Hover 1997

Editor: Here we have Yu Youhan’s “Hover,” created in 1997 with acrylic paint. I find its abstract composition quite striking. The figures seem suspended, almost like memories. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The hovering figures resonate deeply, don’t they? Yu Youhan often incorporates symbolic imagery, drawing from diverse cultural references. This floating sensation, in particular, speaks to the transient nature of experience and memory, a core element of post-Cultural Revolution art in China. Editor: I hadn't considered that. So the floating figures relate to the Cultural Revolution? Curator: In a way. Notice how these figures lack specific cultural markers? They become universal symbols of humanity, dislocated from a fixed historical narrative yet deeply informed by the trauma of history. Does the background colour palette speak to any symbolic association for you? Editor: It almost feels dreamlike… ethereal, even. Maybe it is about escaping some kind of memory, a painful one. Curator: Precisely. It creates an atmosphere of detached contemplation, urging us to consider the psychological weight of history. We’re not simply viewing figures in a painting; we’re encountering fragments of cultural memory. Editor: I see it now! The visual vocabulary blends abstraction and figuration, echoing the fragmented experience of that historical period. I thought it was 'just' floating figures! Curator: It reveals how images, even in abstraction, hold echoes of historical moments, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Absolutely. It shows me to consider the weight behind artistic expression.