A Quest for Harmony — Stencil Prints by Yu Ping and Ren Ping

Exhibitions

Introduction

This is the second time since 2003 that the HKUST Library has been privileged to display the stencil prints of Yu Ping and Ren Ping.

Stencil printing is made using stencils. In this type of printing, one makes an ink or paint impression by using a cut template (made of cardboard, polymer board, vinyl or plastic sheets). The artists can then apply multiple templates using different colors to create chromatically rich patterns and designs. Stencil printing has long been associated with the widespread textile and dying industry in Shandong Province, where fabric printed with colorful folk designs using paper cut stencils are still used for clothing today.

For many years prior to their involvement with stencil printing, Yu Ping and Ren Ping’s artistic medium was paper cutting, based on traditional designs. They made an artistic breakthrough by replacing traditional single-colored paper with multi-colored paper. After they came in contact with Shandong folk stencil printing, they discovered that the two art forms had much in common and that the connections between them were artistically fertile. Since then, they have devoted themselves entirely to the art of stencil printing. What they have accomplished as a result is a fusion of stencil printing techniques with the art of etching — an art form that is rare today.

All of the stencil prints displayed in this exhibition (except “The Chart of the Sacred Miracles of Mazu”) are divided into the following series:

Folk Music Series

This theme is based on instruments used in folk music today and ancient Chinese musical instruments. Among the eight modern folk instruments depicted in this series are the liuqin, the sanxian, the guqin, and the erhu. Among the sixteen ancient instruments represented in these are the pipa, the guanzi, the jiegu, the dizi, the xiao, and the kuzheng. The human figures playing the ancient instruments are based on Tang Dynasty depictions of women musicians, giving a sense of the feminine charm associated with ancient music playing.

Countryside Series

The Countryside Series’ theme features the everyday activities of rural China as well as domestic and wild flowers, plants, and animals. These works express the delight of life to be found on farms and in the wild. The traditional twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac are also included in this series; as well as the four ‘arts’ associated with traditional Chinese culture (qin playing, chess playing, calligraphy, and painting). Viewing these works inspires a leisurely relaxed feeling.

Campus Series

The artists commemorate the 15th anniversary of the University with the Campus Series. The works represent HKUST and take the campus’s characteristic landscape as its topic. Included in the series are the Library, the Entrance Piazza, and the Bridge Link. These works embody actual places and things on campus, infused with the artists’ imagination and response to basic yet indispensable elements of campus life such as flowers, grass, trees, plants, and people passing by. The structure of these works exudes nature; yet at the same time is different from unadorned nature, showing it altered and interpreted by art.

Yu Ping and Ren Ping 于平、任憑

Mr. Yu Ping and Ms. Ren Ping were both born in 1962 in Shandong Province and graduated from the Department of Decoration of the Shandong Institute of Light Industry. The couple now work as full-time artists.

Yu Ping and Ren Ping’s artworks have received many awards over the years: notably First Prize at the National Paper-cutting Grand Award Competition; First and Second Prize at the Folk Paper-cutting Grand Award Competition; First Prize at the National Elementary and High School Teachers’ Paintings Grand Competition; First Prize at the Century Paper-cut Retrospective Exhibition; and Gold Prize at the National Grand Exhibition of Folk Paper-cutting. Their works have been collected by the National Fine Arts Museum, the Capital Museum in Beijing, the Beijing Arts and Crafts Museum, the Yantai Fine Arts Museum, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Library.

In recent years, the two artists have held exhibitions at Beijing, Taiwan and Hong Kong. They have published over 40 art catalogs.