Chen Yifei (1946-2005) hailed from Zhenhai, Zhejiang
Province. In 1965, he graduated from the Shanghai Art Training School.
In the years following, he specialized in oil painting. Chen studied in
the United States in 1981.
The painting above, in which Wei Jingshan
participated, initially met with serious criticism. In the eyes of the
critics, the depiction of the tired soldiers, with their soiled and
torn uniforms, was harmful for the splendid image of the People's Liberation Army.
The fact that it has been included in the collection of the Museum of
the Chinese Revolutionary Army is an indication of its later
acceptance.
In 1999, Chen launched a clothing brand named Layefe. A year later, he
set up two homeware outlets in Shanghai, called Layefe Home. At the
same time, he also acted as manager for several successful Chinese
fashion models. As a result of this, he was invited to become the art
designer for China's thickest fashion magazine, sponsored by the China Youth Magazine under the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. The first issue of monthly Vision Magazine,
carrying articles on art, fashion, cosmetics and technology, was
published in December 2001. The glossy's inaugural issue, weighing two
kilograms and numbering more than 400 pages, had a circulation of
100,000 in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Sources:
"China's Thickest Fashion Magazine Debuts", People's Daily (19 September 2001)
Desiree Au, "Wealth of ideas", South China Morning Post (31 January 2002)
Crystyl Mo, "Breaking out the Fine China" Asiaweek.com (2 November 2001)
Michael Sullivan, Modern Chinese Artists -- A Biographical Dictionary (Berkeley, etc:
University of California Press, 2006)
Zhongguo meishuguan (ed.), 中国美术年鉴 1949-1989 (Guilin: Guangxi meishu chubanshe, 1993)
External Link:
Yifei Company (with Chen's biography, paintings, designs, and models' catalogue)
Return to Artists & Designers
s.r.landsberger@let.leidenuniv.nl
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International Institute of Social History