Yu Hong’s apocalyptic visions arrive at Lisson New York

Yu Hong constructs her paintings like someone channelling the narrative weight of classical European altarpieces through a fiercely contemporary sensibility. Her figures float on clouds, climb vertiginous mountains and walk through flames as if descending into hell, each moment weighted with the ecstasies and tribulations of existence. The brushwork is sweeping, the corporeal intensity heightened, yet what distinguishes her work is the deeply personal element woven through these epic scenes: her protagonists are drawn from life, portrainers of friends, acquaintances and family members caught in moments of vulnerability, endurance and mutual dependence.

For her debut exhibition at Lisson New York, opening in November, Yu Hong presents new and recent works that extend this touching, allegorical approach. Anchored by a suite of major large scale compositions, the show includes newly completed multi panel works inspired by the architectural language of altarpieces, alongside selected mid and small scale paintings. The effect is one of immersion into her fantastical worlds, yet worlds that feel grounded in recognisable human experience and emotion.

As a painter of both epic and intimate moments, Yu Hong constructs modern day fables through her complex allegorical language. Her practice unfolds in long cycles, with paintings developed over extended periods, creating sequences that accumulate meaning and resonance. The works on view reveal how she moves between the monumental and the personal, between allegory and autobiography, creating visual narratives that speak to the profound ways in which we endure, connect and exist together in uncertain times.

Field of Asura opens at Lisson New York on 4 November 2026 and runs through 7 January 2027.

Imagery courtesy of Lisson Gallery (@lisson_gallery).