In the artist's own words and staying true to this claim, Huang Yuxing’s River sweeps viewers away with its wave of vibrant neon hues, ushering one deep into a psychedelic cosmos where the fine boundaries between abstract hallucinations and physical reality become obscured. The distorted landscape is divided into two halves, characterised by the perpendicular directions in which the seemingly endless myriad of curves travel. The lines that run vertically form a thick frequency of undulating contours, meandering theatrically across the canvas like a fantastical river plunging endlessly into the distance. The bottom half of the piece is dominated by a seemingly infinite sea of ellipses, supposedly depicting river eddies stretching across the broad horizon. Each ellipse is imbued with a distinct chasmic quality, with their gaping centres enclosed by halos of radiant light. The serenity and stillness of the ellipses are immediately juxtaposed against volatile nature of the overriding undulations. The whole piece is ultimately tied together by its explosive range of colours, with fluorescent tones of yellow, pink and purple competing for the spotlight, creating a shimmering mirage of luminous refractions. By repeatedly stacking colours and brushstrokes, Huang successfully marries techniques from traditional Chinese gongbi paintings with an electrifying modern palette, resulting in a truly ethereal visual experience.

River is a series of paintings that embodies the artist’s reflection on t.mes and life, as Huang has once stated that “the river is one of my (Huang’s) favourite subjects; it defines the shape of t.mes in my mind’s eye”. The fluidity of t.mes is shown in the seamless hydraulic movement depicted across the canvas, drawing a comparison between the continuous journey of the river and the infinitude of t.mes . Water is chosen as a subject to conceptualise the metamorphosis of t.mes due to its formless and boundless properties, allowing it to continuously fluctuate between contrasting states of tranquil serenity and frenetic flurries.

Born in 1975, Huang Yuxing has never shied away from using bold, spirited colours as a medium to implement his personal style of expressionism. The acclaimed Chinese contemporary artist grew up in China following the wake of the cultural revolution, where he obtained first-hand exposure to the social and sexual liberation that unfolded in the eighties and nineties – an emotional eruption that has whittled its way into Huang Yuxing’s deeply expressive ouevre. Having graduated from the Central Academy of Replica Handbags s with a degree in mural painting in 2000, he currently lives and works in Beijing. Huang embraces his Chinese heritage in his works and applies his own personal twist, infusing depictions of natural scenes commonly found in traditional Chinese art with striking neon tones and bold elements of abstraction.

黃宇興曾言：「熒光是我們這一代人的代表色。它如此生氣盎然，色譜上沒有任何一種顏色可以比擬。熒光具有獨特的涵義，彷如一股長期受壓後併發而出的強大活力。」一如藝術家本人所言，《河流》以充滿活力的燦爛熒光色彩，模糊了抽象幻影與客觀現實之間的細微分野，引導觀者全心投入畫中的迷幻宇宙。畫面上的曲線圖案看似沿著互相垂直的方向緩緩流動，將畫幅分成上下兩邊，呈現一片波瀾壯闊的景觀。畫面上半邊的縱向線條緊密排列，形成此起彼伏的輪廓，在畫幅上蜿蜒而過，猶如一條魔幻之河，朝著遠方奔流而去。畫面下半邊則佈滿了大大小小的橢圓形，應為河流上的渦流，在遼闊的畫面上形成一片無邊無際的汪洋。這些橢圓形圖案中央呈開口狀，外部圍繞著絢爛的光芒，猶如一個個神秘的深壑；它們散發的幽靜氣氛，與氣勢澎湃的波浪圖案形成強烈對比。絢麗多變的色彩貫穿整個畫幅，令畫面渾然一體，耀目的黃色、粉紅色與紫色彼此爭艷，成就一片流光溢彩的輝煌蜃景。黃宇興不斷堆疊顏料與筆觸，成功結合傳統中國工筆繪畫技法和矚目亮眼的現代構圖，為觀者創造離塵脫俗的視覺體驗。

《河流》系列訴說黃宇興對時間及生命的反思，正如藝術家本人所言：「河流是我非常喜愛的主題，它代表了我心目中的『時間』的形態」。黃宇興藉著畫面上延綿起伏的液態圖像，將川流不息的河水與無垠的時間互相對照，彰顯出時間的流動性。水意萬象，無形亦無限——藝術家以流水比喻光陰的變幻無常，時而和諧安寧，時而波瀾起伏。

黃宇興生於1975年，向來無懼採用大膽生動的鮮豔色彩，創造充滿個人特色的表現主義風格作品。這位備受推崇的中國當代藝術家在文化大革命結束後的新時代中成長，親身經歷了八、九十年代的社會開放與性解放運動；這種澎湃的思想情感，逐漸滲入他筆下充滿表現力的作品中。黃宇興在2000年畢業於中央美術學院壁畫系，現於北京居住及工作。他的作品糅合傳統中國藝術常見的自然景觀、矚目的熒光色彩與大膽的抽象元素，成功融匯傳統中國文化精髓，展現出獨一無二的個人風格。