Yan Pei-Ming's 'Wild Game' at Massimo De Carlo, Milan

Yan Pei-Ming's exhibition 'Wild Game' at Massimo De Carlo's Casa Corbellini-Wasserman in Milan features 16 large-scale paintings created in 2022, all site-specific to the rationalist house by Piero Portaluppi. The works, on view until April 2, 2022, mark a departure from his signature black-and-white palette, incorporating vivid greens and yellows that echo the marble veins of the building's fireplaces. The show includes a tiger descending a mountain (symbol of the new lunar year), a crucified ox carcass, a portrait of Pope Innocent X referencing Velázquez, and a surprise portrait of gallerist Massimo De Carlo. Ming, who works primarily in Dijon but travels between Paris and Shanghai, describes the space as inspiring, noting the bathroom's beauty. He reflects on his career: known for monochrome works, he enjoys betraying expectations. The exhibition also touches on themes of war and pandemic, with Ming commenting on human conflict and the weight on civilian victims. His earlier subjects—Mao, Obama, Bruce Lee, self-portraits with masks—are referenced, but here the focus is on nature reclaiming space. The tiger's green matches the fireplace, creating a dialogue between painting and architecture.