HUANG Rui, <Wall (Preparatory Sketch)>, Charcoal on paper, 58x85cm, 1979
HUANG Rui, <AIR No. 1>, Oil on canvas, 88.5x117.8cm, 1981
HUANG Rui, <The Guitars Story>, Oil on canvas, 86x96cm, 1981
HUANG Rui, <Man Reading>, Oil on canvas, 61.5x51.5cm, 1980
[China]
HUANG Rui
Yuanmingyuan - Freedom
Wall (Preparatory Sketch)
AIR No. 1
The Guitars Story
Man Reading
The most important organizer of the “Stars Art Exhibition” and “The Stars”, Huang Rui was influenced by Western art in his earlier practice. By the end of the 1990s, he gradually developed experimental works in his own style. Symmetry and minimalism are the most pronounced characteristics of his works, where his incisive use of color is apparent. Art practice is a means to voice his beliefs, and his consistency on the freedom of expression embodies his concern on social reality. The romantic visual composition and the scenery of desolation of the Yuanmingyuan ruins inspired the Yuanmingyuan series (1979-1981), which became representations of the Chinese cultural spirit in ruins. Wall is a depiction of the artist’s personal experience at the Xidan Democracy Wall in Beijing, a thematic painting set against the backdrop of its time, in which the artist successfully experimented with integrating scenarios into a deconstructed composition. The Guitars Story, AIR No. 1 and Man Reading shown in the 2nd Stars Art Exhibition (1980), are profoundly influenced by Fauvist paintings in displaying a freedom of expressing emotions, presenting a reality through historical narrative. After living in Japan for a decade, Huang returned to Beijing in 2002 to continue his work and pushed the establishment and development of the 798 Art District forward.
