Xiao Guo Hui | Chen Wen Qing
17-20 October 2024 | Monnaie de Paris, FR | Booth S11
On the occasion of ASIA NOW 2024, Galerie Fabian Lang is delighted to exhibit a dual presentation with new works by Xiao Guo Hui and Chen Wen Qing. Xiao has collaborated with his wife Chen since 2010. The artists live and work together in Paris, FR.
In Xiao's works, a simultaneous, existentially absurd hustle and bustle is viewed from above. He draws on an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of painting to create his own distinctive visual world. Only indirectly do his paintings recall Chinese life; more often, they seem to be memories from years walking in European cities. Not only the experiences of today but the entire heritage of modernity, is visible in his paintings. They effortlessly blend the early Renaissance, Mannerism and Ukiyo-e painting. Throughout, he demonstrates infinite patience and attention to detail. Despite all the painterly seriousness, his works always have something playful about them. As he said himself, his greatest love is egg tempera. This seductively old technique brings luminosity and radiance to his reduced colour palette, giving his paintings a special temperament.
Chen Wen Qing's background in fashion design is central to the attention to patterns and surfaces in her paintings. Fleshy and intricate compositions are created through her detailed approach using traditional tempera techniques. Creatures, landscapes or cocoon-like otherworldly dwellings emerge which are composed from a variety of withered objects that have been deconstructed, merged and reimagined.
