Bai Yi, born in Qingdao City, Shandong Province in November 1965, began his exploration of the world of art in the 1980s. He consecutively studied at the Department of Sculpture of China Academy of Art, the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, the School of Landscape Architecture of Beijing Forestry University and the University of Texas. Through dedication and a love of what he does, he has become a highly-accomplished artist.
Bai has long committed himself to urban planning and design, garden landscaping and city sculpture, as well as traditional Chinese painting. He has completed nearly 100 planning projects and garden landscape designs and created more than 300 sculptures for cities throughout China. In 2005, he was cited by the Chinese Ministry of Construction as being one of the Renowned Architects of Contemporary China.
In practicing his art, Bai has remained dedicated to the philosophy of "Infinite art and great landscapes," as well as what he sees as the artists' responsibility to society. His painting, Brothers Resisting Japanese Aggression, depicts a spectacular scene: When the Chinese nation faced its greatest challenge, when Japanese invaders trampled on the land of China and humiliated the dignity of Chinese people, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang, sharing the same national blood, joined hands to resist their common enemy, together writing the most resplendent page in the annals of the nation.
The painting is now among the collections of the Memorial Hall to the War of Chinese Resistance Against Japan. In April 2005, a large-format photo of the painting was presented as a gift to Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan during his visit to the Chinese mainland. His landscape painting, The Sea, is currently held in the collection of the China Art Institute. In addition, many of his pieces have been collected by galleries and museums both in China and abroad.
Major works of Bai Yi:
1. Lovers (1989), an aluminum-alloy sculpture, known as China's first relief sculpture in the form of a comic strip, garnered an award at the 7th National Exhibition of Fine Arts.
2. Mother (1989), a bronze sculpture, the first sculptural work of ultra-realistic style in China.
3. Xu Fu's Voyage to the East (1994), a granite sculpture in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, known as the first group sculptures carved on a single rock in contemporary China.
4. Exploring the World, a colored steel sculpture, has become a landmark cityscape in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.
5. The planning project of Baisha Park in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.
6. Saying Farewell in Sanjiang, a group of bronze sculptures in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.
7. The planning and design of the enlargement project of the Cemetery of Martyrs in the Liberation of the Yijiangshan Island in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province.
8. The planning and design of Development Park at the Jinhua Economic and Hi-Tech Development Zone, Zhejiang Province.
9. The landscape planning and design at the entrance to the Jiangdong Industrial Park in Xiaoshan District of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province.
10. The landscape design of the Commanding and Administrative Center of the Hangzhou Bay Cross-Sea Bridge.
11. The landscape planning and design of the Liubaipian Riverside Lawns in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province.
(China Pictorial November 10, 2005)
