"Irrelevant" is the first solo exhibition for the artist SUN Yu. Using a minimal palette and careful brushwork he presents the viewer with a subjective impression of the portrait, an individual or a small group. Locating them within his imagined surroundings SUN Yu exposes the state of the sitter's mind and somehow the observer - artist's mind too. "Irrelevant” is a monologue of the artist's inner world. While he questions the distance between each individual and society and answers this question with calm considered brush strokes perhaps in reality it is a process of self-analysis irrelevant to the society, values or current people's attitude. 

 

The people he portrays are often lost in the search for the meaning of life. The search is pure but tolerant, as J.M.Coetzee said in the "Youth”: each man is an island. This alienation between people leads to the outside world understanding the individual less. In Sun Yu's works, the figures show an indifference and independent view of the world, reflecting a feeling of frustration and helplessness. It seems personal will is always unsatisfied with the real world. Sun Yu depicts his fear of loneliness and losing everything through the works Even Skeletons Fear series. The Photo of Me and Devils and When I am Old give a loneliness and associated mood caused by the vicissitudes of everyday life; Irrelevant, Absolute Isolation and Lonely Drama reflects the attitude of the artist towards the world, facing life's sadness.

 

Sun Yu is also interested in discussing the subjects of human desire. While Desire is a basic human instinct to desire too much will devour everything. In the Butcher series he depicts the contrast between a butcher’s emotionlessness and the dead sharks heads with their mouths wide open. Excessive desire destroys the merciful side of human nature. As in the work Extreme Penalty’s expression, the endless desire for more leads to the ultimate penalty.

 

Exhibition "Irrelevant" is a confrontation with humanity. The name itself derives from humanity's self-neglect and the subsequent sadness that the artist feels for the world we live in.

 

Sun Yu, born in 1982, Jilin province，studied painting at an early age for more than ten years and graduated from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. He now lives and works in Beijing. His works have been selected in many exhibitions such as Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition of Contemporary College Students in 2009, Guangzhou Kapok "33 Laichi" Art Salon in 2006, Linnan “New Power” Oil Painting Exhibition in 2007 and Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition Works in 2008. In 2010 "Here, There, Where? Dual Exhibition" in FQ Projects Shanghai. His work obtained good results in the 2010 Yongle Christie’s auction and were well received both in SH Contemporary art fair 2010 and LA Art Show in 2011. He will continue to be exposed to wider audiences in the coming Art HK 11 by FQ Projects.