Xie Nanxing: Someone’s Portrait

Tang Contemporary Art presents Xie Nanxing’s solo exhibition “Someone’s Portrait” at its Hong Kong gallery, curated by Cui Cancan. The exhibition features seven works from the artist, including three works on paper and four oil paintings from his Someone’s Portrait series. The exhibition focuses on Xie Nanxing’s portraits for the first time in the form of case studies, exploring the methods of his artistic practice, the source of his understanding and creation to demonstrate his concept of the ‘portrait’ and how they come to form through personal choice and reflection.

Te curator Cui Cancan is an active Chinese independent curator. He was the winner of the CCAA (Chinese Contemporary Art Award) Critics’ Award, Critics’ Award in Chinese contemporary art by YISHU (Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art), the annual award by L’Officiel Art and so on. He was also appointed special observer for the 13th Kassel Documenta. As a curator, Cui contributed to the success of major exhibitions including Heiqiao Night Away (2013), FUCKOFF II (2013), Unlived by What is Seen (2014), Ai Weiwei solo exhibition (2015), etc.

Xie Nanxing was born in 1970 in Chongqing, China. He reveals how artistic expression can manifest from such assorted influences. At the very least, Nanxing’s paintings are memorable for their immaculate surfaces – despite their very large, 3m span. But, like the innumerable stories within China itself, there is much more to tell.
Nanxing hails from Chongqing, and lives and works in the provincial capital Chengdu (Sichuan). It was there, in the South West of the Chinese land mass, that Nanxing studied visual arts for seven years. He graduated to the lofty heights of representation by a Swiss gallery. In 1999, Nanxing garnered critical acclaim at the prestigious Venice Biennale for his exquisite, in-your-face, paintings of an injured naked body.