Shanghai Daily news

His art is accessible but he is hard to find. Wang Jie talks with Ding Yi about life on Moganshan Road.

Contemporary artist Ding Yi at his spacious studio on Moganshan Road.— Wang Rongjiang

Three years ago, artist Ding Yi moved his studio to No. 50 Moganshan Road.
His reason for the move was simple: "To find a bigger space in the downtown area with a cheap rent," says Ding, 43.
The 250-square-meter studio hidden in the labyrinth leading to No. 50 Moganshan Road is very difficult to find. And when the occasional visitor foes get there, they will find the door firmly closed.
"I don't like disturbance from the outside," Ding confesses. "There are too many visitors who want to come but without an accurate address, only my closest friends can find me here." Several huge, brilliantly hued "check-cross" canvases are hanging on a white wall giving the studio a weird aura because the contemporary art contrasts sharply with the shabby wooden ceiling and the jumble of ancient furniture around the place.
"My wife operates an old furniture business," Ding explains. "After all, this warehouse is spacious enough."
However, it's the annoying mosquitoes and flies that trouble Ding the most when he is at work.
"However, I have my own solution," Ding says happily. "See this huge industrial fan. It is the best way to drive them away."
Ding rose to fame with his "check-cross" canvases in the late 1980s. He is one of the few contemporary artists in Shanghai who is financially able to do whatever he likes—which means he is experimenting with other art forms.
"Yes, I prefer to practice in other media, like installation or sculpture," he says.
Talking about the character of Moganshan Road—a factory and warehouse area that has become home to artists in recent years, Ding says with a smile: "The landlord ought to be grateful to the artists. When we first came here, its fixed assets (the old buildings) were worth only 3 million yuan (US$370,000), but now they're said to have hit 400 million yuan."
And that brings Ding something to worry about: Will the landlord ask for a higher rent when his current lease expires next year? But until then, just try your luck in looking for Ding and his hard-to-find studio.

Ding Yi
1962 Born in Shanghai
1983 Graduated from Shanghai Arts and Crafts Institute
1990 Graduated from Fine Arts Department, Shanghai University
1999 "Not a Chinese Show," Gate Foundation Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2001 Artist in Residence, Kuenstlerhauser Worpswede, Germany
2002 "Appearance of Crosses" exhibition, Berlin, Germany
2003 "Appearance of Crosses" exhibition, Luzern, Switzerland