The painting features two figures against a stark blue background. The prominent use of black and dark tones creates a moody, contemplative atmosphere. The composition draws attention to the gesture of one figure raising a hand to their lips, suggesting a moment of quiet contemplation or introspection. The overall style is reminiscent of early modernist portraiture, with the artist employing simplified shapes and muted colors to convey a sense of psychological depth and human connection. The work invites the viewer to ponder the relationship between the two figures and the emotions evoked by their interaction. ...
Xinyi Cheng’s enegramic paintings depict the subjects of the artist's daily encounters. Her – at first glance – soft and pensive works manifest complexities of intimacy, emotion and desire, capturing and translating the state of being in the world. Through a gentle play of light and colour, the gestures, portraits and landscapes become translucent while remaining vivid in their emotive force. A man sitting on the sofa in his boxes and speaking on the phone, a small dog called Monroe staring at a bone, anonymous hands lighting someone’s cigarette, a couple frozen in embrace, the artist’s visual universe is familiar in its hazy everydayness. Reminiscent of the style and colour palette of such artists as Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas and Picasso, Cheng’s is strikingly unique yet universal. Cheng’s work is an intimate exploration of what it means to be human, together in the world. ...
Balice Hertling was founded in 2007 by Daniele Balice and Alexander Hertling. Balice Hertling has hosted the debut solo shows of many artists like Camille Blatrix, Xinyi Cheng and Isabelle Cornaro—all of whom have gone on to earn widespread recognition. From 2012 to 2016, gallery founders Daniele Balice and Alexander Hertling operated a project space in Manhattan. Returning to France in 2017, they relocated the main gallery to Paris’ Marais district and transformed the former Belleville location into a space for curated projects and shows by younger artists. Indeed, many artists represented by the gallery exemplify unique subcommunities of the emergent art world. This breadth of representation also translates to a breadth of medium, as the gallery represents painters as well as artists working in mixed media such as film, performance and sculptural objects. The gallery also represents artists whose careers are more established : British conceptual artist Stephen Willats, Syrian-born painter and sculptor Simone Fattal, and Italian artist Enzo Cucchi. In its programming and practices, Balice Hertling constantly works toward creating a more diverse and equitable art landscape. In this spirit, the gallery is proud to represent the Estate of Behjat Sadr, who was the first woman artist to be recognized as a modern master in Iran. As a result of the pandemic, the gallery co-founded « Palai » in the summer of 2021, a yearly exhibition hosting a small group of galleries from around the world, in historic locations in Lecce, a city in Italy's Puglia region. Palai is neither a curated exhibition nor a fair, it is thought to be a version of a residency, a collegial collaboration, where artists, galleries, and friends of the art world come together. In 2021 Balice Hertling relocated and brought closer both spaces in the Marais with a new main space inaugurated by a Ser Serpas scultpure solo show, and a new showroom and project space on rue de Montmorency. ...
