Xiaoze Xie: Lost Tales and Recovered Histories
Pi Artworks is thrilled to present a solo exhibition of mixed media works by Chinese-American artist and professor, Xiaoze Xie.
Lost Tales and Recovered Histories brings together two bodies of Xie’s work: recent paintings from The Library Series, and a new sculpture series titled Amber of History. Through installation, sculpture, painting, and ink drawing, Xie explores the interrelatedness of books, libraries, and historical events, interrogating the vulnerability and deterioration of history and memory.
The Library Series is Xie’s largest body of work, which he started in 1993, after being intrigued by ‘sleeping’ rows of books. Xie uses a rich palette to give hints of the books’ content and emotional resonance, and to evoke the space and atmosphere of the institutions that house them.
Likewise, the 1900 opening and consequent dismantling of the Library Cave at Dunhuang has been another important artistic influence for Xie for nearly a decade, and his series of resin sculptures Amber of History, which includes Rain of Languages (2023) and Splendor of Colors (2023), takes the architectural form and physical dimension of the Library Cave as his starting point.
Ultimately, Xiaoze Xie’s project deals with the Library Cave’s complex and troubling history of dislocation and loss, as well as preservation and transformation of culture
