2 in 1 Series

2013 – 2024

In the genesis of this series, artist Wang Yuyang delicately amassed a spectrum of white strokes, reverently capturing the essence of texture. Upon the canvas’ completion, he descended a beam of light upon the white expanse, subsequently immortalizing this moment with the precision of an ultra-high pixel camera. This act recalibrates the amalgamation of painting and photography into a singular entity, bestowing upon the artwork a tangible “aura”. The light’s presence extends the painting’s spatial narrative, aspiring to transcend the artist’s perceived conclusion of a painting, liberating it from the dominion and manipulation of exhibition lighting. Employing a quasi-real “simulacra”, he challenges the audience’s in-built perceptions, luring them to engage with the canvas’ pronounced textural response to light. This luminescence traverses the image in its entirety, echoing Walter Benjamin’s conception of “aura”—acknowledging the object’s independent existence and the capacity to reflect upon it from an aesthetic removal. Amidst the epoch of mechanical reproduction, the “aura” of arts is subject to relentless metamorphosis and gradual wane in tandem with the progression of technological representation. The “aura” stands as an enduring reminder of the “original” presence, radiating an inextricable link with the viewers’ gaze. Photography’s incursion supplants the collective gaze, and the artist seeks to counter the “aura’s” dissipation with a controllable luminescence. This light, a deferred différance, in concert with the differential différance inherent in painting and photography, integrates the viewers’ observation, bridging the gap and prompting a contemplation on the artworks’ periphery: Does the light’s intervention allow the layered brushstrokes to articulate their own narrative? In this manner, the artist revives the meditation and construction of artistic presence, thereby initiating a discourse on the “archaic” vestiges of retention and protention.

2 in 1—20240630
Type: Painting
Materials: Oil on canvas, digital print
Dimensions: 200 x 200 cm

2 in 1—20240101
Type: Painting
Materials: Oil on canvas, digital print
Dimensions: 210 x 176 cm

2 in 1—20240203
Type: Painting
Materials: Oil on canvas, digital print
Dimensions: 210 x 176 cm

2 in 1—20210317
Type: Painting
Materials: Oil on canvas, digital print
Dimensions: 120x 90 cm

2 in 1—20210423
Type: Painting
Materials: Oil on canvas, digital print
Dimensions: 120x 90 cm

2 in 1—20210619
Type: Painting
Materials: Oil on canvas, digital print
Dimensions: 120x 90 cm