Yin Yong Chun in his studio
Lisa N. Peters
One of nine artists in our exhibition, Contemporary Still-Life Paintings, Yin Yong Chun paints in a realist style derived from the great art traditions of Europe, yet his subject matter is drawn from Chinese art forms produced over thousands of years. This convergence came naturally to Chun, who was born in China and moved to the United States when he was in his forties. “I realized,” he says, that “these two cultures together create something special and unique.” Many elements of Chun’s work are symbolic, from his backgrounds, which are all from ancient Chinese paintings; his vases, mostly of porcelain, which include their own miniature landscapes or figural imagery; his flowers, which represent purity and love; his fruits, which are a part of daily life; and his walnuts, which stand for “peace and family unity in Chinese culture.” At the same time, the beauty of these forms goes beyond race or nationality. Chun states: “art is not limited by national border. And this is why beauty is something that can be understood by everyone.” While he considers the meaning of his motifs, he also seeks to express their beauty, such as the flowers he paints in which he “likes to show their blossom effect.”
Yin Yong Chun, "Chinese Bowl and Walnuts," 2009, oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches
For Chun, the complicated part of a work is its composition. Once a design—worked out carefully through preliminary drawings—is set, “nothing can be changed.” This correctness, the sense that every detail is in its place, is apparent in Chun’s works. In Chinese Bowl and Walnuts (2009), walnuts in a bowl and scattered loosely on a table seem joined visually with the intricate red dragon painted on the ceramic bowl and the peach blossom branch in the background. In One Bowl of Black Plums (2008), the curvature of leaves and birds’ wings create a graceful interplay. Ranking Officials Ride Playing in Royal Gardens (2006) is among the most stately of the paintings, with over-filled bowls of fruit equaled pictorially by tall vases, while the horsemen depicted in the screen provide counterpoint.
What is the correspondence between the still-life motifs and the background screens? Chun believes that paintings can “express moving thoughts through static objects that have inherently eternal, aesthetic emotions,” but he leaves it up to the viewer to discover the many intriguing relationships between the forms in his works.
Yin Yong Chun, "One Bowl of Black Plums," 2008, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches
Chun was born in Liaoning Province in northeast China. He studied at the China Artists’ Association from 1979 to 1983 and completed his undergraduate studies in oil painting at Harbin Normal University, in Heilongjiang Province. From 1989 until 1990 he undertook postgraduate studies at Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang, Liaoning, China. During the 1980s Chun participated in local exhibitions, and in the following decade was included in several prestigious shows in China. His work can now be found in many important collections in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Taiwan and Europe. Chun now lives on Staten Island.
I would like to thank Chun’s son Thomas for his help as a translator for an interview with the artist as well as Chun’s wife Susan, who provided a photograph of Chun in his studio.
