Chambers Fine Art is pleased to announce the opening on October 30 of Layers: Recent Works by Xiaoze Xie.. The title refers to the stacks of Chinese books and newspapers that are depicted in the paintings as well as to the historical dimension of the events hinted at and partially visible in many of the works. In another dramatic series of paintings and in an installation, the topic of the deliberate destruction of printed matter is addressed.
Born in Guangdong in 1966, Xiaoze Xie graduated from Tsinghua University and the Central Academy of Arts and Design, Beijing before moving to the United States and settling in Texas where he continued his studies in a very different environment. As a realist painter by vocation, early on in his career Xie found a way to combine his passionate interest in aspects of Chinese history and current world events with more formal concerns by focusing on the materials stored in archives and library stacks as the subject matter of his paintings. Admitted to areas normally out of bounds to the general public, Xie found a rich source of material in library stacks ranging from the monochromatic bindings and pages characteristic of traditional Chinese books to the exaggerated colors of the photographs found in most contemporary newspapers and magazines.
Unlike the newspaper paintings, the Chinese Library series which began in 1995 is not time-specific in its references. The decaying volumes and manuscripts in three paintings in the series (nos. 42, 43 and 45) refer in generic terms to China’s complicated history, to traditions that are on the point of disappearing before the onslaught of modernity that is characteristic of China today. In contrast, the newspaper paintings are multi-colored and specific in their references to current events. The local and national newspapers that have appeared in his paintings for the last ten years, selected primarily for visual interest, also offer an unofficial history of the decade with references ranging from September 11, 2001 and the war in Iraq to the Beijing Olympics and the Sichuan earthquake that figure prominently in the most recent paintings included in the current exhibition.
Unlike many of his contemporaries who left China in the 1980s and early 1990s and have subsequently returned, Xie stayed in the United States where he has had a distinguished professional career. He is currently the Paul L. & Phyllis Wattis Professor in Art, Department of Art & Art History, Stanford University, California. Coming at a time when there is unprecedented interest in contemporary Chinese both within and without China, the current exhibition of Xie’s latest work will provide a fascinating opportunity to see his paintings in the country of his birth which has provided the subject matter for much of his oeuvre even during the years he spent abroad.
北京前波画廊将于10月30日起举办展览《层叠：谢晓泽近作》。展览的标题取自画作中所描绘的一叠叠中文书籍和报纸，同时也暗指作品中零星闪现的历史事件。展览中另一系列的油画和装置作品则探讨了印刷品的蓄意破坏这一主题。
谢晓泽于1966年出生于广东，从清华大学与北京中央工艺美术学院毕业后移居美国，在德克萨斯州继续他的学业。他所接受的现实主义画风训练和其对中国历史与当前世界时事的强烈兴趣，在其艺术生涯初期，就找到了结合的方式。他把储藏于档案室及图书馆书堆中的材料作为绘画的主题。因为可以进入一些平时不对公众开放的区域，于是他在图书馆的书堆里发现了丰富的创作源泉——从中国传统书籍特有的单色装订和书页，到当代报纸期刊中色彩鲜艳的照片。
与报纸类画作不同，始于1995年的中国图书馆系列并没有明确的时间性。该系列的三幅油画中（42号、43号和45号）所描绘的正在腐坏的书稿，从普遍意义上暗指了中国复杂的历史，与今日中国特有的在现代化的冲击下正在消逝的传统。相比之下，报纸类画作则是彩色的，并具体指向当下发生的事件。在过去十年内，地方和全国性的报纸频频出现在他的作品中。报纸的选择仅仅取决于其视觉效果，但却为这十年提供了一个非官方的历史。本次展览展出的最新作品中就提及了911事件、伊拉克战争、北京奥运会和四川大地震等重大事件。
与谢晓泽同时代的很多人在八、九十年代时离开了中国，但之后都相继回国，而他则留在了美国并且事业发展顺利。他目前是加州斯坦福大学艺术与艺术史系的终身教授。时下，海内外皆对当代中国有着浓厚的兴趣，即使身在海外，谢晓泽很多作品的主题也都来自于他的祖国。此次展览将是在国内欣赏谢晓泽作品的一次绝好机会。