Photograph by Eugene Neduv ©2017 Lin Yan, courtesy Fou Gallery.
Lin Yan lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and Beijing, China.
Lin Yan grew up within a family of artists and was exposed to art at an early age. She studied oil painting at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and moved to Paris continuing her studies in art in 1985. A year later, she went to the United States. Lin Yan infused Chinese philosophy into her own “constructing paintings in her first solo show “Tai Chi in Painting” at Haas Gallery, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA in 1988 and obtained her Master’s Degree from the Department of Studio Art at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 1989, and focuses on paintings with spatial structures since then.
In 1993, Lin Yan moved to New York. Taoist thoughts remain in her life and art. She seeks the simplest possible use of elements in her work. The art forms are minimal which filled with complex impulses and nuances. The foundation of Lin Yan’s large sculptural paper collage is a variety of hand-made paper which has been used for Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. Inspired by her memory of old Beijing architectures and also the industrial elements in her Brooklyn home, Lin Yan blurs boundaries, embraces conflicts, brings histories, past and present together. Aware of the struggle and resistance in reality, she balances this restlessness with tranquility of the materials she uses.
Lin Yan’s recent solo exhibitions include: “Blowing in the Wind” at Lens Gallery in Beijing (2023), “Lin Yan: No Return” at Art Basel Hong Kong 2021 presented by Leo Gallery, “Lin Yan: Inverted Shadow” at Leo Gallery in Shanghai (2018), “Lin Yan: Gateway” at Fou Gallery in Brooklyn (2017). Recent selected group shows are “Mountain Ridge” at WS gallery, Shanghai (2023) , “A Material Lineage” Duo Exhibition by Pang Tao and Lin Yan at Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai (2019), “Useless Value” at Wanying Art Space, Shijiazhuang (2017), “Crisscrossing East and West: The Remaking of Ink Art in Contemporary East Asia” at Museum of Contemporary Art – Yin Chuan (2017). Her works have been collected by the Deutsche Bank in New York, Long Museum in Shanghai, National Art Museum of China in Beijing and White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney among others.