On the occasion of Art Basel 2015, Galerie Urs Meile will be presenting a selection of recent works by our represented artists. Galerie Urs Meile started new collaborations with young Chinese artists Zhou Siwei and Chen Fei in 2015 and will show their work for the first time at Art Basel.
We will present Wang Xingwei’s (*1969) most recent work, his second portrait of one of his artist friends (Red-square Portrait, 2014, oil on canvas, 120 × 120 cm). Wang Xingwei is generally interested in the transformation of the figure and this time he exaggerated the features in such a way, that it makes the portrait border on caricature. He also positioned the head by itself in the center and in front of a red abstract background. The composition is reminiscent of an icon, especially because red is the color that is associated with religion in China.
Hu Qingyan (*1982) is a conceptual sculptor and likes to work with waste products from factories. His new work Seven-character Quatrain 1 (2015, rebar, 28 pcs, installation size 248 × 136 × 32 cm) consists of a by-product from metal manufacture that was shaped by chance when it left the machine hot and still moldable. Hu Qingyan took some of these parts and created the final shape of the pieces to make them look like Chinese calligraphy of a poem.
Shao Fan (*1964) developed a unique visual language, which is deeply rooted in classical Chinese aesthetics. He is known for his intriguing, achromatic oil paintings of animals, but recently he has also created a number of works in traditional Chinese ink, such as Rabbit Asks (2015, ink on rice paper, painting: 240 × 120 cm; overall size: 300 × 120 cm). Each brush stroke is executed in the tradition of Chinese calligraphy, in the sense that the stroke itself is already beautiful.
Galerie Urs Meile just started working with Chen Fei (*1983) earlier this year and his first solo exhibition at our gallery in Beijing will follow in March 2016. After completing his degree in film studies in 2005, Chen Fei turned to painting, because he felt it was the medium that is more suitable for him to express himself. His painting style doesn’t reflect a traditional training and is influenced by pop cultural images.
It could be described as “superflat,” as he uses strong colors and black outlines. Chen Fei is a storyteller and over the course of several paintings a narrative unfolds. His work is inspired by his private life and the people around him (I am the Jungle, 2015, acrylic on linen, 180 × 240 cm).
Zhou Siwei (*1981) is also newly represented by Galerie Urs Meile and will have his first solo presentation at our gallery in Lucerne from May 22, 2015. He graduated from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, China in 2005 and his oeuvre encompasses painting, installation, photography, drawing and sculpture. We will bring his two paintings WATERFALL 01 (2015, oil on canvas, 180 × 140 cm) and WATERFALL 02 (OUTLINE) (2015, oil on canvas, 180 × 140 cm) to Basel. Zhou Siwei’s paintings are both abstract and concrete. They don’t depict a specific waterfall, but portray an universal idea of it. The schematic images connect sensual observation with the concepts of reason.
Li Gang (*1986) experiments with various possibilities through a wide range of media. His work is prominently featured in the touring exhibition Inside China, which started at Palais de Tokyo in Paris in October 2014 and will open on August 2, 2015 at K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai. His new work Rust (2015, jade bracelets, rebar, 178 × 57 × 10 cm) consists of jade bracelets and a ladder made out of rebars and used often at Chinese construction sights. The jade bracelets make it impossible to expand the ladder and to put it to use. The work is symbolical, presenting the position of migrant worker families, who live under big pressure, but have no way to improve their situation. The ladder standing for the husband and the bracelets for the wife.
Xie Nanxing’s (*1970) most recent series exude a strange, dark beauty; they seldom tell us anything directly, but leave us with a great deal to consider (untitled no.6, 2015, oil on canvas, 150 × 120 cm). One series never looks like the previous ones, because Xie Nanxing refuses to lapse into a comfortable, signature style.
Complete List of artists shown at Art Basel 2015:
Ai Weiwei – Chen Fei – Hu Qingyan – Li Gang – Qiu Shihua – Shao Fan – Tobias Rehberger – Christian Schoeler – Anatoly Shuravlev – Julia Steiner – Wang Xingwei – Xie Nanxing – Zhou Siwei