Aye Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Shi Xinji, featuring paintings influenced through the themes by plants, animals and nature in general.

"Shi Xinji never conceals the influence of Buddhism and Taoism. He likes to use “joy trip”, “fairy”, “arhat”, “elixir”, or “immortal fruits” to name his works. And we can find his clear consciousness of “refreshing state” from such names “taking summer holiday” and “clear summer”. Personally, I particularly like The South Mountains, Mountain in Autumn, Clear Summer, Spring Snow, A Joy Trip, Mountain in Winter, Immortal Fruit, and Far Away, etc. Their color can give people a kind of cool feelings, pure and elegant. They are treated by Chinese style surrealism, to be like wonderland. However, Shi Xinji’s works are very different with the Surrealism Pop. Although his works have very clear character of Surrealism Pop, but it is not as exaggerated as Surrealist Pop. Although his painting language is very pure, it is much more complex and full of flavor than Surrealism Pop. After several years of exploration, Shi Xinji’s painting language is maturing. This is a rare language which can combine oil painting and Chinese traditional painting perfectly. It is much richer than simply writing.

In addition to these formal aspects, the fascinating point of Shi Xinji’s works is that they have a kind of detached, refined spiritual quality. And we cannot find any artificial marks from them. They are totally the natural expression of his mind. Judging from this, we can find that Shi Xinji makes the effort not only on the works, but also on his cultivation out of his paintings. In this hustle and bustle times, it’s very hard to keep a quiet inner heart. From himself and his works, we seem to be able to see the demeanor of a transcendent being in Jin Dynasty. In this sense, if we consider Shi Xinji’s works as the critique to the ecological crisis, it seems to be too simple and straightforward. If we said that we can find out certain critical spirit, it doesn’t point to a specific social problem, but the contemporary lifestyle as a whole. Xinji doesn’t expose the social problems or restrict certain behavior, like contemporary artists. He just shows us an ideal, and hopes people achieve the goal of improvement by chasing that ideal. If it is said that the contemporary art is full of harsh taboos, then, Shi Xinji’s works give people beautiful hopes. Enjoying Shi Xinji’s works seems to drink sweet spring, seeping into people’s hearts, rippling in the breeze. They make people stand out from the muddy nature and society. In fact, the effect of the subtle impact of art is far better than empty preaching."

Words by: Weixiu Yuan, Peking University

Image: © Shi Xinji, Aye Gallery