石至莹, Reliquary 金筐宝钿珍珠装碔玞石宝函, 2013. Oil on canvas; 20 1/8 x 16 3/16 in. (52 x 42 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

NEW YORK - James Cohan Gallery is pleased to present The Relics, Shi Zhiying’s first exhibition in the United States, opening on Thursday, June 20th. SHI ZHIYING has become well known in her native China for stark monochromatic paintings of uniform vistas — open water, Zen sand gardens, carpets of grass — that flood the viewer’s field of vision. Her fluent observational painting embodies, and promotes, intense reflections on individuality and the passage of time. “Some things haven’t changed, from the distant past all the way to the present and the future,” the artist states. “They are things which everyone possesses.” The Relics debuts large-scale paintings of decorative and religious relief carvings and intimate portraits of antique vessels.

The monumental paintings of eroded carved stone capture an immeasurably slow but consistent transfer between physical presence, flatness and nothingness. Inspired by the artist’s travels in China, Cambodia and India, her chosen subjects have been softened by hands and the environment, and riven with the small surface imperfections of age. Carefully rendering these weathered reliefs, Shi’s depictions of ancient artworks intimate the spirit of the imagery that has endured for hundreds of years.

A complementary suite of paintings depicting isolated historical vessels suggests a collective cultural worth and the way meaning resonates through time. Ritual objects for domestic use such as reliquary boxes, chalices and bowls captured in lush black and white, cease to hold their original practical meaning as one now encounters them: behind glass, as artifacts in museums. Viewed out of context and through a modern lens, these once every day, functional objects have new significance. No longer useful, they contain a vacancy charged with past and present—an experience Zhiying believes is shared. “I wish to face things quietly, attentively” the artist has stated, “I treat painting [and objects] sincerely; I am communicating with them…” Her paintings turn these vessels into small monuments — monuments to usefulness and its reverse, emptiness, as well as the humanity we breathe into the objects of our world.

SHI ZHIYING (born in Shanghai, 1979) graduated from the Oil Painting Department, Shanghai University Fine Arts College. In 2009, the artist was the subject of a major solo exhibition entitled From The Pacific Ocean to the High Seas at the Ullens Center of Contemporary Art in Beijing. Her work has been featured in distinguished group exhibitions including Reactivation- the 9th Shanghai Biennale at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, N Minutes Video Art Festival, Shanghai, Decade of the Rabbit, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, and DAS ICH IM ANDEREN, Stiftung Mercator, Essen, in 2011; Double Act – 2010 Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Red Town Warehouse, Shanghai, and Centennial Celebration of Women in Art, Shanghai Art Museum, in 2010; and in solo exhibitions at James Cohan Gallery, Shanghai, in 2012, and White Space, Beijing, in 2010 and 2013. She currently lives and works in Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Cave of Ten Thousand Buddhas 万佛洞壁, 2013. Oil on canvas; 94 3/16 x 70 5/16 in. (240 x 180 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Rock Carving of Thousand Buddhas 千佛石刻, 2013. Oil on canvas; 94 3/16 x 70 5/16 in. (240 x 180 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹,  Blue and White Porcelain Bowl with Arabic Inscription 青花阿拉伯纹碗, 2013. Oil on canvas; 16 3/16 x 20 1/8 in. (42 x 52 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Dong Ujimqin Qi Stone Iron Mesosiderite 东乌旗中铁陨石, 2013. Oil on canvas; 39 1/8 x 39 1/8 in. (100 x 100 cm)  © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Shadowy-Blue Porcelain Dish 景德镇影青盘, 2013.Oil on canvas; 16 3/16 x 20 1/8 in. (42 x 52 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Stem Cup with Lotus Medallions 斗彩团莲纹高足杯, 2013. Oil on canvas; 20 1/8 x 16 3/16 in. (52 x 42 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Black-Glazed Tray with Oil-Drop Pattern 黑釉油滴盏, 2013. Oil on canvas; 16 3/16 x 20 1/8 in. (42 x 52 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Stone Tablet in Xi’an Beilin Museum 西安碑林博物馆碑刻, 2013. Oil on canvas; 15 1/4 x 11 5/16 in. (40 x 30 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Egg-white Glazed Porcelain Bowl 卵白釉碗, 2013. Oil on canvas; 15 1/4 x 19 1/4 in. (40 x 50 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Bricks from Qin Dynasty 秦砖, 2013. Watercolor on paper; 12 1/16 x 16 in. (31 x 41 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.

Shi Zhiying 石至莹, Restoration of Terra-cotta Warriors 兵马俑碎片修复, 2013. Watercolor on paper; 12 1/16 x 16 in. (31 x 41 cm) © The Artist / Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York/Shanghai.