Ding Yi (b. 1962) works across multiple genres, including painting, sculpture, spatial installation, and architecture. Primarily using “+”and its variant “x” as visual cues, he has challenged the social and political allegories typical of Chinese painting. Since the late 1980s, he has used the symbol as a synonym for structure, rationality, and a pictorial representation that reflects the nature of things. Ding Yi was born in Shanghai and currently lives and works in Shanghai. His work has been exhibited at leading institutions around the world, including the British Museum (London, UK), M+Museum (Hong Kong), PSA Art Museum (Shanghai, China), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, US), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, US), Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), and Ullen Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing, China). He has participated in 45th Venice Biennale (1993), the 11th Sydney Biennale (1998), the 6th Shanghai Biennale (2006), and the 6th Busan Biennale (2016). His work is held in the collections of the British Museum (London, UK), Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, UK), Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), M+ Collection (Hong Kong), Leeum Museum (Seoul, Korea) and many other institutions.
Artists
Ding Yi
Biography
1962 Born in Shanghai, China
Lives and works in Shanghai, China
Education
1990 Department of Fine Arts, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
1983 Shanghai Arts & Crafts Institute, Shanghai, China
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 Ding Yi: Prediction and Retrospection, Château La Côste, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France
Crisscrosses: Ding Yi’s Public Art for Twenty Years Minghua Sugar Factory, Yangpu Waterfront, Shanghai, China
2023 Ding Yi: Homeland and Journey, Ningbo Museum of Art & Huamao Museum of Art Education, Ningbo, China
Ding Yi: Cross Galaxy, Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning, Shenzhen, China
Dimension of “Crosses”, Mojie Art Museum, Taiyuan, China
2022 Ding Yi: Flowing Infinity, TAG Art Museum, Qingdao, China
Multi-verse: Ding Yi in Tibet, Jebum-gang Art Center & Shide space, Lhasa, China
Ding Yi: Stars Crossed, ShanghART Singapore, Singapore
Anomalous Galaxies, Galería RGR, Mexico City, Mexico
2021 Lightscapes, Timothy Taylor, New York, US
2020 Appearance of Crosses, Nova Contemporary, Bangkok, Thailand
Highlight, Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
Ding Yi: The Cross-Style, Long Museum, Chongqing, China
2019 Ding Yi: Recent Works, Timothy Taylor, London, UK
Rim Light, Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany
2018 + × 30 Years: Ding Yi, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Interchange, ShanghART, Shanghai, China
2017 Appearance of Crosses: A Chronicle, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
Ding Yi, Sean Scully Studio, New York, US
2016 Ding Yi-Art Unlimited, Art Basel 2016, Basel, Switzerland
Re-Appearance of Crosses: Ding Yi, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China
2015 Ding Yi: What’s Left to Appear, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
2014 Scintillement, Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
2013 Art Changsha: Ding Yi, Changsha Museum, Changsha, China
2012 Appearance of Crosses, Galerie Karsten Greve, St. Moritz, Switzerland
2011 Ding Yi: Specific · Abstracted, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2008 Appearance of Crosses from 1989-2007, Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
2006 Graticule: Ding Yi’s Works from 1989 to 2006, ShanghART H-Space, Shangha9i, China
2005 Appearance of Crosses, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2004 Crossed Vision: Works by Ding Yi, China Art Archive & Warehouse, Beijing, China
2003 Ding Yi: Appearance of Crosses, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
2002 Ding Yi: Appearance of Crosses, Galerie Waldburger, Berlin, Germany
2000 Ding Yi: Fluorescent Paint on Tartan, China Art Archive & Warehouse, Beijing, China
1998 Ding Yi: Crosses ’89 -’97, International Art Palace, Beijing, China
1997 Ding Yi: Crosses ’97, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1996 15 x Red, New Works on Paper by Ding Yi, ShanghART, Shanghai, China
1995 Ding Yi: Opere su Carta, Galleria degli Archi, Comiso, Italy
1994 Exhibition of Ding Yi’s Abstract Art Works, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Public Collections
A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China
ASE Foundation, Shanghai, China
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
By Art Matters, Hangzhou, China
CDU Art Collection, Brinkin, Australia
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Chengdu Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu, China
China Art Museum (former Shanghai Art Museum), Shanghai, China
Chinese Modern Art Foundation, Ghent, Belgium
Daimler Art Collection, Berlin, Germany
DSL Collection, Paris, France
Fosun Foundation, New York, US
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
He Art Museum, Shunde, China
Huamao Museum of Art Education, Ningbo, China
Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China
Jebum-gang Art Center, Lhasa, China
K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong
Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Long Museum, Shanghai, China
M+Collection, Hong Kong
MOCA Shanghai, China
Morioka City Library, Morioka, Japan
Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China
Ningbo Museum of Art, Ningbo, China
Power Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeongju, Korea
Star Museum, Shanghai, China
Stichting Van Tuyckom Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
Tag Art Museum, Qingdao, China
Taikang Collection, Beijing, China
Tank Shanghai, Shanghai, China
The British Museum, London, UK
The City of Hamburg Germany, Hamburg, Germany
The National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing, China
UBS Art Collection, Zurich, Switzerland
University of Sydney Art Collection, Australia
Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
Yuz Foundation, Jakarta, Indonesia
Z-art Center, Shanghai, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Oum Jeongsoon, Ding Yi, Shiota Chiharu: I Thought I Lost It!, Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, Korea
MULTIPLY!!!: Power in Numbers in Contemporary Chinese Art, Modern Art Museum Shanghai, Shanghai, China
10 YEARS: ShanghART at West Bund 2015-2024, ShanghART, Shanghai, China
2023 Symphony of All the Changes: Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Beyond 2003-2023, Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, China
A Leisurely Stroll: The Tenth Anniversary of the Long Museum, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
Moistening Things And Cultivating The Heart: Collection of Guangdong Museum of Art Round First, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2022 START: Inaugural Exhibition of Star Museum, Star Museum, Shanghai, China
Multiple Sights: The Tenth Anniversary of the Long Museum, Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Worship and Faith: Shanghai Style Abstract Art Research Exhibition, Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2021 China and South Asia: Modern China, The British Museum, London, UK
The Pulse of Modernity: Powerlong Art Exhibition, Powerlong Art Museum, Shanghai, China
M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, M+ Museum, Hong Kong
Between and Beyond, Shandong Art Museum, Jinan, China
2020 Traces of Actions, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
Co-constructing, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China
On Sabbatical, West Bund Museum, Shanghai, China
Shanghai Waves: Historical Archives and Works of Shanghai Biennale, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
2019 The Return of Guests, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
The Shape of Time-Collection of Centre Pompidou I, West Bund Art Museum, Shanghai, China
The Challenging Souls: Yves Klein, Lee Ufan and Ding Yi, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
Painting and Existence, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong
Chinese Whispers: New Art from the Sigg Collection, Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
2018 The Exhibition Of Annual Of Contemporary Art Of China 2018, Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
Art History 40x40: Chinese Contemporary Art in 40 artists since 1978, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China
DNA: Private Collection of Chinese Contemporary Artists, Shanghai Himalayan Museum, Shanghai, China
Chinese spirit: the 4th Chinese Oil painting exhibition in Beijing, NAMOC, Beijing, China
Splendours of the Sun and the Moon: China Contemporary Art Exhibition, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, Italy
Turning Point: 40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
Art & China after 1989: Theatre of the World, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
2017 Bye Bye De Stijl: Contemporary Artists Respond to De Stijl, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Chinese Spirit: The 4th Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Shandong Art Museum, Jinan, China; Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China; Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan, China
Tracing the Past and Shaping the Futur, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China
Art and China after 1989: Theatre of the World, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, US
Last Night’s Fortune Teller: New Acquisitions of Chinese and International Contemporary Art Part 3, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Western China International Art Biennale, Hohhot, China
Capacity & Tension: 2017 Shanghai International Prints Exhibition, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Longitude & Latitude: A Project of Kesi and Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, Chengdu, China
Beyond the Brush: Abstract Ink Painting since 1960, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
2016 Busan Biennale 2016 Project: An / Other Avant-Garde China-Japan-Korea, Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan, Korea
New Capital: Huang Yu Collection Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, Chengdu, China
2015 Une histoire: art, architecture et design des années 1980 à nos jours, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France
Jing Shen: The Act of Painting in Contemporary China, Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
Calligraphic Time and Space: Abstract Art in China, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
On Curbstone Jewels and Cobblestones, Daimler Contemporary Berlin, Berlin, Germany
China 8, Contemporary Art from China at the Rhine and Ruhr, MKM Museum Küppersmühle, Duisburg, Germany
Une histoire: art, architecture et design des années 1980 à nos jours, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2014 Wuhan 3rd Documentary Exhibition of Fine Arts: Re-modernization, Hubei Art Museum, Wuhan, China
Hans van Dijk: 5000 Names, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China; Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Lost Way: Time, Space, Tapestry, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
Re-View: Opening Exhibition of Long Museum West Bund, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
2013 Shanghai Art Exhibition in Beijing, The National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Un Nuevo Horizonte: Exposición de Arte Chino Contemporáneo, Conde Duque Center, Madrid, Spain
A New Spring in Ink: Contemporary Space Ink 2013 Beijing, Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Revel, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
2012 Through All Ages: New Style, Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Meet Taipei, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Opening and Fusing: The Chinese Contemporary Art, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China; Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
Transformation: A View on Chinese Contemporary Art, Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul, Türkiye
Persona 3 - Ai Weiwei, Wang Xingwei and Ding Yi, Chambers Fine Art, New York, US
2011 A New Horizon: Contemporary Chinese Art, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia
Image · History · Existence: Taikang Life 15th Anniversary Art Collection Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Verso Est.: Chinese Architectural Landscape, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy
2010 The State of Things: Contemporary Art from China and Belgium, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Shanghai, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, US
2009 Collision: Experimental Cases of Contemporary Chinese Art, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
Out of Shanghai, Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst, Otterndorf, Germany
Un-natural: A New Discussion on Nature And Chinese Traditions, Beijing Centre for the Arts, Beijing, China
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, US
2008 Avant-Garde China: 20 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, The National Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan; The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan; Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan
Writing on the Wall: Chinese New Realism and Avant-Garde in the Eighties and Nineties, Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands
Red Aside: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, The Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
2007 85 New Wave: The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2006 Art in Motion, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
The 6th Shanghai Biennale: Hyper Design, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2006 Shanghai Abstract Art Exhibition, Ming Yuan Art Center, Shanghai, China
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
The Blossoming of Realism: The Oil Painting of Mainland China Since 1978, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2005 Sick: Today’s Art of Ours, Nanjing Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Shenzhen Art Biennale, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China
2004 Dreaming of the Dragon’s Nation: Contemporary Art from China, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Shanghai Modern, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany
2003 Open Sky, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
Portugal An Opening Era, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2002 The First Guangzhou Trienniale Reinterpretation: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990-2000), Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Golden Harvest, Museum of the Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia
Crossing Cultures, Kunsthaus Muerz, Styria, Austria
Ost + West, Kuenstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria
Paris - Pekin, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France
2001 Living in Time: 29 Contemporary Artists from China, Hamburger Bahnhof-Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany
The 1st Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Ornament & Abstraction, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland
Yokohama 2001: International Triennale of Contemporary Art, Yokohama, Japan
2000 2000 China-Korea-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition, Changning Culture and Art Center, Shanghai, China
1999 Looking Out / Looking In: Shanghai Contemporary Art Exhibition, Plug In Contemporary Art Centre, Winnipeg, Canada
BM99: Bienal da Maya, Maya Art Center, Portugal
1998 The 11th Biennale of Sydney: Every Day, Museum of Contemporary Art etc., Sydney, Australia
1997 The Chinese Roots, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
In Between Limits: An Aspect of Chinese Contemporary Art, Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeongju, Korea
China!, Artist’s House, Vienna, Austria; Zacheta Art Museum, Warsaw, Poland; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
1996 The 1st China Oil Painting Society Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
The 1st Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
China! Zeitgenossische Malerei, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany
D’art: Salon International d’Art Contemporain, Palais des expositions, Nice, France
1995 New Chinese Art: 1990-1994, Vancouver Gallery of Art, Vancouver, Canada; Art Centre, Chicago, US
Chang: China Contemporary Art, Göteborgs Konsthall, Goeteborg, Sweden
1993 The 45th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition: Cardinal Points of the Arts, Venice, Italy
The 1st Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
Mao Goes Pop: China Post ’89, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
China Avant-Garde, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Brandts Klæderfabrik, Odense, Denmark; Hildesheim Art Gallery, Hildesheim, Germany; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK
1991 Shanghai Modern Art, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan
1989 China / Avant-Garde Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1988 Exhibition of Today’s Art, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1986 Inauguration Exhibition of the Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Exhibitions
Artworks
Appearance of Crosses 2024-B6
2024
Acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and pencil on Canson paper
57x76.5cm
Appearance of Crosses 2024-B5
2024
Acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and pencil on Canson paper
57x76.5cm
Appearance of Crosses 2024-B4
2024
Acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and pencil on Canson paper
57x76.5cm
Appearance of Crosses 2024-B3
2024
Acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and pencil on Canson paper
57x76.5cm
Appearance of Crosses 2024-B7
2024
Mineral pigment, pastel, charcoal and pencil on Tibetan paper
205x118cm, 234x144.5cm (framed)
Appearance of Crosses 2024-14
2024
Acrylic and woodcuts on basswood
120x240cm
Appearance of Crosses 2024-13
2024
Acrylic and woodcuts on basswood
120x120cm
Appearance of Crosses 2022-10
2022
Acrylic and woodcuts on basswood
240x240cm
Appearance of Crosses 2017-B4
2017
Chalk and charcoal on rice paper
350x234cm (3), 350x702cm (total)
Appearance of Crosses 2010-16
2010
Acrylic on canvas
140x200cm
Appearance of Crosses 2001-15-16
2001
Acrylic on tartan
140x160cm (2), 140x320cm (total)
Appearance of Crosses 1992-3
1995
Chalk and charcoal on canvas
140x160cm
Appearance of Crosses 1992-15
1992
Acrylic on canvas
140x160cm
Appearance of Crosses 1989-7
1989
Acrylic on canvas
100x120cm
Sketches of Appearance of Crosses
1987-1989
Acrylic and pencil on paper
100x110cm (framed)