Yin Xiuzhen (1963)
is a Chinese sculpture and installation artist. She incorporates used
textiles and keepsakes from her childhood in Beijing to show the
connection between memory and cultural identity. She has also employed
pots and pans, wooden chests, suitcases and cement in her work. She
studied oil painting in the Fine Arts Department of Capital Normal
University, then called Beijing Normal Academy, in Beijing from 1985 to
1989. After graduation, Yin taught at the high school attached to the
Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, until her exhibition schedule
became too demanding. Her work has been described by Phyllis Teo as
“possessing human warmth, intimacy, and a sense of nostalgia which
propels introspection of one's self—traditions, emotions, and beliefs.
Thus, creating of a sense of community and belonging within the audience
Yin's art has been greatly influenced by her impoverished
upbringing during the time of the Cultural Revolution, a socio-political
movement from 1966 to 1976. In an interview, she states, “the CR
(Cultural Revolution) created more “hardships” and “bitterness” and
“regret” for the generations before us, it left me—young and naïve—with
memories of “ideals,” “magnificence,” “collectivity”...(creating)
contradictions and conflicts between isolation and openness,
dictatorship and democracy became a new motivation, and as rapid changes
cultivated in me an attitude of calm and quiet .” As a child in the
Cultural Revolution, Yin Xiuzhen found a creative outlet in the act of
sewing, which has become a monumental component in her artistic
practices.
Yin has stated the ‘85 Art New Wave Movement going on
in China at the time along with a 1985 Robert Rauschenberg exhibition at
the National Art Museum as turning her towards more contemporary styles
and influencing her use of different mediums for her art. Xiuzhen's
utilization of the various mediums such as fabric, found objects, and
concrete added to the tactile interest and depth to her politically and
socially charged works. It consolidated her position as a female master
in experimental, avant-garde art which, at the time, was dominated by
male artists like Gu Wenda, Xu Bing, and Ai Wei Wei. Yin spoke to
Phaidon about how the Robert Rauschenberg exhibition inspired her,
saying “I realized that the language of art should no longer be
restricted to mediums and tools of painting and sculpture, which were
what we had studied. Rather, it should be free and open, and should be
used to express free and open messages.” She incorporates used textiles
and keepsakes from her childhood in Beijing to show the connection
between memory and cultural identity.
She is well known for
Portable City, a series of sculptures created from clothing collected in
different cities shaped into building-like forms and arranged inside
suitcases. Yin had made over 40 Portable City suitcases for various
cities around the world to express her perceptions about the many places
she's visited in this era of globalization. In an interview with
Phaidon, Yin discusses her inspiration for the Portable City series and
states, “I place emphasis on difference, but no matter how I emphasize
it, it's always covered over by sameness”. Suitcases and clothing are a
popular medium for Yin, and she uses them in other works such as Fashion
Terrorism (2004–05) to address global issues such as trust and
security. In Fashion Terrorism, Yin used clothing to construct weapons
and other objects forbidden on a plane, then packed them up in a
suitcase.
In addition, Yin's work consistently demonstrates a
concern for the relationship between the individual and the artist, with
a particular interest in her home city of Beijing.
Yin has participated in group
exhibitions such as Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World at
the Guggenheim Museum (2017), and China 8, an exhibition of Chinese
contemporary art in eight cities and nine museums in the Rhine-Ruhr
region, Germany (2015), the 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art
(2013), the 4th Yokohama Triennale (2011), the 7th Shanghai Biennale
(2008), the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007), the 14th Biennale of Sydney
(2004) and the 26th São Paulo Art Biennial (2004).
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laws All images are copyrighted © by Yin Xiuzhen or assignee. Apart from
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images used for illustrative purposes only
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| MS. Yin Xiuzhen |
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1997 Transformation, 1997 Installation view
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| 1998 Ten- Shoes, 1998 |
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| Collective Subconscious, 2007 |
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| Collective Subconscious, 2007 |
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| Collective Subconscious, 2007 |
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| Collective Subconscious, 2007 |
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| Flying Machine, 2008 Shanghai Biennale |
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| Thought, 2009 |
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| Portable City: Hangzhou, 2011 |
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Portable City: Madrid, 2012
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| Black Hole, 2013 |
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Traffic Barrier Series, 2013
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| Puzzle No. 1, 2015-22 |
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| Slow Release, 2016 Garage Museum of Contemporary Art |
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| Wall Instrument No. 4, 2016 |
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| Trojan, 2016-17 |
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| Trojan, 2016-17 |
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| Blending Instrument – Ruler No. 3, 2017 |
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| Planting, 2017 |
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| Action No. 3, 2019 |
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| The Arsenale at the Venice Biennale, 2019 Installation view |
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| Wheel-cage (Rendering), 2020 |
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| Wheel-cage, 2020 |
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| Dongzhi Festival, 2020–21 |
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| Along the Way, 2021 |
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| Everywhere, 2022 installation view |
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| Nowhere to Land |
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| Shoes with butter |
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| Weapon, Every day objects |
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