Xiyao Wang’s Grand Gestures at Perrotin New York

Perrotin in New York have launched Berlin-based Chinese artist Xiyao Wang‘s first U.S. solo show, Do you hear the waterfall? (12 January–17 February 2024). The exhibition showcases ten new charcoal works that mark a notable shift in her practice.

Known for her energetic and bustling compositions, Wang has embraced a more contemplative style characterised by restrained use of colour and large expanses of negative space.

In her latest creations, she explores expansive compositions defined by sweeping black lines, evoking the imagery of water flowing across uneven terrain. The interplay of thick, fading lines and thin, sharp strokes encourages a sense of fluidity and weightlessness.

From a distance, they resemble great slabs of marble, whose white stone is inked with black veins of mineral impurities. Up close, her gestures seem more deliberate, like the judicious lines of calligraphy or caricature.

Not all the works in the exhibition are monochrome. Some feature accents of bright colour—purple, turquoise, egg-yolk-yellow—added with oil sticks.

These works offer more continuity with Wang’s show A Long Reach: Touching the Unseen, which continues at Beijing’s Song Art Museum through 12 March. The more colourful works in this exhibition are artfully scribbled in oil stick over hazy pastel backgrounds painted in acrylic, suggesting streamers or fireworks bursting against the sky.

Speaking with Ocula Advisory in 2023, Wang discussed her artistic process, describing it as an almost ethereal experience.

‘I love it when your body feels totally free—when you’re flying or swimming, for instance,’ she explained. ‘I get a similar feeling when I paint. I don’t feel my weight, height, or the size of my body; I just follow my thoughts and soul at that moment, leading me across the canvas.’

The influence of Cy Twombly on Wang’s work is unmistakable, as her art captures the chaos and calm intertwined in life’s rhythm, much like Twombly’s own artistic approach.