Gow Langsford Gallery welcomes Berlin-based artist

Yafeng Duan joins Tāmaki-makau-rau/Auckland Gallery.

Words: Erin Irwin

It has been announced that Berlin-based artist Yafeng Duan will now be represented by Tāmaki-makau-rau/Auckland’s Gow Langsford Gallery ahead of a solo show with the gallery scheduled for later this year. The artist is well known internationally for her abstract works, her practice drawing together Western principles of abstraction and traditional Chinese ink painting.

Duan originally studied ink painting at the Central Academy for Fine Arts in Beijing, having been exposed to the beauty of the art form from a young age through her father Duan Xinran, an accomplished artist in the discipline. After studying at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences and the Bauhaus University Weimar in Germany, the artist began to work in a unique style that combined her broad range of training. Duan’s practice utilises evocative mark-making and the spontaneous application of colour to capture the intangible, meditating on darkness, light, and flow.

“She is a remarkable artist”, says gallery Director Gary Langsford, “her work draws on themes that make them instantly recognisable, yet they are unlike anything else”.

Duan has been presented at a number of exhibitions across Germany and China, including at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, Galerie Michael Janssen in Berlin, Neues Museum in Weimar, Galerie Rothamel in Erfurt, Alexander Ochs Private Berlin, and Hebei Museum in Shijiazhuang. Her work has yet to be shown in Aotearoa/New Zealand, so collectors should keep their eyes on Gow Langsford Gallery’s Onehunga space.

This article was posted 15 July 2024.

Image: Yafeng Duan in her studio. Courtesy: the artist and Gow Langsford Gallery, Tāmaki-makau-rau/Auckland.

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