Xie Nanxing and Wang Xingwei, Show Me, Catch Me, Sight Unseen
Nataline Colonnello
If I were asked to outline the main characteristics of the paintings of Xie Nanxing and Wang Xingwei, I would undoubtedly describe them as outstanding, original and enigmatic. Since the early 90s they established and developed their works on a solid conceptual and technical base. Often misinterpreted, they progressively astonished, captivated and won the recognition of the international contemporary art world.
Thoughtful and fidgety, Xie Nanxing has recently shown a preference for rather large canvases (e.g. his 2001-2002’s untitled triptychs known as Pictures of Voice I and II, which are 3 x 220 x 380 cm) to which he devotes himself methodically for long periods of time. His work, limited in number and often grouped as a series, is characterized by the representation of everyday subjects which, after first undergoing a complex and multi-layered process of preparation including video recording and photography, are eventually transformed into stunning paintings. Through the employment of universally recognizable images and his masterly, almost abstract technique, Xie Nanxing gives birth to a kind of "psychological painting," able to penetrate and shake the most hidden depths of the viewer’s soul.
Shrewd and provocative, Wang Xingwei became a painter "because progressive critics think that painting as an art form has passed." In his works, always permeated by a biting sarcasm and/or criticism, Wang Xingwei resorts to references connected with different pre-existing cultural and sub-cultural visual sources. As a subsidiary trend, a few of his paintings are dominated by recurring puzzling characters, such as penguins, which come from his own imagination and take on an unfathomable symbolism. In the same way he slyly quotes and rearranges both Chinese and international art and socio-political history, Wang Xingwei’s chameleonic nature is expressed through an unceasing free and unforeseeable shift from one pictorial style to another, from one medium to another, from one color matching to another.
If Xie Nanxing and Wang Xingwei are not afraid to confuse the observer, they are also not frightened of being bewildered. Knowing each other mostly through the other’s paintings rather than personally, they agreed to show their works together at the CAAW in Beijing from November 12- January 12, 2006. Moreover, both of them asked not to see the counterpart’s new works before the opening of their exhibition, thus showing mutual trust, understanding and playful challenge.
A cross-interview with the two artists and further information on their can be found at the CAAW website www.archivesandwarehouse.com. A catalogue featuring texts of the two curators, Ai Weiwei and Nataline Colonnello, is also available.
Wang Xingwei, catalogue of the show "Le Moine et le Démon – Contemporary Chinese Art", Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon, France, 09.06.04 — 15-8-04, p. 72, ISBN: 2-906461-68-7
