Description

Expansive landscapes, solitary figures and serene interiors characterize Xiao's contemplative and philosophical paintings

This is the first monograph for Chinese painter Xiao Jiang (born 1977), whose works are populated with subjects drawn from his everyday life and memories, imbuing his paintings with both a sense of remoteness and an emotional tenor, and evoking work by artists such as Edward Hopper. Inspired by the mountains surrounding Jinggangshan, the city of his birth, Xiao's sweeping views of peaks and highlands complement his more subdued domestic scenes that minimize humanity's presence in the world. Including a wide selection of pieces on canvas or burlap made between 2008 and the present, this monograph showcases Xiao's range of techniques and formal development as a painter. As he has said: "I would like my artworks to be less straightforward; they appear to be ordinary yet with a hint of suggestion. This helps leave room for audiences to have their own interpretation." New essays by Winnie Wong and John Yau offer insight into the artist's life, provide evocative close readings of works and situate Xiao's practice in relation to both the Western painting canon and to centuries-old Chinese artistic and philosophical traditions.