ShanghART M50 is honored to present artist Shen Fan’s solo exhibition “I have no I,” curated by Aimee Lin, running from April 18th to June 28th. Structured around two conceptual pillars—“Colors” and “Origins”—the exhibition systematically examines the artist's four-decade-long experimentation with and breakthroughs in abstract painting. The title “I have no I” derives from the artist's manifesto, encapsulating the essence of his practice: through dissolving the conventional “self” inherent in expressionist traditions, he achieves a state of egoless purity—one that transcends painterly mannerisms to reveal an unmediated, childlike spirit.
Shen Fan (b. 1952) has been regarded as one of the seminal figures of “Shanghai Abstraction” since the 1980s. His practice is deeply rooted in China’s era of social transformation and clashing artistic ideologies, yet he demonstrates transcendent wisdom. From landscape sketches during his participation in the Down to the Countryside Movement and his industrial design training in college, to reinventing traditional painting’s emancipatory spirit through non-expressive methods, Shen forged his artistic identity through “depersonalization”— transforming modernist individualism’s clamor into a contemporary continuation of classical Chinese art philosophy.
“Colors” showcases the artist’s decade-long experimentations on canvas, most of which are being exhibited publicly for the first time. Employing color blocks and geometric shapes as fundamental elements, Shen Fan utilizes palette knife scraping, canvas perforation, and pigment permeation techniques to eliminate subjective brushwork, transforming natural and spiritual landscapes into pure visual language. These works, created “after I have no I”( quoting the artist), mark a significant transition from a primary color palette to the sophisticated play of diverse colors. They stems from both a capture of fleeting sensations and a contemplation of formal conventions - whether in the visual structure formed by permeating pigment through the warp and weft of the canvas, or in the silvery winter sky recorded by rhythmic brushstrokes, they all reconstruct the essence of freedom in painting through a depersonalized approach.
“Origins” traces the development of Shen Fan’s experimental practice since the late 1980s. Employing drafting-style lines, rubbings, and other techniques that eliminate personal touch, the artist progressively dissolved the “clamor of self” in his “Village” and “Landscape” series, establishing a minimalist, symbolic, and deliberately flat abstract language.
The exhibition features installation sketches, archival footage, and a decade-long durational work documenting key turning points in Shen’s practice. These pieces not only reflect the artist’s astute response to the evolution of contemporary painting and artistic discourse but also reveal the internal logic behind the maturation of his abstract language — laying the foundation for Shen Fan’s later pursuit of embodying the spirit of Eastern traditional art through painting in a contemporary context.
