Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

CHINESE artist Yan Shanchun is presenting more than 100 paintings, etchings, and archival materials at the “Archaeology of Memory” exhibition, which opened at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning and runs through Nov. 19. Centered on West Lake, Baoshi Mountain, and the Fuchun River in Hangzhou, as well as the Hudson River in the U.S., the works explore the relationship among memory, nature, and art.

Yan’s work revolves around specific places, instead of the ones found in tourist photos. For him, a place is not simply a view, but a layered structure of history, images, personal experience, and imagination. Think about it: What you remember of a place is rarely a complete picture. It may be a smell, a glimpse, a particular moment, or the feel of the earth beneath your feet.

At the exhibition, Yan’s paintings of Baoshi Mountain are among the most visually striking. Most are large vertical scrolls, their images unfolding in red and possessing a profound warmth reminiscent of red seal ink. Yan brings the expressive qualities of Chinese brushwork into his choice of materials, colors, and compositions.

His paintings of West Lake and the Fuchun River are landscapes of his bodily memory.

His Hudson River paintings were inspired by the Hudson River School, a group of mid-19th-century American artists who shared an interest in landscape painting.

In these works, Yan paints Western landscape through the lens of Chinese literati painting. Light, space, and the sublime in Western painting meet Chinese brushwork in his depictions of wilderness, trees, and distant mountains.

The exhibition also includes a space displaying Yan’s personal objects, photographs, books, manuscripts, and letters. Another area invites visitors to sit down and view the paintings closely and at their leisure.

Yan previously worked as a researcher and deputy head of the Shenzhen Fine Art Institute. The exhibition is part of the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning’s “Shenzhen Time: Shenzhen Artists Series,” which systematically traces the creative journeys of local contemporary artists, preserves artistic archives, and contributes to a contemporary art history narrative for the city.

Dates: Through Nov. 19

Venue: Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning, Futian District (深圳市当代艺术与城市规划馆)

Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit A2