Born in Dalian (China) in 1966, is an internationally known artist, with a vast and varied language, which includes painting, sculpture, photography and installation. Graduated in 1989 at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, in the same year he took part in the historical overview China Avant-Garde Art Exhibition, at the China Art Gallery in Beijing.
In 2002 he received the CCAA Prize for Chinese Contemporary Art.
In 2011 Maoyuan has been selected to represent his country at the China National Pavilion of 54.
Venice Biennale. The chinese artist has exhibited in cities such as Berlin, London, Warsaw and in 2003 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. His work is represented in several public and private collections, like the Sigg Collection in Switzerland, Rockffeller Collection or the Ordos Art Museum in China.
His ABC-ARTE's personal exhibition han been his third in Italy since 2001, when he exhibited at Villa Breda (Padova), while the last one was in 2009, in Palazzo Riccardi, Florence.
In 1994, accompanied by a team of archaeologists, he made two visits to the site of the ancient kingdom of Loulan, a city that has long served the role as a crossroad between East and West, whose ruins are now swept by the winds of the Gobi desert.
Maoyuan was so impressed by the effect that these winds have on the ancient city, to turn this experience into a recurrent theme in his creative process: since 1996, in fact, the interaction between humans and land has characterized his oil paintings, in which dark blue sky, golden lands and human bodies embedded in earth are combined.
Dalian born artist (but lives in Beijing) often insists on human body's forms: in paintings, such as in his spherical goats and sheep (among the most popular and well known works in his production) he works on body's lines exasperation.
In recent years, he has focused his research on the development of a sculptural practice focused on issues concerning relations between Asian and Western culture: it is enough to emphasize the choice of a material way not widespread in China as marble, quoting and at the same time questioning Western aesthetic.
Through his denial operations of the classic form, usually done by sanding or sandblasting, Maoyuan introduces the contrast between Western idea of debate and the notion of Confucian consensus (a very important element for chinese indirect communication):decisions in China, are usually taken by consensus to avoid conflict and ensuring that none of the parties is too unhappy with the chosen solution. Maoyuan's elimination of bust's ends, as well as rounding animal skins, is this need to iron out all opinions on the same plane.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 The Trace of Time,IHN Gallery,Seoul,Korea
2013 The Temperature inthe North，Jolie Art Gallery,Shenyang,China
2012 THERMALUX,PIN Gallery,Beijing,China
2011 Yang Maoyuan / A LOULAN CITIZEN, ABC-ARTE, Genova, Italy
2010 Yang Maoyuan2010, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2009 Look Inside, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy
2008 SILENCE! 88 BUDDHAS FOR SHANGHAI. Outdoor Project of ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES
BERLIN I BEIJING and WHITE SPACE BEIJING in ShContemporary 08, Shanghai, China
THE ARCHETYPE, THE HORSE & THE QI, ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES BERLIN I BEIJING, Berlin
2007 TRACE OF THE TIME, WHITE SPACE BEIJING, China
2006 Look Inside, DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China
Look Inside, The Danish Art Exchange, Beijing, China
2002 Food in the Cattle's Stomach, One World Art Central, Beijing, China
1999 Yang Maoyuan's Paintings, Guanyuan Hotel, Beijing, China
1994 Created and show series Wasteland Sculpture: Family and Road, Sign Luobupo (China)
to be completed in approximately 10 years, China
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011 Four People Four Ways, Pin Gallery, beijing, China
MICRO LIFE,soka art center, beijing, China
PERVASION,Pavilion of the P.R. of China at the Biennale Arte 2011
2010 GREAT PERFORMANCES, Pace Beijing , Beijing, China
AND THERE WAS LIGHT MICHELANGELO LEONARDO RAPHAEL, ERIKSBERGSHALLEN, Goteborg
2009 Taswir - Islamische Bildwelten und Moderne, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
CHINA - Ein anderer Blick, Kunstverein Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
(curated by ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES BERLIN I BEIJING)
ART SUMMER 2009, Hellerau - European Center for the Arts, Dresden, Germany
(curated by ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES BERLIN I BEIJING)
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem,
Massachusetts, USA.
Facing China, Haugar - Vestfold Museum in Tonsberg, Norway / Kuopio Art Museum, Finland
/ Salo Art Museum, Finland / Ystads Konstmuseum, Sweden
2008 Facing China, Stadtgalerie Schwaz, Austria / Kunstraum Innsbruck / Akureyri Art Museum, Iceland
Under the Sky - International Positions in Contemporary painting, WHITE SPACE BEIJING, China
We shall come over! Li Space, Beijing, China
Hypallage - The post-Modern Mode of Chinese Contemporary, Hua Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
DIE WAHREN ORTE II, ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES BERLIN I BEIJING, Berlin, Germany
DIE WAHREN ORTE I, ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES BERLIN I BEIJING, Berlin, Germany
2007 DDM Warehouse 2000-2007, DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China
ARROGANCE & ROMANCE, Ordos Art Museum, China (curated by Alexander Ochs and Tian Yuan)
78910-Wang Yin, Lu Hao, Yang Maoyuan, Xiao Yu, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
Emotion Aesthetics, dARTex, The Danish Art Exchange, Beijing, China
2005 Clues - Fang Lijun | Wang Yin | Xiao Yu | Yang Maoyuan, WHITE SPACE BEIJING, China
Mahjong - Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland
Dog Days, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, U.K
2004 Red New Year: Chinese Art Films Midway Law, the Horse Hospital, Contemporary Art Centre, London
Degenerated, Modern Chinese Art Foundation (MCAF) Gent, Belgium
First session China international construction art Biennale, Beijing, China
2003 Alors, La Chine, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of Poland, Warsaw, Poland
Artificial Respiration, Sanhe Art Centre, Beijing, China
2002 When it rains, the roof leaks, DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China
Dream, Red Mansion, London, UK
w.x.y, China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing, China
Too Much Flavor, 3H Art Center, Shanghai, China
Exchange, One World Art Centre, Beijing, China
2001 The Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Paintings, Villa Breda, Italy
New Jumping-Off Point, Warehouse of Artists, Beijing, China
Weighlessness, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany
Chengdu Biennale 2001, Chengdu, China
2000 Ache - Yin, Xiao Yu, Yang Maoyuan Private Exhibition, Beijing
Museum of Design, Beijing, China
Fuck off, Donglang Art, Shanghai, China
1999 Open Channels, Dongyu Museum of the Fine Arts, Shenyang, China
Chinese Contemporary Arts by Four Artists, Odden Ladegaard, Denmark
1998 Collection of Shanghe Gallery, He Xiangning Gallery, Shenzhen, China
1997 New Image-Exhibition of Conception Art Photography, Beijing Sighting Art Center, Beijing, China
1993 Chinese Oil Painting Biennale，China Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Exhibition of Contemporary Arts in North-East Shenyang Art Gallery, Shenyang, China
1989 China Avant-Garde Art Exhibition, China Art Gallery, Beijing, China