Get real with Yu Hong's poignant canvases

All of which can be seen when she brings her solo exhibition to Art Basel in Hong Kong this month with Beijing's Long March Space, which will feature selected works from different creative periods of the artist. The show contains works such as A Man Playing the Hula Hoop (1992), made as part of the New Generation movement in the 1990s, and her most recent large-scale project A New Century (2017). As well, there are pieces from her previous major solo exhibitions, including Witness to Growth (2002 and 2007), Golden Sky (2010), Golden Horizon (2011), Wondering Clouds (2013), Concurrent Realms (2015) and Garden of Dreams (2016). This seemingly boundless diversity of work encompasses not only Yu's paintings, but also her explorations on silk, glass, tinfoil, and other surfaces and materials.

Complementing the exhibition is director Wang Xiaoshuai's Days Gone By – Yu Hong (2009), which will be screened at Art Basel in Hong Kong's film sector. It's a companion piece to Wang's directorial debut The Days (1993), which stars Yu in the female lead. The movie tells of a different reality in the artist's life, echoing her portrayal as a young artist in The Days yet showing how her role has changed many years later – as a wife and mother who's busy with her own career and family, with responsibilities to her school and society. Yu and curator Alexandra Munroe, who brought together the show at the Guggenheim, will attend the post-screening discussion.