You Jin: Synapse

  • COMA is pleased to present the first Australian exhibition by Beijing-based Chinese artist You Jin (b. 1979), titled Synapse, on view from 21 November, 2025 to 10 January, 2026 at 37 Chapel Street, Marrickville, Sydney, NSW 2204.

     

    This new body of work extends You Jin’s ongoing exploration of perception, consciousness, and the boundless terrains of thought. Anchored in the artist’s reflections on the brain as not simply as a biological organ, but as a vast cosmology, a multidimensional site where thought, imagination, and existence interlace. The exhibition considers how neural networks might reveal new models for existence, bridging the real and the imagined, the material and the transcendental. For You Jin, these networks are both the architecture of perception and the source of myth: a system that allows us not only to interpret reality but to build entirely new worlds beyond its bounds.

     

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  • You Jin (b. 1979 in Shenyang, China. Lives and works in Beijing) is one of the most prominent Chinese artists...

    You Jin, 2025. Photo by Yangfan Gui.

    You Jin (b. 1979 in Shenyang, China. Lives and works in Beijing) is one of the most prominent Chinese artists of his generation. His work engages in a dialogue between tradition and modernity — transforming painting, ink, and mixed-media installation into a language that carries cultural memory while opening space for contemporary transformation.

     

    The artist is best known for his highly-saturated canvases which are a riot of near-psychedelic colour and line. In an era of accelerated digitalization, You’s painting practice builds a new visual language by superposing, breaking down, and reconstructing existing images. By prudently observing and refining simple geometric shapes, he conducts dynamic forms in space — shapes that reflect the fragmented structures of cities and Kandinsky-esque ways of thinking, as well as a microcosm of the multiple realities we currently inhabit.

     

    Recent solo exhibitions include: Fractal Dimension, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong, 2023; Metaphor, 68 Projects, Berlin, Germany, 2021; Interlaced Dimensions, Parkview Art Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2016; The View Of Heterotopos, Alternative Space Loop, Seoul, South Korea, 2016; From Chaos to Freedom, Opera Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland, 2013. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at Chiwan No.1 Art Center, Shenzhen; ShanShang Art Museum, Dalian, China; Blanc Art Center, Xiamen, China; CANG Art Museum, Hangzhou; One Art Museum, Beijing, China; MoCA Shanghai, Shanghai; Xitang MoCA, Beijing; Tomson Riviera C+Space, Shanghai and many others.‬

  • “In my practice, I focus on social phenomena, individual perception, environmental characteristics, and the comparison between Eastern and Western cultures....
    You Jin
    Drifting, 2023
    oil on canvas
    150 x 200 cm 59 x 78 3/4 inches
    Inquire

    “In my practice, I focus on social phenomena, individual perception, environmental characteristics, and the comparison between Eastern and Western cultures. I view the world and these points of interest through spatial observations – investigating the real and the imaginary.”

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  • 'Mixed and chaotic spatial arrangements are a new medium between people and society‭, ‬a form of linkage between people and...
    You Jin
    Neuron drifting narratives, 2025
    oil on canvas
    240 x 360 cm 94 1/2 x 141 3/4 inches
    Inquire

    "Mixed and chaotic spatial arrangements are a new medium between people and society‭, ‬a form of linkage between people and the outer world.‭‬‮"

  • You Jin
    Kiwi in mind, 2024
    oil on canvas
    150 x 150 cm 59 x 59 inches
    Inquire
  • Artworks
    • You Jin A heart all-encompassing, 2025 oil on canvas 150 x 200 cm 59 x 78 3/4 in
      You Jin
      A heart all-encompassing, 2025
      oil on canvas
      150 x 200 cm
      59 x 78 3/4 in
      Inquire
    • You Jin Beyond the Boundary, 2024 oil on canvas 80 x 100 cm 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches
      You Jin
      Beyond the Boundary, 2024
      oil on canvas
      80 x 100 cm
      31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches
      Inquire
    • You Jin Drifting, 2023 oil on canvas 150 x 200 cm 59 x 78 3/4 in
      You Jin
      Drifting, 2023
      oil on canvas
      150 x 200 cm
      59 x 78 3/4 in
      Inquire
    • You Jin Forge ahead, 2025 oil on canvas 200 x 150 cm 78 3/4 x 59 in
      You Jin
      Forge ahead, 2025
      oil on canvas
      200 x 150 cm
      78 3/4 x 59 in
      Inquire
    • You Jin In between nature and algorithms, 2025 oil on canvas 115 x 185 cm 45 1/4 x 72 7/8 in
      You Jin
      In between nature and algorithms, 2025
      oil on canvas
      115 x 185 cm
      45 1/4 x 72 7/8 in
      Inquire
    • You Jin Kiwi in mind, 2024 oil on canvas 150 x 150 cm 59 x 59 in
      You Jin
      Kiwi in mind, 2024
      oil on canvas
      150 x 150 cm
      59 x 59 in
      Inquire
    • You Jin Neuron drifting narratives, 2025 oil on canvas 240 x 360 cm 94 1/2 x 141 3/4 in
      You Jin
      Neuron drifting narratives, 2025
      oil on canvas
      240 x 360 cm
      94 1/2 x 141 3/4 in
      Inquire
    • You Jin Shifting worldview, 2024 oil on canvas 150 x 200 cm 59 x 78 3/4 in
      You Jin
      Shifting worldview, 2024
      oil on canvas
      150 x 200 cm
      59 x 78 3/4 in
      Inquire
    • You Jin The gap in thinking, 2024 oil on canvas 150 x 150 cm 59 x 59 in
      You Jin
      The gap in thinking, 2024
      oil on canvas
      150 x 150 cm
      59 x 59 in
      Inquire