MAN WITH SHADOW Print

Yi Kai Born in Changsha (1955), China, Yi Kai showed an affinity for art and drawing at an early age. But at 15, after completing middle school, he was drafted into the People’s Army in 1970 at the height of the Cultural Revolution. For 9 years he spent the remainder of his youth building railways in the countryside and creating art propaganda for the People’s Republic. In 1979 Yi Kai joined a pool of 4000 hopeful applicants, hoping to be one of the 35 students chosen to attend the Art Institute of the Army of China in Beijing. Not only did he get accepted but was ranked as the top applicant for his admission year. After 4 years of study, Yi Kai earned his BFA in traditional Chinese painting and stayed on at the institute for 2 years as an instructor. Though trained as a traditional artist, as China opened to the West in the late 1970’s and early 80’s, he became influenced by Western, and particularly American culture, that would become a hallmark of his future works. In 1985, Yi Kai returned to school earning his Masters in Fine Art from the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing. But shortly thereafter, a tide of change would sweep through China and change Yi Kai’s life in a dramatic turn. In the midst of a growing clamor for freedom of expression, thousands of students and supporters, Yi Kai included, marched in the summer of 1989 on Tiananmen Square. But when the government brutally cracked down on the protesters, killing unarmed civilians, Yi Kai knew it was time to leave. With the aid of the Midwest China Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he had been previously invited as a visiting artist, Yi Kai packed his paintings and set out for the United States. From his arrival at San Francisco in 1990, Yi Kai set out for Minneapolis where, though he only had a cursory knowledge of English, he gained a reputation as an innovative artist whose work bridged the cultural materialism and freedoms of America with the art and politics of his native China. For more than 20 years, Yi Kai developed his talents and style, migrating from the traditional paintings of his education in China to the abstract and colorful works that reflect the influence of American values that have reached all corners of the world. It is this constant evolution of creativity and freedom of expression that drive Yi Kai’s ever changing experiments in style and that has placed his work in numerous private, business and museum collections around the world.