Xiao Se
Xiao Se （1970- ）Currently lives and works in Beijing
Xiao Se’s technically masterful paintings draw on imagery from both the Eastern and Western artistic traditions. This exhibition showcases a body of work that presents Xiao Se’s observations of present-day China in which traditional heritage, a communist past, and modernity coexist. His work is deeply influenced by Western masters, often imbuing Western or religious figures with Chinese characteristics, or surrounding them with typical Chinese scenes and traditional symbols.
While Political Pop and Cynical Realism remain the best-known contemporary Chinese art styles in the West, many of the works of influential painters who have emerged since the mid-1990s do not conform to a particular movement or style. These artists, as compared with their predecessors, are not as concerned about the Cultural Revolution or personal self-analysis, they focus on the present-day realities of a rapidly shifting society. Xiao Se is one such artist who grew up in the tumultuous aftermath of the Cultural Revolution and has lived through an era of sweeping economic and cultural liberalization initiated by China’s Open Door Policy. His paintings reflect this background and provide a means and space through which he makes sense of the tension between tradition and modernization.
His body of work presents a diverse array of artistic influences and motifs, including Northern Renaissance, Chinese quotidian themes, and Surrealism. Notable in his paintings are bizarre objects including scrambling nudes, flying fish, pairs of eyes, apples made of gears, and boxes. The presence of the absurd as well as an overall mocking tone provides more than just amusing escapism and allows a temporary hiatus from reality within the pictorial space. He is able to laugh at the world through his paintings, and his humor allows a victory of amusement over daily fears and anxieties.
1970 Born in Beijing
1994 Graduated from the Central Academy of Art and Design, Beijing, China
Solo Exhibitions
2019 “Gazing Affectionately — XIAO Se Solo Exhibition ”Eden Art center，Beijing，China
2018 “Xiao Se：Solo Exhibition—2018Bavaria Chinese New Year，Munich，Germany
2011 “Xiao Se: Solo Exhibition” EK Projects, Beijing, China
2009 “Xiao Se: Instinctive Reality” Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, NY
2007 “Art Gender” The Fifth Element Gallery, Beijing, China
2005 “Privacy of the Fish” Hong Kong, China
2004 “Privacy of the Fish” 798 Beijing, Beijing, China
2003 “Letting the Moment Slip” Wan Fung Gallery, Beijing, China
2001 “Memory of an Abortive Turn” Wan Fung Gallery, Beijing, China
2001 “Xiao Se’s Oil Paintings” Qin Gallery, Beijing, China
2000 “Xiao Se’s Oil Paintings” Qin Gallery, Beijing, China
1999 “Xiao Se’s Oil Paintings” Qin Gallery, Beijing, China
1999 “Xiao Se’s Oil Paintings” in Bonn, Berlin (Germany )
1998 “Xiao Se’s Art Works” Qin Gallery, Beijing, China
1997 “Xiao Se’s Oil Paintings” Qin Gallery, Beijing, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 “one thousand miles”BOA SPACE，Weihai，China
2018 Munich Art Festival，Germany
2016 opening gala, Munich, Germany
2016 “About the air” 2th International Art Fair Ningbo Ningbo Gallery, Ningbo, China
2015 “Return” Shanshui Gallery, Beijing, China
2014 “Fresh start with the past” Beijing, China
2014 International Art Fair Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2014 Biennial Xinjiang Urumuqi，China
2014 “Xinjiang impression” China Gallery,Beijing,China
2012 “Art Beijing” Beijing, China
2010 Biennial Shanghai Shanghai, China
2009 Art Chicago Eli Klein Fine Art, Chicago, USA
2009 “Redefining Surrealism” Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, USA
2009 LA Art Show Eli Klein Fine Art, Los Angeles, USA
2009 “China Garden” The Fifth Element Gallery, Beijing, China
2008 Asian Contemporary Art Fair Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, USA
2008 SCOPE Art Fair Eli Klein Fine Art, Miami, USA
2007 “10th Beijing International Art Exhibition” Beijing, China
2007 “4th China International Gallery Exhibition” Beijing, China
2007 “Clean the Corner” The Fifth Element Gallery, Beijing, China
2007 “Literature Collection” Fine Arts Literature Art Center, Hubei Province, China
2006 “Contemporary Art Exhibition” 798, Beijing, China
2006 “Form and Language” Contemporary Art Fair Yan Club Arts Center, Beijing, China
2005 Young Artists’ Work Exhibition Yan Club Arts Center, Beijing, China
2005 China Famous Artists’ Work Exhibition Yunfeng Gallery, Beijing, China
2003 Taipei International Art Fair Taipei, Taiwan
2002 Singapore International Art Fair Singapore
2002 “That’s Beijing” Contemporary Art Fair Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China
2002 Group Exhibition of Contemporary Oil Paintings Yunfeng Gallery, Hong Kong
2002 Korea International Art Fair Seoul, Korea
2001 “A Balloon for Christmas” Yunfeng Gallery, Beijing, China
2000 “Express Ourselves” Hualai Gallery, Beijing, China
- October 20, 2020
