• 4 July – 2 September 2023 Vernissage: Tuesday 4 July, 6 – 8 PM 4 rue des Minimes, 75003 Paris...
    Xie Fan, Fern, 2023, oil on silk, 100 x 80 cm
    Inquire
     
    4 July – 2 September 2023
    Vernissage: Tuesday 4 July, 6 – 8 PM
    4 rue des Minimes, 75003 Paris
     

    Galerie Marguo is delighted to present Chinese artist Xie Fan’s first solo exhibition in Europe Dionysus's Screen, on view in Paris from 4 July to 2 September 2023. Composed of a new body of oil on silk and pottery plates, this exhibition illuminates the artist’s decade-long experiment in painting across a variety of mediums and his constant attempt in pushing the boundaries of painting in the contemporary context.

     

    Full Press Release: English · French
    Artist: Xie Fan
  • (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

  • Exhibition Film

  • Throughout history, the interactions, mutual influences, and resistance between the creator (of image) and the world, creativity, and its reception propelled artistic development. Having concluded a period of exploring the perceptibility of light and color through paintings on silk, Xie Fan embarked on a journey to rediscover the origins of painting through alternative support for the painted image, aiming at leaving traces of time from a contemporary perspective.
  • Inquire
  • As one of the four classical elements of nature, discovering fire led to many advances in human evolution and civilization....
    As one of the four classical elements of nature, discovering fire led to many advances in human evolution and civilization. The ancients gathered around fires in caves and held basic tools to create art. The flickering flames ignited part of the artist’s creative process amid their plays of light and shadows, allowing cave paintings to come to life like animated scenes.
     
    XIE FAN
    Flame, 2019 - 2022
    Oil on pottery plate
    30 x 30 cm (11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
    Inquire

  • GOLDEN SEA
  • Xie Fan intentionally applies materials according to their physical properties. For example, the use of gold foil accentuates the interplay of light and shadow, further highlighting the inherent characteristics of the image in series such as Flame and Golden Sea.
     
    The layers of brushstrokes and forms float above the pottery plates and become more abstract. The contrast between the image and the underlying surface creates a juxtaposition of the virtual and the real, through which the artist seeks an emotional resonance evoked by the combination of image content and materiality.
    • Xie Fan Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022 Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate 34 x 43 cm (13 3/8 x 16 7/8 in)
      Xie Fan
      Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022
      Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate
      34 x 43 cm (13 3/8 x 16 7/8 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022 Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate 34 x 43 cm (13 3/8 x 16 7/8 in)
      Xie Fan
      Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022
      Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate
      34 x 43 cm (13 3/8 x 16 7/8 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022 Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate 34 x 43 cm (13 3/8 x 16 7/8 in)
      Xie Fan
      Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022
      Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate
      34 x 43 cm (13 3/8 x 16 7/8 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022 Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate 34 x 43 cm (13 3/8 x 16 7/8 in)
      Xie Fan
      Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022
      Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate
      34 x 43 cm (13 3/8 x 16 7/8 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022 Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022
      Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022 Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Golden Sea, 2019 - 2022
      Gold foil and oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire

  • LANDSCAPE · CITY
  • His thoughts on establishing connections between the content of imagery with the support on which it is painted are also reflected in the contrasting dialogue between Landscape · City and Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa.
     
    The former presents a modern cityscape with a contemporary visual quality through primitive painting language and material, whereas the latter explores ancient memories through the portrayal of Alsophila spinulosa, an ancient tree-fern dating to the Jurassic age, to search for the memories and traces it has left on Earth to this day.
    • Xie Fan Landscape · City, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Landscape · City, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Landscape · City, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Landscape · City, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Landscape · City, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Landscape · City, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Landscape · City, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Landscape · City, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Inquire

  • Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa
    • Xie Fan Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Landscape · Alsophila Spinulosa, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
      Inquire
  • Xie Fan, Totem, 2023

    Xie Fan

    Totem, 2023
    Oil on terracotta plate
    40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in)
    Inquire
  • Xie Fan conceives the medium as the origin of painting. From cave paintings to pottery plate paintings and then to works on canvas, pottery vessels connect the past and present. The material composition of pottery plates traces back to the texture of red sandstone, which also became the primer of classical painting.
     
    When pottery painting was popularized in ancient Greece, this art form provided original evidence and configuration of Dionysus, the god of wine. The Nietzschian view of the wine god portrayed him as an icon of passion who introduced the world with inspiration, divinity, madness, joy, and even destruction.
    • Xie Fan Fern, 2022 Oil on terracotta plate 38 x 28 cm (15 x 11 in)
      Xie Fan
      Fern, 2022
      Oil on terracotta plate
      38 x 28 cm (15 x 11 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Fern, 2022 Oil on terracotta plate 38 x 28 cm (15 x 11 in)
      Xie Fan
      Fern, 2022
      Oil on terracotta plate
      38 x 28 cm (15 x 11 in)
      Inquire

  • Screen · Mount Kailash
  • With the numerous works under the subject "Screen", Xie Fan realized his calling to paint "photographic images", led by the spirit of Dionysus, where he could project his inner thoughts onto his own "screens". The Screen · Mount Kailash series depicts the iconic sacred mountain, utilizing different types of light and shadow to convey the artist's perception of color relations through an objective medium.
    • Xie Fan Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire
    • Xie Fan Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023 Oil on terracotta plate 30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Xie Fan
      Screen · Mount Kailash, 2023
      Oil on terracotta plate
      30 x 40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
      Inquire

  • Screen · Sea
  • "Materials for artistic creation have evolved from the finite to the infinite, from the tangible to the immaterial, and continue to evolve with the constant renewal of human perception and the discovery of new materials." In his recent works, Xie Fan attempts to bring image-making to a primal state of painting, akin to Dionysian impulses, who resorted to his creative instincts stemming from a subjective willfulness.
     
    Whether it's the lingering glow at dusk in Golden Sea or the transporting potential of traversing time in Fern, Xie Fan seeks to depict the sensations of contemporary life in the state of a primitive being, as one who lives in the present. Perhaps, at this moment, the artist, like Dionysus, toasts and invites Apollo to gaze upon the "screen", watching how this world, spanning across dimensions of time and space, is unfolding.
  • Xie Fan, Fern, 2023

    Xie Fan

    Fern, 2023
    Oil on silk
    100 x 80 cm (39 3/8 x 31 1/2 in)
    104 x 84 x 6.4 cm (framed)
    Inquire
  • ABOUT THE ARTIST
    Portrait of Xie Fan in his studio. Photo: Song Wenting

    ABOUT THE ARTIST

    Having concluded a period of exploring the perceptibility of light and color through paintings on silk, Xie Fan embarked on a journey to rediscover the origins of painting through alternative support for the painted image, aiming at leaving traces of time from a contemporary perspective. Xie Fan attempting to take the language of painting as a subject to reflect on its resonance with nature and history. The artist fires these clay panels like artificial rocks; while the painting process is innovative, it recalls a time of the past.

     

    Xie Fan (b. 1983, Jiangyou, Sichuan Province, China) received his BFA from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (SFAI) in 2005. Recent solo exhibitions include 'Various Fires', Académie Conti (Vosne-Romanée, France, 2024); 'Dionysus‘s Screen', Galerie Marguo (Paris, France, 2023); 'Sediment', Sifang Art Museum, Tongren Road Space (Shanghai, China, 2022); 'Back To The Footlights Tomorrow', WHITE SPACE BEIJING (Beijing, China, 2014). Recent group exhibitions include 'Night is the Shadow of the Earth', Wind H Art Center (Beijing, China, 2023); 'A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place', BlLUNT SOCIETY (Shanghai, China, 2023); 'Silkroad on the Moonlight', Gowolhun (Seoul, South Korea,2017); 'Mountain Sites: Views of Laoshan', Sifang Art Museum (Nanjing, China, 2016); The Moscow Biennale, All-Russia Exhibition Centre, VDNKh (Moscow, Russia, 2015); 'Absolute Collection Guideline', Sifang Art Museum (Nanjing, China, 2015). Xie Fan currently lives and works in Beijing and Chengdu.

     

    Learn more →

  • Get in touch