FOR 11/30
FOR 11/30
YAN LEI PAINTINGS AT ROBERT MILLER GALLERY
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NEW YORK CITY â Robert Miller Gallery presents the first New York solo exhibition of the artist Yan Lei, on view through January 19. The show includes recent paintings from his âColor Wheelâ and âLandingâ series and the work âDog Year-Bull.â
The âColor Wheelâ works are the result of an elaborate process of deriving and applying distinct colors to a radial grid of concentric circles printed on canvas. Beginning with the central dot, each successive circle builds upon the previous. The outermost color of one painting then becomes the starting point of the next, making each work part of a continuous cycle. The gradations become visible the closer one stands to the canvas and meld into blended hues as one steps further away.
The artist based the âLandingâ series on vintage promotional material from the airline industry and other pop images. These paintings ironically related to becoming part of an art world jet set and receiving its attendant benefits, and they build upon Yanâs previous work critiquing the system by which (particularly non-Western) artists become well-known internationally.
In âDog Year-Bull,â the Charging Bull near Wall Street, symbolic of economic optimism and prosperity, stands dominantly over a group of canines at its feet. The artist notes that the Year of the Dog, 2006, coincided with the largest auction ever of contemporary Chinese art held at Sothebyâs.
The gallery is at 524 West 26th Street. For information, www.robertmillergallery.com or 212-366-4774.