Yan Pei Ming: Ruines du temps réel

Yan Pei Ming, the Chinese painter, is widely considered to be one of the most important contemporary artists of his generation.

Yan Pei Ming will return to Sète to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the creation of the city’s harbour, just as his previous exhibition in Rome heralded the 350th anniversary of the Villa Medici. In mid-2016, the Villa invited the artist to present a set of his works which had never been seen before.

At CRAC, the exhibition, Ruines du temps réel, will present a selection of his most recent works, including portraits, landscapes, historical paintings, as well as paintings produced specifically for the project. 

Yan Pei Ming, who is more interested in humanity than in individuality, transcends the everyday life. Very much a man of his time, his paintings reflect his era and evoke our contemporary reality.

The opening of the exhibition Ruines du temps réel (Ruins in Real Time) at the CRAC coincides with the unveiling of the restoration of Yan Pei Ming’s trio of wall paintings—Têtes (Heads)—at the Lycée Charles de Gaulle. The two projects bring together two key periods: the beginning of the artist’s career and his latest works. 
 

Conservation and restoration of the wall paintings—Lycée des métiers Charles de Gaulle
Têtes is composed of three wall paintings which Yan Pei Ming produced in the summer of 1988 in one of the rooms at the Caserne Vauban, which, unused at the time, was adapted for the exhibition at the Villa Saint Clair, the site of the artists’residencies in Sète. These three in situ paintings are representative of Yan Pei Ming’s earliest works, and are the only wall paintings produced by the artist to date. The faces depicted are types of “anti-portraits” which the artist refers to as “anonymous.”

The Languedoc-Roussillon Midi-Pyrénées Region fully appreciates the artistic worth of Yan Pei Ming’s work and recognises his international importance. It is commited to ensuring the successful restoration and conservation of the wall paintings. The project has been entrusted to Thierry Martel and his company, and will make sure that the works are restored and preserved, ensuring their longevity and protecting them from deterioration, while endowing the space with a new cultural importance. 

For many, but particularly generations of school children at the Lycée Charles de Gaulle, these works will provide an introduction to and an appreciation for contemporary creation.

(Preview: 5pm at Lycée Charles de Gaulle - Sète)