Yang Ming: No One Has Been to West Lake
Yang Ming is a Hangzhou-based artist. He earned his MFA in painting from the China Academy of Art in 2022 and is currently pursuing his PhD there.
Rooted in the contemporary painting context, his practice draws on digital visual experiences from the internet and the phenomenology of the body. Yang’s practice explores the transformation of fragmented cultural imagery, ideological tension, and mediated experience into a pictorial “sense of the world.” Through the use of “hyper-real” colors and constructed imagery, he evokes ambiguous mental spaces that reflect the in-between condition of contemporary existence.
“I chanced upon an installation-painting work titled No One Has Been to West Lake in the curatorial section at Beijing Dangdai Art Fair, presented by Yiwei Gallery from Los Angeles as a solo piece. The gallery specifically clarifies that this is not a painting-installation, but an installation-painting. Many forms in the work sit between abstraction and figuration. For the artist, painting does not copy reality — it brings lived experience back into being.”
— Guest Recommender: Shi Jinyu, Founder of P.art Group Art Advisory
Q: Are there any prevailing norms, perceptions, or trends in your field that you dislike or wish to change?
Yang Ming: I don’t like the current trend toward "content-centric creation". Rather than stemming from an inescapable experience, many works now prioritize easy dissemination, instant comprehension, and rapid consumption. Today we are flooded with images – we see more than ever – yet we feel fewer genuine experiences.
For me, art creation should turn inward, originating from our own lived experiences.
As an individual, it's difficult to change the so-called rules of the industry, but I keep myself checked: do not settle into a style and resist labelling.
Q: What constitutes good art?
Yang Ming: I'm more and more inclined to believe that great art doesn’t necessarily give the viewer an answer, but exists and lingers as an ongoing sensation. It may not be grand or intricate, yet it resonates with the audience long after viewing.
I do not believe in the current “novelty for novelty’s sake” trends. Truly outstanding works invite viewers to re-perceive the ordinary, revealing entirely new dimensions within familiar things.
Good art stays open and ambiguous, because many profound feelings resist being labeled. Rather than asserting personal stance, powerful creation reawakends out capacity to sense amid the complexities of reality.
