Chen Yufan was born in Putian, Fujian Province in 1973. He completed his bachelor’s degree at the College of Fine Arts at Fujian Normal University in 1997 and graduated with a master’s degree from the Integrated Art Department at China Academy of Art in 2007. Chen now lives and works in Shanghai, China.
Chen Yufan takes his inspiration from Taoism and Zen Buddhism. His minimalist abstract paintings hover between visual art and literature—or at least the appearance of literature. He turns Taoist and Zen Buddhist philosophies into a personal interpretation and meditation through a repetitive process of employing dots, regular lines, and pure colors. Chen’s work revolves around the optical structure and the force of intent; his unique artistic expression is grounded in both the assembly and scatter of objects and space. Through surfaces composed of dots and lines as well as spaces constructed by surfaces and objects, a trace of time is unleashed when these elements overlay upon one another. The dialogue between the artist and his mediums becomes a significant subject, resembling that of an internal meditation. When seen from a contemporary art perspective, Chen’s work is a form of performance art rooted in concepts.
Selected public collections: White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia; Ullens Foundation, Switzerland; The Sigg Collection Foundation, Switzerland; Blue Mountain Foundation, Israel; Long Museum, Shanghai, China; ARARIO Museum, Seoul, Korea; Haha Contemporary Art Museum, Beijing, China; 166 Art Space, Shanghai, China; Laforet Family Art Residency Project, Italy; Motif Group, Taipei.
Solo Exhibition
2023
Chen Yufan: New Works, Ginkgo Space, Shanghai, China
HEART OF THE MATTER: A Solo Exhibition by Chen Yufan, PearlLam Galleries, HongKong, China
Chen Yufan Solo Exhibition, MUUM Art Space, Hangzhou, China
2021
Expressions of Time, WS GALLERY, Shanghai, China
2020
Chen Yufan Solo Exhibition, TANG CONTEMPORARY ART, Bangkok, Thailand
Chen Yufan Solo Exhibition, YIBO Gallery, Shanghai, China
2019
Superimposed Journey: Chen Yufan and Yuan Daxi, SPSI Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Observation – Chen Yufan + Chen Yujun, The Barn Contemporary Art Space, Shenzhen, China
2018
Ideal Places – Chen Yufan New Works, AYE Gallery, Beijing, China
Mulan River – Voyage Chen Yufan + Chen Yujun, organized by A+ Contemporary, Asia Art Center Taipei II, Taipei2017
Mulan River-Cuò Chen Yufan+Chen Yujun, Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Petach Tikva,Israel
A Rolling Stone, ARARIO MUSEUM, Jeju, Korea
2016
Chen Yufan, Ginkgo Space, Beijing, China
White – Chen Yufan + Chen Yujun, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong, China
2015
Chen Yufan, A+ Contemporary, Asia Art Center Taipei II, Taipei
Beyond the White, Beneath the Black - Chen Yufan Solo Exhibition, Artemis, Shanghai, China
Mulan River-Topsoil Chen Yufan + Chen Yujun, 9m² Museum, Shanghai
Another Place, Space@All, Los Angeles
2014
Space Graphy No. 1 - Chen Yufan & Chen Yujun, AYE Gallery, Beijing, China
2012
Mulan River – Unsettled, Zhong gallery, Berlin
The Folding Time, AYE Gallery, Beijing, China
2011
Mulan River Project - Chen Yufan + Chen Yujun, Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing, China 2010
INTO ONE, AYE Gallery, Beijing, ChinaGroup Exhibition
Group Exhibition
2023
Silence in Gazing, Ginkgo Space, Shenzhen, China
WHERE WOOD STANDS, P.art Lab, Shanghai, China
The Realms of Being and Non-Being, GINKGO SPACE, Shanghai, China
The Shape of Time, PearlLam Galleries, Shanghai , China
FREE FUGUE, TIME CARVING, Beijing, China
2022
Greater Than Abstraction, Bund Art Center, Shanghai, China
Learning Form The Rainforest, University City Art Museum of Guangzhou
Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, China
2021
Super Fusion: 2021 Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu, China
Time and Space, GINKGO SPACE, Beijing, China
Red, Tank Shanghai, Tank Shanghai, China
The Garden of Apollo, ART404 GALLERY, Nanjing, China
Traveling Toward a Perpetual Present, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China
Cover, Enclave Contemporary, Shenzhen, China
2020
The Curation Workshop II, Co-hosted by OCAT Shenzhen and OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China
An Exhibition Called 3D, 166 Art Space, Shanghai, China
Resort, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China
Milieu and Moment-Dimension 2020 International Online Exhibition of Contemporary Art, School of Art and Design, Zhejiang Science and Technology University
Abstraction 2020 PartⅡ Black & White, YIBO GALLERY, Shanghai, China Abscission of Appearance, Cube Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Abstraction 2020 Part I Cool & Hot, YIBO GALLERY, Shanghai, China
2019
ANREN BIENNALE 2ND : A CONFRONTATION OF IDEALS, OCT Contemporary
Art Terminal Anren, Anren, China
Pal(ate)/ette/, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China
Xuanzhi Art Museum - Contemporary Art Salon Exhibition/First Time, Xuanzhi Art Museum, Fuzhou, China
Transforming Landscape, Shanghai Wison Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2018
Becoming, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Another Aleph – Chinese and German Contemporary Art Exhibition & De Gallery
Opening Exhibition, De Gallery, Xiamen, China
After Sunset, Galerie Liusa Wang, Paris, France
Rhapsody—Comtemporary Art Group Exhibition, WONGTEE PLAZA, Shenzhen, China
2017
Frontier: Re-assessment of Post-Globalisational Politics, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Voice of Asia, Arario Gallery (West Bund), Shanghai, China
Maitreya Karuna&Prajna, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China
All happens after sunset… , Museum of Contemporary Art Pavilion, Shanghai,China
Blank Cheque, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
2016
The Decameron - BMCA Documenting Art: The Archer of Autumn Grove Crossing, Wenyu River, Beijing, China
Plural, Ginkgo Space, Beijing, China
The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China 2015, Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
Exotic stranger, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France
Air: The 2th Ningbo International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Ningbo Museum of Art, Ningbo, China
Materialised Sentiments, PearLam Galleries, shanghai, China
2015
Painting: 20×20, Poly Art Museum, Beijing, China
Stereognosis Zone, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Guangzhou, China
Abstract 01 555543211231357 01, L-Art Gallery, Chengdu, China
The spectres in the double shadow, Alioth Art Center, Shanghai, China
The boundaries of order, hive center for contemporary art, Beijing, China
Handmade, mao space, Shanghai, China
This is not painting – Exploring the boundary of painting, A+ Contemporary, Asia Art Center Taipei II, Taipei
2014
to east, ink not ink contemporary art museum, Qingdao
Study, JEWELVARY ART&BOUTIQUE, Shanghai, China
PO [ r ] TION，L Club & L’Avenue, Shanghai, China
Labor&Time, Chambers Fine Art, Beiijng, China
Soft Abstraction as Constellation, UCCASTORE, Beijing, China
Chinese Abstract Art Case: Unit 2 , Y. Q. K. Art Space, Beijing, China
The World III in the Third World, the Art Center of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
Present-ing Recital Louder than Paint, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China
The 8th Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale 2014, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal
Shenzhen, Shenzhen, ChinaThe Armory Show, New York, U.S.A
New abstraction chapter 1, Hadrien de Montferrand, Beijing, China
2013
Sample Houses, Xi Gallery, Shanghai, China
Introduction: Tempo — Zhong Gallery, Beijing
Mulan River - Unsettled, Leipzig Cotton Mill, Leipzig
Seven Sunsets, Waiting Dawns, All in One. How to Kill a Wondrous Time... Not Wanting a Thousand Hours, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai
Fuck off 2, Groninger Museum, Groninger, Netherlands
Not the Same Not Different - Experimental Exhibition of Chinese Young Artists, China Academy of Fine Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
Contemporary Art in China, 1990-2012, Zhong Gallery, Berlin
Art13 London, London
Mirror and Shadow, Galeri Nasional Indonesia, Jakarta
Art Stage Singapore 2013，Singapore
ON|OFF: China’s Young Artists in Concept and Practice, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing
2012
AGAINST SPACE - EIGHT KINDS OF ATTITUDE AND SITUATION ABOUT PAINTING ,CHINA SPACE, Beijing
COART Young Asian Art Scene, Yun Nan
Ctrl+N - Non-linear Practice, Gwangju Biennale Special Exhibition, Korea
Painting Lesson Ⅱ- Negative And Positive Style, gallery yang, Beijing
Merging•Distances in light, L-Art Gallery, Chengdu
Shedding - new art from china, ZHONG GALLERY, Germany
Adumbration exhibition, re-C art space, Chengdu
2011Ri Yong - Chang Xing, Chengdu Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu
Nostalgia and Rendezvous, Qinghe Current Art Center, Nanjing
Breaking Away – an Abstract Art exhibition, Boers-li gallery, Beijing
New Abstract Expression, White Stone Gallery, Shanghai
How To Do, HengLu Art Museum, HangZhou
2010
Post Traditions: Enlarge the Carve-The Fourth Shanghai Duolun Youth Art Exhibition, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai
Defocus, HangZhou Normal University of Art Museum, Hangzhou
WASABI: AN EXHIBITION OF YCA (YOUNG CONTEMPORARY ARTIST)”, LI – SPACE, Beijing
Visual Flux Easel Painting Research Exhibition I – Space And Energy, Qinghe
Current Art Center, Nanjing
Youth Upstairs - 2010 Young Critics Nomination Exhibition, Times Art Museum, Beijing
IN TO THE MOOD, AART CENTER, Hong Kong
“Back and Restart – Experimental Contemporary Art Exhibition of Hang Zhou”, Hangzhou PEACE International convention and Exhibition Center, Hangzhou
Reshaping History – China Art from 2000 to 2009, ARARIO Gallery, Beijing
Jungle – A Close-up Focus on Chinese Contemporary Art Trends, Platform China, Beijing
“Change – Sino-Italy International Contemporary Art Exhibition”, Wan Yuan Silk Store, Hangzhou
2009
Points and Crosses – Exhibition of Contemporary Painting in China , 2010 Art Center, Shanghai
Art of future, Qinghe Current Art Center, Nanjing
Contemporary Ink Painting, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai
Going-by – Group Exhibition of Contemporary Artists, SZ Art Center, BeijingBlack Board, ShangArt Gallery, Shanghai
Blade – Reconstruct Leifeng Pagoda, SZ Art Center, Beijing
Look Deeper, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing
2008
Another Way-Experimental Art Exhibition of Hangzhou, Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing
Seven Stones – Contemporary Art Exhibition, Hangzhou
Private Words, Zizai Life Art Space, Shanghai
2007
Reincarnation, Doris McCarthy Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Chongqing's Position, Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum, Chongqing
Intercalary Month, Yuan Dian Gallery, Shanghai
The Way of Painting, Fang Xiang Art Center, Hangzhou
Grain Cereals, China Academy of Art Museum, Hangzhou
2005
Zhejiang Oil Painting, Ningbo Museum of Art, Ningbo
“Sino-Japanese “Man and Nature” Exhibition”, the Art Museum of Tang Yun, Hangzhou
