A native of China, Bodu Yang (MFA ’12) received her Bachelor of Arts from the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in China. “The program at the [Tianjin] Academy was focused on developing skills, but at PAFA the emphasis is on student improvement, of changing the mind. The PAFA program works with both the hand and the brain.” This transformation is also why Yang decided to make museums her main subject in her paintings, as PAFA’s Museum was a critical factor in her artistic development. “I really value the relationship between artwork and exhibition spaces,” says Yang.

Yang was the recipient of the Justine Cretella Memorial Scholarship. In 2012, she won the Fellowship Trust Prize for her outstanding presentation in PAFA’s Annual Student Exhibition. Of her work, Yang says: “I am a painter and I use appropriation for my main subject. … My works reveal how I understand art—what it is and how it is transformed by different media. I revisit these moments and through my process rediscover the value of the relationship between artworks and exhibition places.”

Most recently, Yang’s work was featured in the inaugural exhibition at the Wanwan Lei Projects Gallery in New York. There, Yang’s work was described as “departing from the ‘art scene’ mentality that renders contemporary art both exciting and problematic, and transports viewers to an isolated environment where viewing an artwork is a private activity in an entirely public space.” Yang has also been featured in a solo exhibition in PAFA’s Alumni Sales Gallery.