Untitled, by You Tao
Bay College announces an exhibition, You Tao, Artist and Painter, in the Hartwig Gallery on the Escanaba campus. Join us for the talk and reception on Tuesday November 24, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. The exhibition will be on display from October-December 2026. This event is free and open to the public.
Bio
Born in 1957 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province in the Peoples Republic of China, Mr. You
graduated from the Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts. While there, he studied oil painting.
After graduation, he began to study traditional Chinese painting as well as folk art.
At this time, he discovered many similarities between these various forms of art.
Now, he constantly experiments with various methods of creation, attempting to combine
Eastern and Western styles into something modern and different. And he has succeeded
in a magnificent way.
Artist Statement
To absorb the visions presented by You Tao means entering a dense environment that
draws on a deep inventory of Asian imagery and motifs that have been leavened with
Western influences. The results can range from primitive structuralism to distorted
elegance, from cacophonous narrative to fluid surrealism. A casualness of line often
works as a subtle guide to the tableau You Tao lays before the viewer, a pathway that
may begin as a dominant wide-eyed face or fleshy nude and then swirls into a surprisingly
dimensional arrangement of subordinate figures or graphic embellishments.
That so much physicality can be captured in the line of You Tao's pen surprises after an initial impression of childlike doodling. The sense of wonder that is provided by the latter becomes anchored by the former, so that what seems a light confection at first glance begins to take on substance as the image settles its whole weight in the eyes. Whether mythic, historic or simply fantastic, the tales recounted by the pictures carry a decidedly human resonance. Even when the faces are grim, the artist seems to have brought a celebratory sensibility to his depiction.
The reasons for celebration may remain vague, just as many a dream leaves striking mental images without a clue to their purpose, but the viewer can posit in either case. What will not fade like a dream is the vitality of You Tao's images.
Artist statement provided by Jeff Eaton Chengdu, Sichuan, PRC April 1993.
About the Bay College Art and Design Program and Gallery Spaces
The Art and Design program at Bay College is designed to provide students with a strong general education background
as well as concentration in art and design. This program is designed for students
who wish to transfer to a four-year college or university. The school, through the
Besse Gallery and Hartwig Gallery, also provides students with exposure to exhibitions,
visiting artists, and artist talk’s exemplifying the cultural breadth of the visual
arts from national, regional, and local sources, including the College's permanent
art collection. Studios include professional facilities and equipment in Photography,
Digital Cinema, Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Performance Art, and Installation Art.
About Bay College
Bay College is the community’s college with a mission of: Student Success, Community
Success. Culture of Success. Bay is devoted to each individual’s achievement in the
classroom, on-campus, online, in the community and into the workforce by providing certificates and associate degrees, transfer credits to universities, and workforce training programs which develop skillsets and advance careers. #BayIsTheWay