Yi Kai
Introduction
Born in 1955 Changsha, China, Yi Kai showed an affinity for art and drawing at an early age. In 1970, at the age of fifteen, he was drafted into the People’s Army at the height of the Cultural Revolution and spent nine years building railways in the countryside and creating art propaganda for the People’s Republic of China. In 1979, he was chosen as one of thirty-five from four thousand applicants to attend the Art Institute of the Army of China in Beijing earning a Bachelors of Fine Arts in traditional Chinese painting. During the late 1970s and early 1980s as China opened to the West, he became exposed to Western culture, particularly American culture. In 1985, Yi Kai attained his Masters of Fine Arts from the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing. In 1989, he immigrated to the United States. During the last twenty years, Yi Kai’s art has transitioned from his artistic education in China to abstract and colourful works that reflect the influence of American culture and expression that inform his current direction.
Alisan Fine Arts first exhibited Yi Kai’s works in 1990 as part of Landscapes, Figures, Flowers & Birds: Variation from China held at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Since then the gallery has organised three solo exhibitions for the artist. More recently in 2015, the gallery presented What Goes Around Goes Around a travelling solo exhibition, which visited Claremont Graduate University in California and 53 Art Museum in Guangzhou before coming to Alisan Fine Arts. In a letter to the gallery, he noted, “in the autumn of 1984, Liu Jian, my colleague at university, introduced me to Mrs. King who was in Beijing for a business trip. At first, I felt nervous but after having met her, I realised she treated people as equals. Her thoughtful and elegant temperament impressed me. My friendship with Mrs. King over the years has been based on her treating people equally, with good intentions and respect.”
Yi Kai’s paintings have been collected by the Minnesota Museum of American Arts, Minneapolis Institute of Art; SAP American, Philadelphia; Museum of Fu Tan Po, Osaka; Beijing Art Institute; and Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong to name a few.
BIOGRAPHY
1955 Born in Changsha, Hunan, China
1970 Joined People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) to create propaganda art
1977 Selected by the Army to be the curator of the exhibition celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the China Army at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing
1979 Transferred to Art Institute of PLA to establish fine arts department
Studied Chinese painting in Art Institute of PLA, Beijing, China, under the masters Liu Dawei, Lin Fan, Liu Tiancheng and Shi Guoliang
1981 Enrolled in Chinese Artists Association, China
1983-85 After graduation, became Assistant professor of the art department, Art Institute of PLA, Beijing, China
1985 Entered oil painting graduate program in Minzu University of China, studied under Liu Bingjiang, Luo Yi
1988 MFA in oil painting, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China
1988-90 Associate professor of the art department, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China
1990 Went to San Francisco and finally settled in Minneapolis, United States, a full-time artist, and visiting professor
Since then has been travelling across the United States, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong to have solo exhibitions
1998 Became US Citizen
2006 Certificate, Modern Art History, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, United States
2018 Director of the Chinese Program of the Claremont College of Art and Humanities, CA, United States
Curator of exhibition and symposium Transpositions: Malleable Materials, Fluid Forms, and Shifting Contexts, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, Tianjin, China; Claremont Graduate University, CA, United States
Currently Advisor for School of Arts and Humanities of Claremont Graduate University, CA, United States
Advisor for Artspace Minneapolis, MN, United States
Advisor for the Institute of Deep-Sea Research & Engineering of Sciences Academy of China
Advisor for 53 Art Museum and Gallery Magazine, Guangzhou, China
Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA; Guangzhou, China
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- What Goes Around Goes Around, New Works by Yi Kai, Travelling Exhibition, Claremont Graduate University, California, United States; 53 Art Museum, Guangzhou, China; Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Museum of Art and History Lancaster CA, United States
- George Cuttress Fine Art, Pomona, CA, United States
- DeCordova Museum, Lincol, MA, United States
- Calvin Charles Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, United States
- Gallery Lasietique, Scottsdale, AZ, United States
- Gallery Lasietique, Scottsdale, United States
- Museum West Gallery, San Francisco & Palo Alto, CA, United States
- Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Dolly Fiterman Fine Arts, Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Dai Ichi Fine Arts Gallery, New York, United States
- Museum West Gallery, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Recent Works, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Orchard Point Exhibition Hall, Singapore
- Nelson/Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA, United States
- Nelson/Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA, United States
- Chinese Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Larson Gallery, University of Minnesota, United States
- Crown Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
- National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
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Departures: Leng Hong, Liu Jian, Yi Kai, Three Chinese Diaspora Artists, Alisan Fine Arts-Aberdeen, Hong Kong
2016
2013
- Los Angeles International Art Expo, CA, United States
- 33rd International Exhibition, The San Diego Watercolor Society, CA, United States
- Los Angeles International Art Expo, CA, United States
- San Francisco International Art Expo, CA, United States
- George Cuttress Fine Arts, Pomona, CA, United States
- University of St Thomas Gallery, St Paul, MN, United States
- Faster Gallery, University of Wisconsin, WI, United States
- George Cuttress Fine Arts, Pomona, CA, United States
- CCAA Museum of Art, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, United States
- Koehler Gallery, CA, United States
- OCCOA Gallery, Orange County, CA, United States
- Brand 36 Works on Paper, Glendale, GA, United States
- Powers Gallery, Acton, MA, United States
- Powers Gallery, Acton, MA, United States
- Gallery North Star, Grafton, VT, United States
- New American Drawing 2003, Sante Fe, NM, United States
- Minnesota Historical Museum, MN, United States
- Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND, United States
- Drawing III International Juried Art Exhibition, Omaha, NE, United States
- 6th International Art Competition, Estes Park, CO, United States
- Lew Allen Contemporary, Santa Fe, United States
- Gallery 8, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA, United States
- Three Visual Voices, Dolly Fiterman Fine Arts, MN, United States
- Susan Conway Gallery, Washington DC, United States
- Minnesota Museum of American Art, MN, United States
- Dolly Fiterman Fine Arts, Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN, United States
- National Art Museum of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
- National Art Education Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
- General Mills Inc, MN, United States
- Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Variation from China: Landscapes, Figures, Flowers & Birds, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong
- Three-man Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
- East Art Gallery, New York, United States
- Twenty paintings exhibited in 17 Chinese National Art Exhibitions, China
Selected Awards
1980 Two Bronze Medals for two paintings, China National Youth Art Exhibition, Beijing, China
1985 Award of Excellence, Beijing Art Exhibition, Beijing, China
1996 Curator Choice, MCAD Art Auction, Minneapolis, MN, United States
1999 An example of work to include a lecture by Elizabeth Broun, the Director of the National Museum of American Art Smithsonian Institute (Washington D.C.) in the year 2000, United States
2000 Painting included in a lecture given by Elizabeth Broun, Director, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, United States
2002 Best of the Show, 6th International Art Competition, Estes Park, CO, United States
2005 National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals
Selected Public Collections
The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Minnesota Museum of American Arts, Minneapolis, MN, United States
University of St Thomas, MN, United States
Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Key Investment, Minneapolis, MN, United States
The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis, MN, United States
Dolly Fiterman Fine Arts, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Piper Jaffray, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Patterson & Keough PA, Minneapolis, MN, United States
The St Paul Company, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Hearts On Fire, Boston, MA, United States
SAP American, Philadelphia, PA, United States
General Mills Inc, United States
Key Investment Inc, United States
Warwick Hotel, Paris, France
LeeFon Corporation, Singapore
Museum of Fu Tan Po, Osaka, Japan
Beijing Art Institute, Beijing, China
China Times Newspaper, Taipei, Taiwan
Dorsey & Whitney Office, Hong Kong
Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong
