A Few Ordinary Parallel Lines: Zhao Yao
Opening reception in the presence of the artist:
26 July 2025, 4 - 7 pm
Ota Fine Arts Singapore is delighted to present "A Few Ordinary Parallel Lines", a solo exhibition by Chinese artist Zhao Yao (b. 1981, Sichuan, China), marking his first solo presentation with Ota Fine Arts and in Singapore. This exhibition will feature 21 pieces from Zhao's A Few Ordinary Parallel Lines series (2022 - 2025) – small, intimate paintings that feature rows of predominantly white, off-white, or pale chromatic grey strips which span across their surfaces horizontally. Upon closer observation, one will realise that each row is made up of many small shards – these are in fact tiny pieces of eggshells.
Zhao Yao is an important Chinese conceptual artist of the 80s generation, and is most notably associated with his Spirit Above All series of works that brought him to Tibet. Between 2015 to 2017, Zhao had affixed a 10,000 square metres painting atop a mountain on the Tibetan plateau. This same painting would later travel to the iconic Beijing Worker's Stadium in 2018 to be presented for one day. While Zhao is known for such large-scale installation acts, he now works on a more reduced scale and volume, threading the lines between finesse and simplicity. Taking ordinary everyday materials, he reinvents them into seemingly unfamiliar yet thought-filled objects that are made with implicit rules and protocols.
Zhao began working on the A Few Ordinary Parallel Lines series of works in 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. To make these works, he had sourced eggs from various regions in China. The eggs were then meticulously cracked open through intensive labour; their shells carefully and systematically unfolded and then affixed onto linen of equivalent size. Based on the Yolk Colour Chart (a type of egg quality evaluation tool), the nutritional values of each of these eggs were recorded, and the numbers are subsequently indicated on the back of the painting using carbon paper. By presenting the subtle changes within the material itself – the varying white shades from inside the eggshells and the lines formed by the gaps between the eggshell pieces – Zhao constructs a visual experience related to reading.
In addition to the paintings, the exhibition will also feature reproductions of 11 journals dated 2022.09.27 to 2023.06.15, in which Zhao religiously recorded his creative process, as well as his reflections on the conceptual, emotional and visual aspects of the work.
"A Few Ordinary Parallel Lines" comes from Zhao's reflections on all kinds of life circumstances during the extreme environment he experienced. Through everyday, monotonous, and continuous work, the artist attempts to present the fragility, insignificance, and distinctiveness of life in a seemingly ordinary way.
Ota Fine Arts Singapore invites all to experience the unique views of Zhao Yao and reflect on the themes present in his works.
