Shang Yang has exhibited extensively in China since the 1980s, including at Shanghai Biennale in 1996, and has shown internationally at galleries in London, Paris, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, and Helsinki.
[2] In the years 1984-1985, Shang Yang created a series of oil paintings on Korean paper about the conditions and customs of northern Shaanxi, clearly signaling his change in artistic style.
In his painting 'Yellow River boatmen' you can see the beginnings of his fascination with the loess plateau, and this wells forth in an uninhibited way in his later works in the fundamental timbre of yellow.
In this work, the image of the mother, the stone wall behind her, and the loess hills in the background link together, hinting at the inseparable bond created by life in a warm and intrepid environment.
According to Shang, while in Shaanxi, he felt completely removed from the materialism of the world around him and was able to connect on a fundamental level with the region's natural surroundings.
He was greatly inspired by Shaanxi’s landscapes and rural communities and created many oil paintings revolving around the theme of the Yellow River, which are still among the artist’s most famous works.
While stillness and warmth replace the bare desolation, the gate of worn stones and the barren earth and slopes are imbued with a rich ro- mantic air.
Shang Yang's later works progressively began to break loose from the bewitchment or control exerted by the colors of the region, as his paintings gave fuller play and expression to subjective elements.
In June 1989, Shang Yang lost his position as head of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts after he marched with some of his students in Tiananmen Square.
Shang Yang regained respect in 1992 with the release of his piece "Morning Tea" which is said to examine concerns for lost values in Chinese culture.
Shang Yang: the Dong Qichang Project explores the idea that the aggressive intervention of contemporary culture has fragmented and flattened the solid traditional Chinese logic of self-sufficiency, harmony and unity.
This exhibition marks Shang Yang's first solo show within more than five decades of art production; it promises to deliver a comprehensive display of his impressive skill and conceptual development presenting in his latest artworks.
2006 Essence of Sketch – Shang Yang's Painting Exhibition, Chengdu Blue Space Art Gallery, Sichuan,China.
Shanghai World Expo Bureau zero carbon Museum, China The third abstract - Chinese Contemporary ink painting exhibition.