Coinciding with painter Yu Hong’s first London solo exhibition at Lisson Gallery, this publication expands on a series of works inspired by Arnold Böcklin’s ‘Isle of the Dead’,* first shown in the exhibition ‘Night Walks’ at SCAD Museum of Art, USA, in 2023.

Hong is a painter of epic scenes, and these works weave together the artists personal experiences and memories with significant collective shifts in contemporary China. Focusing on the concept of psychological landscapes, each painting embodies an emotion or experience, framed by deep, swirling water and dramatic skies.

These scenes are presented as straight-shot installation photography and intimate moments of closely cropped details – as seen on the front cover where an impactful frame sits to the top right of the page, inlaid into the hardback board and carrying the motion of the striking wave.

The hardback book opens up to reveal two sections: the main book block on the left and a pocket on the right containing a booklet of sketches, and three concertinas of the largest works.

Coloured materials reference the bright, warm and complex tones found within the paintings. Mixing up several recycled stocks to create a palette that shifts as you read through the book, juxtaposed with bright blue or red printed typography.

A mixture of warm uncoated papers for the text pages, and smooth, matt coated stocks for the imagery also helps to create a tactile differentiation between sections.

The booklet of loose, preparatory sketches reveals a glimpse of Yu’s process in creating the main works. Printed on the warm, uncoated ‘text’ paper, to show that they are works-in-progress, whilst still retaining the bold colouring found in the final pieces.

The pocket also contains three throw-outs, celebrating the largest scenes by printing them at a 1:10 scale, revealing much more detail than is possible in the main layout. Creating prints that can also be removed from the main narrative of the book.