BEIJING, April 27 (WSH) —“Nature·Infinite: HE Yunlan’s 90 Years of Heartfelt Imagery” was on view at Hall 6 of the China Art Museum through April 23. Curated by Huang Mei and academically directed by Zhu Qingsheng, this special exhibition presents over 70 works tracing the remarkable six-decade journey of HE Yunlan—a pioneering figure in Chinese contemporary art and a 1962 graduate of Huang Yongyu’s studio at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
The exhibition was produced by Qiu Jihong and jointly organized by the Art Committee of the China Artists Association, the China Female Artists Association, and the Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts.
A Silent Invitation to Contemplation
Rather than hosting a formal opening ceremony, the exhibition invites viewers into a quiet, reflective dialogue with HE Yunlan’s profound engagement with nature. The artist’s oeuvre unfolds across three conceptual layers: from early traditional woodcut masterpieces such as Dong Maiden (1962), through the experimental spirit of the 1980s seen in Oracle (1986), to the liberated, mixed-media expressions of her later years, exemplified by Gaze (2008) and Fission (2010).
Curator Huang Mei describes HE’s later ink works as “a dance of life,” where ink flows between stillness and movement, embodying both chaos and serenity.
Mindscapes Beyond Landscapes
Zhu Qingsheng, a professor at Peking University and the exhibition’s academic director, remarks: “These are not landscapes but mindscapes—transformations of nature’s raw truths into psychological realms.”
The thematic progression of the exhibition follows a profound emotional arc: from the primal struggles between life and death, through contemplative monochromatic spaces, to jubilant celebrations of renewal and vitality.
Paintings such as Eternal Cycle (2018) and Spring’s Irresistible Call (2020) pulse with ecological urgency, while Luminous Verse (2025) turns the gaze toward cosmic contemplation, merging the earthly with the infinite.
Vitality Unfaded at 90
Breaking away from the conventions of a typical retrospective, HE Yunlan’s newest works—including Winter Plum Reverie (2024) and Luminous Verse (2025)—testify to her enduring creative vigor. Through layered ink textures and symbolic abstraction, she continues to question humanity’s role within nature’s boundless rhythms.
Reflecting on her latest creations, HE shares: “These works are my late-life conversation with the natural world. If they spark even a moment of resonance, I am content.”
