jianqing selects images from the vast historical heritage and expresses his cognition and emotions of cultural changes through various combinations and personal forms and techniques. In the process of looking back on the past and comparing China and the West, the artist tries to confirm the individual’s cultural choices in the present.

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains-1,  Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains-1, 150x2600cm, Oil on canvas, 2013-2014.Literary Imaging - Genealogical Examination, 50X60cm (each), Oil on canvas, 2000-2003.The World 34, 100x100cm, Oil on canvas, 2013.The World 32, 100x100cm, Oil on canvas, 2013.Looking, Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.

The second section “Matrix”, shows Ye’s utilization of materials from the East and the West, across traditional and contemporary creative methods. While calmly and deeply gazing at the natural world that nurtures all living beings, in the aesthetic praise of nature, the artist releases his complex feelings.

Starry Sky, 170x520cm, Oil on canvas, 2017-2019.Autumn Mountain, 100x50cm, Oil on canvas, mineral colors, 2024.Between Mountains and Clouds, 200x150cm, Oil on canvas, mineral colors, 2020.Serenity in Leaves, 170x130cm, Oil on canvas, 2017.

Curator Du Xiyun wrote in the preface to the exhibition, “Since exploring the future is a popular topic in contemporary art, it is not limited to the visible picture of the future. Ye Jianqing walks towards the chasm of experience in the form of painting, summoning the induction of the soul, hoping to open the invisible door of transcendence... Fragmentation, hyper-planeness, disorder, fracture, and uncertainty have become the fashion of this era, but Ye Jianqing insists on going his own way, positioning himself in a holistic worldview, inhabiting his soul in a multi-dimensional comprehensive relationship, and thus touching the profound possibilities in art. ”

The artist discusses various contemporary issues in the third section “Illusion” such as consumerism, landscape society, virtual world, artificial intelligence, big data algorithms, and so on, through flowing images and brushstrokes, he conveys his incomprehensible feelings of life in these seemingly implausible paintings.

Breeze Passing, 170x130cm, Oil on canvas, 2016.Watching Shadow 26, 200x300cm, Oil on canvas, 2016.Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.

The transcendental dimension is reflected in the fourth and fifth sections “Transcendence” and “Silence”. The artist uses deep blue cover dyeing to set off, so that the specific clouds, mountains, rocks, trees, and streams are impregnated with mystery, touching the soul through the aura and pointing the invisible with the visible.

Cold Mountain, Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.Blue Water Shadow, 200x150cm, Oil on canvas, mineral colors, 2019.Watching the Moon, Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.Stars and Dust, Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.

Entering the poetic landscape constructed by Ye Jianqing with deep blue, tan tones and exquisite skills, we find that the artist tries to evoke resonance and contemplation across time and space with a quiet but tense aesthetic language. As curator Du Xiyun pointed out in the preface to the exhibition, Ye Jianqing’s creations are always accompanied by a certain “perspective shift”, allowing him to open his sensibilities to multiple dimensions. These perspectives, as shown in the theme of the exhibition, involve responding to the artistic traditions of the East and the West, the translation of time and space, exploring the boundaries between the virtual and the real, the illusion and the reality, and finally synthesizing the creator’s exploration of how to return to his own cultural source, confirm his own identity and his own artistic characteristics, so that he can meet every contemporary mind who is trying to find a place to dwell.

Installation View of “Dimensions of Dwelling”, Gravity Art Museum, 2025.Courtesy of the Artist and Gravity Art Museum, edited by CAFA ART INFO.