Open Space #13 Xie Lei "Au-delà"

For Open Space, Xie Lei presents Au-delà: a set of five new monumental paintings juxtaposed in a panoramic configuration.  Evanescent and almost phosphorescent figures emerge from the branches and the foliage, from one painting to the next; figures whose contours are diluted in a palette of green and blue, appearing and disappearing. Xie Lei questions our perception through this phantasmagorical landscape by evoking the possibility of other worlds. A mirror with blurry reflections accentuates the immersive experience in this whimsical world, while making it ambivalent.   

Chinese artist Xie Lei has lived and worked in Paris since 2006. His paintings immerse the viewer in a disturbing imaginary world based on real situations, often subtly connected to literary and cinematographic memories or drawn from a profound crucible of personal emotions. The artist dwells on the complexity of events and situations, exploring the ambiguities and tensions they foster. His palette begins with sombre hues that mutate to become luminous and powerful.

In Galerie 3, Xie Lei has chosen to exhibit reflections on today’s questions of identity, life and death in a collection of 5 monumental paintings. Juxtaposed like a frieze along the walls of gallery 3, they form a phantasmagorical landscape through which the artist questions our perception of reality, evoking the possibility of the existence of other worlds. From one canvas to the next, among the branches and foliage, faceless anthropomorphic figures emerge on the surface, their outlines diluted in a palette of green and blue, between appearance and disappearance.

Xie Lei (b. 1983 in China) has lived and worked in Paris since 2006. He graduated from the CAFA in Beijing then the ENSBA in Paris. His works have been exhibited in numerous institutions: MO.CO, Montpellier (FR); CAPC, Bordeaux (FR); Villa Noailles, Hyères (FR); Collection Lambert, Avignon (FR); MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine (FR); Langen Foundation, Neuss (DE); Musée National d’Histoire d’Immigration, Paris (FR); Yishu 8 Foundation, Beijing (CN); Ricard Foundation, Paris (FR). His oeuvres feature in many public and private collections such as the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, MAC VAL, Colas Foundation, Burger Collection and X Museum. Xie Lei was a resident of the Casa de Velázquez and of the Boghossian Foundation.

In Paris, Xie Lei is represented by the Galerie Semiose.

Curators
Claudia Buizza and Ludovic Delalande (Fondation Louis Vuitton)