Xiao Jiang at Karma

Xiao Jiang (b. 1977, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province, China) creates atmospheric oil paintings of landscapes, people, and interiors. His subjects are drawn from his daily routine, mostly deriving from his own photographs, and serve as extensions of his lived experience. Jiang takes a painterly, imaginative approach to his source imagery, generating pictures of real places that are simultaneously detached and emotive. Inspired by a childhood of growing up in the mountains, Jiang's expansive landscapes and rugged highlands are sites of unconscious expression and serve as meditative repositories for the artist's inner thoughts.

Human presence is often implied through empty, man-made paths that act as metaphors of the idiomatic 'road ahead.' The artist structures his paintings using complementary shades of muted red and green that echo the quiet harmony of his subjects. Visual elements are simplified into flat planes of color, barely modulated and stripped of fine detail. The resulting works are reflective and reminiscent of the poetic solitude of Edward Hopper paintings. As the artist has stated: "I would like my artworks to be less straight- forward; they appeared to be ordinary yet with a hint of suggestion. This helps leave room for audiences to have their own inter- pretation."

Jiang obtained a degree from China Academy of Art in 2003. Recent solo exhibitions include Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai (2021); LEO Gallery, Hong Kong (2020); Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai (2018); MOCUBE, Beijing (2017).

Text courtesy Karma.