Untaggable - Yun Ke Solo Exhibition

As pack animals by nature, being “tagged” on social media is the modern day equivalent of a tribal initiation. It signals to others the places we roam, the herd we choose to break bread with, and the social status we wish to occupy. Therefore, being seen as “Untaggable” is the ultimate cardinal sin against a Chinese culture hungry for affirmation, a label reserved for the lowest rung of the contemporary caste system. Yet, in this lonely environment inhabited by social pariahs and outcasts there emerges another sort of creature, the artist.

In his upcoming solo exhibition at IPF Gallery, 27-year-old oil-painter Ke Yun has learned to channel intense feelings of loneliness through his paint brush, producing works of art that evoke the dark nature of solitude in a culture obsessed with connection. With paintings reminiscent of surrealist master Salvador Dalí and tortured English painter Francis Bacon, Ke Yun is not afraid to be Untaggable, in fact, he embraces it. With a long leather jacket, patterned vest, and hair set tight in a ponytail, Ke Yun is a walking embodiment of his own work, gloomy and refined. When we first meet, he reaches out to shake my hand with fingers full of silver skulls and urges, “Please, call me Giuseppe.”