Ding Yi’s Venice retrospective traces three decades of cosmic abstraction
The Chinese artist's first solo exhibition in Venice since 1993 opens at Fondazione Querini Stampalia, bringing together decades of work alongside meditative stone steles that echo ancient ritual sites.
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The career of Ding Yi unfolds as a dialogue between order and infinity. For over three decades, the Chinese artist has refined a visual language built from tight, rhythmic lines that seem to pulse with their own energy, suggesting both the structure of code and the mysteries of the cosmos. Now, a major retrospective at Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice draws together new and historic works that trace this extraordinary evolution, marking his return to the city where his practice first entered the international conversation in 1993.
Curated by Alfredo Cramerotti and Auronda Scalera, ‘Cosmotechnics: Ding Yi as a Planetary Code’ anchors itself in an unexpected element: a series of stone steles that punctuate the exhibition like monuments to contemplation. These works recall ancient ritual sites scattered across China and Europe, introducing a physical, meditative dimension that grounds Ding Yi’s ethereal abstractions. The steles function as thresholds, inviting the viewer to pause between paintings, to sit with the work rather than simply pass through it. Lisson Gallery, which represents the artist, has supported this presentation alongside ShanghART Gallery.
The timing carries its own resonance. The exhibition coincides with the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, one of the world’s most significant contemporary art events. For Ding Yi, this moment represents a full circle: from his pioneering presence in Venice’s first major exhibition of Chinese contemporary art to his emergence as one of the most significant abstract artists of our time. His work has never simply absorbed Western abstraction; instead, it channels something distinctly rooted in his own visual culture, where the infinity of the spiritual meets the precision of the technological.
The exhibition remains on view through 22 November 2026 at Fondazione Querini Stampalia, located in the heart of Venice’s Santa Maria Formosa district.
Imagery courtesy of Lisson Gallery (@lisson_gallery).