Xie Xuanxuan: The Great Rising Tree

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Tang Contemporary Art is honored to announce the opening of Xie Xuanxuan’s solo exhibition: ”The Great Rising Tree” on December 3 at our Hong Kong Wong Chuk Hang Space.

The exhibition theme “The Great Rising Tree” is derived from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies and The Sonnets to Orpheus, specifically the line “There rose a tree. O pure transcendence! O Orpheus sings! O tall tree in the ear!” Rilke pays homage to the mythical poet Orpheus, embodying pure aesthetic pleasure and the pursuit of free will. Like a tree that rises in the gray wilderness, a straight tree dances gracefully, singing in the ear, illuminating people in the east and the west, and ceasing within the grove. Depicting the landscape, yet stripped away by the wind. This exhibition showcases over twenty new works by Xie Xuanxuan in recent years, maintaining her purity, joyfulness, and playfulness, continuing her translation of myths and fairy tales filled with childlike wonder and philosophical reflection. The visual impact and dramatic tension inherent in mythology and fairy tales merge with reality, presenting the artist’s exploration of the possibilities between daily life and myths, society and emotions.

Mythology is a complex system of images and beliefs, constructing the sacredness of human life on a linguistic level, providing possibilities for human cultural existence. Roland Barthes broadens the definition of mythology to the realm of popular culture in Mythologies, as a deliberate form or mode of signification. These “social myths” retain the falsehood and symbolism of traditional myths while incorporating theories of modern semiotics and the strategies of ideological control and guidance. Similarly, Martha Rosler exposes the inherent mechanisms of cultural symbol production and naturalization, stating, “All the myths of everyday life stitched together form a seamless envelope of ideology, the false account of the workings of the world.” In between, everyday life is not merely a by-product of capitalist material consumption but also a link that presents and connects all activities with individual sensory meaning. In Xie Xuanxuan’s exhibited works, these two levels of mythology intertwine and coexist rather than oppose each other. The sewn-together everyday myths are dissected, revealing humanity’s eternal longing for connection and community.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Xie Xuanxuan’s works are closely related to childhood memories, folk games, Greek mythology, and fairy tales. She uses witty and mixed elements to depict daily wonders. Tin her paintings often lie somewhere between the real and the virtual, and her works are full of anthropomorphic and contradictory characters. In her reflection on the real world, she restores the forgotten “paradise” in her memory with her unique painting language, thus creating a warm and romantic world full of childlike innocence and fantasy.

Her recent solo exhibitions include “Bathed in the Sun” (Inna Art Space, Hangzhou, 2022) and “An Apple from Heavens” (East Gallery, Nanjing, 2021). Group exhibitions include “The Traces of Light” (Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2023), “My Generation! The Art of Post-90s” (Shanxi Contemporary Art Museum, Shanxi, 2023), “MILLE CORTEX” (Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong, 2023), “A Marvellous Memory” (Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum, Shanghai, 2022), “Pigeon Superstition” (O2ART, Beijing, 2022), “Paradise” (Cub_ism_ Artspace, Shanghai, 2021), “New West Lake” (MoCA Shanghai, Shanghai, 2021), “Autumn 2021” (KWM Art Center, Beijing, 2021), etc.