Yu Guo

Yu Guo 

LAYERED VIEWS

The exhibition, titled “Layered Views”, attempts to use an imprecise method to summarize both the themes addressed in Yu Guo’s image experiments and his creative techniques. Many of Yu Guo’s works focus on capturing the observation and comprehensive perception of subjects within specific geographical spaces, accompanied by the unfolding of narratives to further analyze their origins. That is, mapping the unseen layered realities behind these physical spaces, such as the subject’s emotional memories, conceptual projections, media environments, and even the historical remains, power mechanisms, and operations of ideological discourses. Yu Guo’s works often conclude in a manner that is open but encourages reflection, showcasing his humanitarian concerns.

By portraying the visible landscape and unveiling the unseen layers beneath, the work transcends conventional documentation of “localized” experiences and regional ethnographic narratives. It embodies elements of archaeology of knowledge and human geography studies, potentially engaging the audience more profoundly, and unlocking the insights of subjects deeply rooted beneath the surface.

The exhibited works, South Park (2015), Enchantment (2019), and Watershed (2023), illustrate the evolution of “layered views” in the artist’s conceptual and practical approach. South Park uniquely blends the day and night of a locale into a singular linear timeline, showcasing Yu Guo’s early exploration of spatial multi-dimensionality through film, acting as a time editor. The narrative suggests that our reality could be a blend of overlapping timelines, a concept Yu Guo seeks to visualize. By Enchantment, he evolves a storytelling technique, unveiling different spatial perception layers through fictional characters’ dialogic voiceovers. This phase also highlights technology’s subtle influence on modern alienation, encapsulated by the term “Enchantment.” Yu Guo’s distinct narrative syntax emerges here, mirrored in the camera’s external capture and the narrator’s self-reflection. Yu Guo’s later gaze at the vaster geographical spaces usually means his exploration of the more spiritual and humanistic space layers. His latest works, epitomized by Watershed, a transition from merely unveiling layered realities to actively engaging with reality, embodying a new “viewing platform” to explore urban past and present through innovative media-driven perception methods.

Text by Yao Siqing

ARTIST: Yu Guo

Yu Guo is an artist currently living and working in Chongqing. He graduated from the Department of Oil Painting of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2016. His works involve various mediums such as painting, video and writing. His recent works involve the interweaving of images and texts.

CURATOR: Yao Siqing

She studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (MA in Art History) and the Department of Chinese at Sun Yat-sen University (PhD in Modern Literature). She is now an independent scholar and curator based in Beijing. Her recent focus is on History of Material Culture and Media Studies. She tends to work with artists from different intellectual backgrounds, and looks forward to fostering a new sensual experience that connects and creatively transforms classical and early modern Chinese cultural resources in a global context.