Trap

This season, Christie's presents the classic 1980s work by Yang Chihung, Trap (Lot 428), from his Civilization and Archaeology series, along with a key work from the period in the 1990s when his Botanical Aesthetics series was evolving toward Organic Abstract Expressionism, Eccentric Beauty (Lot 427). The Trap, dating from 1987, received a showing at the Betsy Rosenfield Gallery in Chicago, and as evidence of its representative status, was chosen for the cover of their gallery opening invitation. A expressionistic work, it embraces elements of primitive wildness along with hints of spiritual symbolism. Such rich implications were an important feature of Yang's work during this period; one is seemingly caught up in an unknown, mysterious adventure, as the artist constructs an emotional experience that impacts at the subconscious level.

By contrast with the intense colours of his early period, Yang's work during the "90s gradually shifted toward a refined, practiced kind of Eastern aesthetic. In Eccentric Beauty, brushstrokes suggestive of inkwash techniques fuse into plant-like images; color is smeared on with horizontal sweeps of the brush, guiding the viewer's gaze toward the center of the rhythmically flowing composition, conveying a sense of nature in its ever-growing and changing state. This was a key period in Yang's evolution from his Botanical Aesthetics series and toward his period of organic abstraction. The plant motifs are still present, but there are also the rapid, flowing abstract lines, vibrating with life energy; both here are melded into a perfectly unified whole. Yang Chihung here produces a harmonious dance of wind and plant life, their organic rhythms echoing and resounding across the canvas.