Suyi Xu
b. 1996, Shanghai, China
Xu’s paintings are meditations on space, interiors, and architecture that morphs into meditations on color fields.
By interjecting historical references and idiosyncratic symbolic elements, she paints through speculation and inward thinking instead of direct observation. Each work is touched, caressed, and brushed with layers of oil paints to allow forms to build up over time and colors to emerge underneath. By manipulating perspective, framing, and chromatic choices, she aims to merge subject matter with a formal consciousness and to resolve the tension between two-dimensionality and illusions. Her subjects are responses to the spiritual crisis of contemporary existence, and her method a visceral engagement with the painting medium driven by the idea of a sacred intent.
Selected Works
Suyi Xu, Through A Glass Darkly, 2021. Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 inches ©Suyi Xu, Photograph by Xi Zhou, courtesy of Fou Gallery
Suyi Xu, All that is Solid Melts into Air, 2020. Oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches ©Suyi Xu, Photograph by Xi Zhou, courtesy of Fou Gallery
Suyi Xu, Belladonna, 2022. Oil on linen, 48 x 36 inches ©Suyi Xu, Photograph by Xi Zhou, courtesy of Fou Gallery
Suyi Xu, Consulting Lights (Study of Rembrandt/removing the figure), 2022. Oil on linen, 14 x 11 inches ©Suyi Xu, Photograph by Xi Zhou, courtesy of Fou Gallery
Suyi Xu, Fidelio, 2021. Oil on canvas, 64 x 48 inches ©Suyi Xu, Photograph by Xi Zhou, courtesy of Fou Gallery
Suyi Xu, A Woman under the Influence, 2021. Oil on canvas, 72 x 48 inches ©Suyi Xu, Photograph by Xi Zhou, courtesy of Fou Gallery
Exhibitions
Suyi Xu: All that is Solid Melts into Air
September 24th–December 18th, 2022