BEIJING.- Galerie Urs Meile Beijing opened the latest solo exhibition by Wang Xingwei (b. 1969, Shenyang, China). The exhibition centres on the artist’s recent thematic creations, presenting a multi-faceted portrait of “Chinese masculinity”.


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Presented in a triptych format, the central piece Chinese Soccer Fans (2024) forms a grand scene that addresses a subject that is typically difficult to depict through painting, showcasing the artist’s departure from the “contemporary” approaches that are so widely pursued today, as well as his distinctive interpretation of “contemporaneity”. The dramatic tension of group dynamics alludes to the artist’s metaphorical observation of the contempo- rary collective landscape.

Two other paintings in the exhibition, which explore the same theme, stand in stark contrast to the central work through their quiet sense of restraint. A Devoted Daughter-in-law (2024) employs a pointillist technique to create visual tension—the sensuous spread of warm tones forms a subtle counterpoint to the rational detachment of the narrative, reflecting complex intergenerational relationships and life circumstances through irony. Last-Generation “Male Syndrome of Imposed Abnormal Values” (2024) continues the artist’s signature surrealistic language, dramatising the juxtaposition of elements of self-portraiture with symbolic imag- ery. This creates a visual dialogue and perspective across time and space in relation to the artist’s exuberant works from the 1990s, offering both a retrospective glimpse of his early creations and a lament for—and struggle with—the process of ageing.

Wang Xingwei was born in 1969 in Shenyang, and currently lives and works in Beijing. He has been widely exhibited in China and abroad. Recent solo shows include: Love Expert, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing, China (2023); Oriental Nobility, Hetong Aoyuan, Beijing, China (2023); Wang Xingwei in Shanghai 2002 – 2008, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China (2022); the large retrospective Wang Xingwei, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (2013). Group shows include: arts, civilizations: Echoes of Camel Bells along the silk roads, Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China (2024); A Leisurely Stroll – The Tenth Anniversary of The Long Museum, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China (2023); M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, M+ Museum, Hong Kong, China (2021); Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World, Museum Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain (2018); Chinese Whispers, Kunstmuseum Bern and Zentrum Paul Klee, Berne, Switzerland (2016); DUCHAMP and/or/in CHINA, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (2013); The State of Things – Contemporary Art from China and Belgium, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China (2010); Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany (2006); d’APERTutto, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (1999); 4th Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France (1997).



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