Overview
The Young Artist Project of HEM will present Chinese artist Hou Yijie’s solo exhibition “The Pulse and the Pause” from August 15, 2026. Through a series of mixed-media works, Hou translates his fascination with martial arts, mythic tales, and pop culture into his practice, engaging in self-examination and social observation within his subject matter.
The passion and the solitude may appear as opposites, yet they are two sides of the same experience—within the most intense pulse lies a pause, within the deepest pause burns a pulse.
Hou Yijie’s paintings grow between these poles. Drawing from history, legend, myth, and martial arts fiction, while also incorporating anime, film, and literature, his works depict heroic vengeance and noble sacrifice. Yet these distant stories are never meant to be reenacted; allusions and figures are distilled into symbols, serving as fulcrums for amplifying extreme situations. Only in such dramatic scenarios do the elements diluted in daily life suddenly come into sharp focus.
Hou’s fervor never leads to triumph; even at its most intense, it reveals a sense of isolation. Beneath the surface lies a somber undertone—the solitude of the individual within an immense order, the fate of ideals destined to fail, and the silence left after all clamor subsides.
Underpinning this vision is the traditional spatial awareness. Hou carries forward the technique of scattered perspective, which represents a form of resistance to being constrained by a single viewpoint. This resonates with the “jianghu” spirit he is drawn to, as the essence of “jianghu” lies precisely in its denial of any absolute authority.
This freedom also permeates his brushwork. Lines are not for shaping forms, but for capturing spirit; color does not define volume or light, but instead expresses emotion. He deliberately retains crude, unbalanced “errors,” leaving traces of overlay and disruption exposed—a refusal to polish the picture into a finished product, allowing “unfinished” itself to become a form of completion.
The image thus moves beyond “representation” into the realm of imagery. Hou extracts symbolic archetypes from tradition, yet resolutely transcends it. Using an ancient language, he speaks of the struggles, choices, and loneliness of the contemporary individual within the established order.
Melancholy lurks within exuberant brushstrokes; stillness lies beneath vivid colors. Hou Yijie leaves all this on canvas, allowing every viewer to recognize, amidst the fervor of others, our shared solitary silence.
Exhibition Information
Title: Hou Yijie: The Pulse and the Pause
Dates: August 15 – November 15, 2026
Venue: He Art Museum
Opening Hours: Monday–Sunday, 10:00–18:00 Last admission at 17:30.
About HEM
Located in Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, He Art Museum (HEM) is a non-profit private art museum designed by Tadao Ando. HEM focuses on modern and contemporary culture and art with an international scope. As one of the first pet-friendly museums in China, HEM is dedicated to integrating art into the daily lives of community members, aiming to create an open and inclusive community art museum.
Follow He Art Museum
WeChat: 和美术馆 HEM Weibo: 和美术馆 HEM
Rednote: HEM 和美术馆 Instagram: @hemartmuseum
Website: http://hem.org/ Press Inquiries: press@hem.org
The passion and the solitude may appear as opposites, yet they are two sides of the same experience—within the most intense pulse lies a pause, within the deepest pause burns a pulse.
Hou Yijie’s paintings grow between these poles. Drawing from history, legend, myth, and martial arts fiction, while also incorporating anime, film, and literature, his works depict heroic vengeance and noble sacrifice. Yet these distant stories are never meant to be reenacted; allusions and figures are distilled into symbols, serving as fulcrums for amplifying extreme situations. Only in such dramatic scenarios do the elements diluted in daily life suddenly come into sharp focus.
Hou’s fervor never leads to triumph; even at its most intense, it reveals a sense of isolation. Beneath the surface lies a somber undertone—the solitude of the individual within an immense order, the fate of ideals destined to fail, and the silence left after all clamor subsides.
Underpinning this vision is the traditional spatial awareness. Hou carries forward the technique of scattered perspective, which represents a form of resistance to being constrained by a single viewpoint. This resonates with the “jianghu” spirit he is drawn to, as the essence of “jianghu” lies precisely in its denial of any absolute authority.
This freedom also permeates his brushwork. Lines are not for shaping forms, but for capturing spirit; color does not define volume or light, but instead expresses emotion. He deliberately retains crude, unbalanced “errors,” leaving traces of overlay and disruption exposed—a refusal to polish the picture into a finished product, allowing “unfinished” itself to become a form of completion.
The image thus moves beyond “representation” into the realm of imagery. Hou extracts symbolic archetypes from tradition, yet resolutely transcends it. Using an ancient language, he speaks of the struggles, choices, and loneliness of the contemporary individual within the established order.
Melancholy lurks within exuberant brushstrokes; stillness lies beneath vivid colors. Hou Yijie leaves all this on canvas, allowing every viewer to recognize, amidst the fervor of others, our shared solitary silence.
Exhibition Information
Title: Hou Yijie: The Pulse and the Pause
Dates: August 15 – November 15, 2026
Venue: He Art Museum
Opening Hours: Monday–Sunday, 10:00–18:00 Last admission at 17:30.
About HEM
Located in Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, He Art Museum (HEM) is a non-profit private art museum designed by Tadao Ando. HEM focuses on modern and contemporary culture and art with an international scope. As one of the first pet-friendly museums in China, HEM is dedicated to integrating art into the daily lives of community members, aiming to create an open and inclusive community art museum.
Follow He Art Museum
WeChat: 和美术馆 HEM Weibo: 和美术馆 HEM
Rednote: HEM 和美术馆 Instagram: @hemartmuseum
Website: http://hem.org/ Press Inquiries: press@hem.org