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EVENT DESCRIPTION
Blindspot Gallery is delighted to present “Xiyadie: Butterfly Dream”, Xiyadie’s debut solo exhibition at the gallery, on view from 26 March to 11 May, 2024. Presenting over thirty works from the early 1980s to the present, it is the largest exhibition of Xiyadie ever presented.Born in 1963 in Weinan, Shaanxi Province, China, Xiyadie is a self-taught, traditional Chinese papercut artist who uses a medium with origins dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE) to narrate his journey coming out of rural China as a homosexual person. His autobiographical papercuts chronicle his transformation through an environment that does not lend political agency to queer identifying people, and reflect the struggle of a marginalized individual navigating the big city as a migrant worker. The exhibition titled “Butterfly Dream” alludes to the artist’s pseudonym Xiyadie, meaning Siberian Butterfly, emblematic of resilience and its flamboyant beauty. It signifies the artist’s determined pursuit of freedom and endurance in the harshest of conditions. During the opening reception on 23 March (4 – 6 pm), there will be an artist talk (3 – 4 pm) moderated by Hera Chan, Adjunct Curator, Asia-Pacific, supported by Asymmetry Art Foundation, at Tate. This year, Xiyadie will also be taking part in the Main Exhibition of the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, entitled “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere”, curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
