Details
Description
"Chinese Library No. 75" by Xiaoze Xie features an arrangement of blue, timeworn books with intricate lettering, capturing the serene yet fragile essence of cultural memory. The painting employs realistic brushwork that emphasizes texture and subtle lighting, evoking an authentic library atmosphere. Xie’s classic style contrasts the ephemeral nature of media against the enduring presence of books, prompting reflection on the preservation and vulnerability of knowledge. Created in the context of exploring cultural narratives, the artwork underscores the symbolic role of books as vessels of history and memory. ...
Xiaoze Xie exposes the hidden tensions between knowledge, memory, and power, transforming painting, sculpture, photography, and installation into reflections on cultural and historical narratives. He often focuses on books, libraries, and newspapers as symbols of knowledge, history, and the passage of time. In his large-scale paintings of bookshelves, Xie captures the textures and arrangements of volumes, evoking the atmosphere of libraries and reflecting on the fragility of cultural memory. These works highlight the endurance and vulnerability of knowledge, presenting books as silent witnesses to history. In other projects, Xie portrays stacks of folded newspapers, combining monochromatic and collage-like bands of images and text to convey the chaotic, fleeting nature of media. These works engage with historical and contemporary events, including wars and natural disasters, measuring time and history through layered visual narratives. Across his practice, Xie examines how information is preserved, suppressed, and remembered, inviting viewers to consider the forces that shape cultural heritage and the ways memory and knowledge are mediated through objects and media. ...
Xiaoze Xie: Artworks
Pi Artworks is an international contemporary art gallery with spaces in London and Istanbul. Its mission is to offer a diverse and active programme that initiates social change. Pi Artworks was founded in Istanbul in 1998. By moving to London in 2013, Pi Artworks wanted to make connections, explore “shared histories”, and bridge artists from different geographies. Pi Artworks London is located in Fitzrovia in the heart of London's West End. Pi Artworks Istanbul gallery relocated to PIyalepasa in close proximity to Arter Museum, with a 350 sq mt. space designed by Polat Group. Since its inception, the gallery has worked with emerging and established artists with the aim of allowing their work to grow in terms of new projects and exhibitions. Pi Artworks now represents a total of eighteen international artists, two-thirds of whom are female. The gallery is also a member of London Collective, and IGA (International Galleries Alliance). ...