Yu Ji

Yu Ji is a graduate of Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Art. He received his MFA in painting in 1986, and in printmaking in 1989, from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He was a recipient of the La Napoule scholarship (1985 France and 1986 New Hampshire), and the Charles H. Revson fellowship (1986-87, New York Studio School). As a studio painter, Yu Ji was influenced by both contemporary American figurative painters and formalist artists. His work concentrates on using a figurative approach of painted form to explore images of contemporary urban life. He received grants from the Utah Arts Council, Illinois Arts Council, and Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation for his urban studies, and has exhibited in Beijing, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. Yu Ji’s university teaching experience includes the Central Academy of Fine Art, Southern Utah University, and Eastern Illinois University.

Personal Website:

MFA in Printmaking, State University of New York at New Paltz (1989)
MFA in Drawing/Painting, State University of New York at New Paltz (1986)
Post-Graduate Study at New York Studio School, New York (1986-1987)
BFA, Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing (1981)

Drawing Disarray in the permanent collections of the Chinese Art Institute of Oil Painting, Beijing, China (2016)
Portrait Commission of Mr. Lawrence Lau for Permanent collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China (2014)
Receiving the Beverly G Alway Artist Grant, Palo Verde Art Center (2012)
The Best in Show, the 32 Bradley International Exhibition, Bradley University, Peoria, IL (2009)
Portrait of Sir James Mirrless in permanent collection at Scottish National Portrait gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (2007)
Painting Street Corner shown in Representing LA: Pictorial Currents in Contemporary Southern California Art, The Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA (2000)
The John McKee Memorial Award, 44 International Juried Exhibition, San Diego Art Institute, CA (2000)
Article Re-inventing the Figure, American Artist, January (2000)
The Joseph Harley Memorial Award, Salmagundi club, New York, NY (1996)
Faculty Research Award, Eastern Illinois University, (1996)
Studio Space Grant, Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation, New York, New York (1994)
Revson Fellowship, New York Studio School (1986-1987)
La Napoule Art Foundation scholarships in La Lapoule, France (1985) and at University of New Hampshire (1986)

Drawings and paintings shown in national and solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Salt Lake City in the United States, and in Guangzhou, Tianjin and Beijing in China (1990-2020)

Visiting Artist to Art Schools that include The Ryman Young Artist Program in Los Angeles, Southern Illinois University, Lamar University in Texas, BIOLA University and SOKA University in Southern California, Oklahoma State University, Buffalo State College of New York, University of Wisconsin Whitewater, University of Minnesota Moorhead; Beijing Normal University, Tsinghua University, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, and Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts. In addition to the university tenure at Cal State Long Beach since 1999, Yu Ji also taught at Eastern Illinois University (1994-99), Southern Utah University (1989-94), and the Pre-college program of Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (1981-83).