Xuan, is black. Black constitutes the general color tone inLiu Wentao’s minimal paintings in recent years. This black drawn from pencils builds a lineage-like characteristic that makes the texture of each painting apparent. Yet, black does not encompass all aspects ofLiu Wentao’s paintings, because it is not only the shared “concrete” element of among surfaces of various structures and depth.
As a practitioner of form, for the artist, the void acts as a point of inception for his practice. The black straight lines drawnin pencil donot intentionally attempt to create meaning, but the artist continues to experiment the dialectical relationship in the homogeny of the “void” and “concrete”. InLiu Wentao’s recent experiments with painting, the artist generates spatial forms based on mathematical models, that is both a figurative representation of the “concrete”, while conveying certain infinity that does not suggest the disappearance of the “void”, instead, the possibility that the “void” may engender. As it is stated by Mu Zongsan, “There are two ways of the Tao, one is void, the other is concrete, when they come into a circle as one, become what is referred to as Xuan.”
This is the fourth solo exhibition of liu Wentao Xuan at WHITE SPACE BEIJING.
Liu Wentao was born in 1973,Qing Dao. Hehas studied at Central Academy of Fine Arts andUniversityofMassachusetts, currently living and working inBeijing. His recent exhibitions include “Inter-Vision - A Contemporary Exhibition Across The Strait”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan; ”Light and Shadow”, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai.
