The Mendocino College Art Gallery is honored to present “Urban Introversion,” an exhibition of large-scale drawings, paintings and prints by internationally recognized academic realist Yu Ji. The artist is also a mentor and friend of Gallery Director Jazzminh Moore.
Jazzminh had just finished her BFA in Drawing and Painting at Cornish College of the Arts when she signed up to assist during a one-week workshop with Yu Ji in Seattle. Though her job was to set up supplies for the class, she was allowed to participate like a student while the class was in session.
“I learned more in those four days with Yu Ji than I had learned in my entire four years taking figure drawing and painting classes in art school,” Jazzminh says. “The way Yu Ji explained how to mix and use colors that are subtly different from each other to get accuracy made so much sense to me. He had a very accessible way of explaining complex things.”
“I wanted more.” Jazzminh continues. “I dropped everything and moved two states away to attend Cal State Long Beach just so I could study with Yu Ji. I originally thought studying in Long Beach would be a stepping stone to a bigger city experience, but the program was so strong that I stayed to complete my MFA there.”
Jazzminh says that she was lucky enough to get to know Yu Ji pretty well. “He’s a wonderful person,” she says. “You can see that in the humanity in his figures. He paints REAL people, people who aren’t usually seen. He doesn’t idealize or homogenize them. He captures a sense of urban America in a way that is immediate and compassionate. His work has soul.”
Ink sketch by Yu Ji (Contributed)One of the most compelling aspects of this college show is that Jazzminh chose to include a large number of the artist’s sketches in addition to the finished works. She did this so viewers can appreciate the way Yu Ji sees and interprets the world around him. Each little pen sketch captures a pose, a mood, an attitude that is unique to the subject in that moment. Yu Ji is sketching what he feels as much as what he sees.
Jazzminh explains that Yu Ji takes these tiny pen studies from his sketch book, composes them on larger canvasses and invents the light and setting to create his larger paintings and charcoal drawings… all without any photographic reference. “Yu Ji is such a master,” Jazzminh says, “that he can keep the sense of intimacy and immediacy from his sketches, as well as depict consistent lighting and form to hold the whole composition of multiple people in an invented setting together.”
Ink sketch by Yu Ji (Contributed)“It is so satisfying for me to be offering Mendo College art students some of the magic that I learned from Yu Ji,” Jazzminh says. “It came full circle now that I’m an art educator who can introduce his work to a whole new generation of students. I’m beyond honored to now be presenting his work to our students and community.”
Also featured in the exhibition is Lost in Transection, a collaborative video installation by Joe Ren, Assistant Professor of Digital Media at California State University, Bakersfield. Ren’s work merges Yu Ji’s figurative imagery with contemporary symbols of American urban culture, creating a hybrid visual dialogue between drawing, print and video.
Urban Introversion is open to all members of the public free of charge at the Mendocino College Art Gallery through Sept. 28. The gallery will then transition into a two-person show including more of Joe Ren’s digital prints, through Oct. 26.
The gallery is in the Center Theatre Lobby of Mendocino College, located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah.
Regular gallery hours are Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:30-3:30 p.m. and Wednesdays 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., and by appointment.
There will be an opening reception with hors d’oeuvres provided by the college Culinary Arts program on Thursday, Sept. 4 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. The gallery is open for most performances in the Center Theatre, including the Ukiah Symphony on Sept. 13 and 14, both before the performance and at intermission.
There is one additional opportunity to get to know Yu Ji better. He will give a Visiting Artist Lecture on Monday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. in CVPA Room #5380 (across from the painting studio).
For community members who are interested, there is a new section of Drawing Fundamentals (Art 210A) with instructor Pauline Harper at the college on Tuesday/Thursday at 9:30 a.m., starting on Aug 26. This is a late start, for-credit class that will be held at the same time as the Drawing for Older Adults class, and it’s not too late to sign up.
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