Tang Contemporary Art is proud to announce the opening of Xia Xing’s eponymous solo show “XIA XING” on January 5, 2017. The exhibition will present three bodies of work, an installation comprised of Tibetan rugs called 4-6, as well as two series of oil paintings based on The Beijing News from 2011 and 2012.

The installation, measuring 4 x 6 meters, is comprised of dozens of pre-liberation Tibetan rugs. Xia’s only instruction to the workers was that every rug be cut to 50 x 50 centimeters. Formal sensibility of the colors and patterns, as well as the integrity of the carpet, were destroyed during the cutting. This was meant to represent the formulation of rules in society, which completely ignores individuality and difference. Xia once said, “Pick a good thing and repeat it.” In his work, Xia has always used different assemblages to present his observations on society. His work may seem inexpressive, but the pieces carry a resolute attitude and do not shy away from reality.

The Beijing News was the first time that two party organs (Guangming Daily and Southern Daily) worked together on a trans-regional collaboration. The Beijing News was mainstream print publication with high-density coverage for the Beijing market. Since 2004, Xia Xing has chosen to paint about sixty photographs from The Beijing News every year, copying them on canvas. In the painting process, Xia applied very little technique; he simply made all of the pictures from the same year a similar size. With regard to his treatment of color, he only used the three primary colors of red, yellow, blue to mechanically cover the canvas and replicate the image. In terms of content, he would choose a general direction based on the sensitive events of that year. For example, he highlighted issues related to children in 2007, he focused on civil society in 2009, and his theme was activism in 2010.