The Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi presents the largest exhibition of work by Yan Pei-Ming ever held in Italy. Curated by Arturo Galansino, the exhibition is part of the Palazzo Strozzi Future Art programme developed in conjunction with the Fondazione Hillary Merkus Recordati.
An artist celebrated for his monumental canvases combining history and the contemporary world, Yan Pei-Ming explores in his work such genres as portraiture, landscape, still-life and historical painting. Born in Shanhai in 1960, Yan Pei-Ming moved to France in 1980 and continues to live and work there today. Merging East and West, his style rediscovers and expands on traditional painting, resorting to large and vigorous brushstrokes with an often monochrome palette. A characteristic feature of his work is his meticulous attention to his subjects which, while almost abstract when viewed close up, acquire a unique clarity when seen from afar.
In an age of ceaseless reproduction and of the digital exploitation of images, his paintings seek their inspiration in memories and in photographs, weaving a fabric of personal references or the universal themes of visual culture. Well-known works of art, public figures and intimately personal subjects interact in his work to reflect on the human condition, caught between conventional forms and current affairs, between reality and imagination.
The exhibition is promoted and organised by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence as part of the Palazzo Strozzi Future Art programme developed in conjunction with the Fondazione Hillary Merkus Recordati. Main supporter: Fondazione CR Firenze. Supporters: Comune di Firenze, Regione Toscana, Camera di Commercio di Firenze, Intesa Sanpaolo, Palazzo Strozzi Partners Committee. Supported by Città Metropolitana di Firenze.
Cover illustration: Yan Pei-Ming, Les Funérailles de Monna Lisa (Canvas no. 3) (det.), 2009-2018. Photography: André Morin © Yan Pei-Ming, ADAGP, Paris, 2023