Born in Sichuan Province, China
Practicing in Song Zhuang, Beijing, China

Exhibitions
2007 
The Third Song Zhuang Art Festival, Song Zhuang
2008 
Group Exhibition, ART SEASONS Lake Zurich, Zurich
Aesthetic Encounters, ART SEASONS Beijing, Beijing
Aesthetic Encounters, ART SEASONS Singapore, Singapore


Trained as a graphic designer, Wen Xiaoya has a unique understanding of contemporary art. After settling in Beijing in early 2000, Wen Xiaoya began her career as a professional artist. The Chinese economy has been developing so rapidly in the 21st century; with great changes taking place in every field all the time, allowing the country to be graced with overwhelming prosperity. As the political and cultural capital of China, Beijing is a land of joy, festivity and harmony, which Wen Xiaoya feels keenly as a resident of the city. As contemporary art is riddled with production stunts of unquestioned faith, imaginary anger and unreal criticism, Wen Xiaoya prefers to choose a pure aesthetic approach through the presentation of the trends and truths of contemporary society through the direct use of urban culture.

Most of her paintings depict crowds against an undefined backdrop, whose identity has not been specifically identified. She also portrays events with which the public are no stranger to. Her motifs are of mundane subjects such as high-spirited leaping flagmen, excited bands of gongs and drums, auspicious lion-dancers, eye-catching Chinese martial artists, and head-wagging Fuwas. She chooses to unravel the innate spiritual rhythms as a plain social phenomenon. In her work, there is no flaunting of heroism, no morose sentimentality. What is highlighted and protrudes from her work is a long-missed national ethos. In the sphere of contemporary Chinese art, the various genres have been, without exception, to continuously elevate and revive that ethos, be it in the “Red Glow” of the early Mao era, the modern “Rural Realism”, or in the popular “Pop Art” or “Cynical Realism”. In the face of this diverse and somehow even blind self-worshipping artistic atmosphere, it is especially significant to raise the issue of national ethos.

Modern civilization brings us ample material possessions and satisfaction. However, thanks to excessively rapid development, people have been deprived of the spiritual world. We begin to lose our direction in life, to complain endlessly, and to lose our faith in life. Expressions such as “lousy air quality”, “industrial rubbish swelling out of control”, and “global warming” stimulate our nerves, rendering them restless. It is at this juncture that Wen Xiaoya brings us enlightenment from another perspective. Through authentic representation, and through the unfurling of meaning of the spiritual life in a positive fashion, she reveals just how beautiful human society is and can be.

Wen Xiaoya is good at capturing the twinkling moments of an event. The lively hues of social, national, as well as specific life experiences are pieced together in her special compositions to form a brand new viewpoint. The textured pieces that are combined weaken the 3-dimensional properties of the original images, the gradually shifting colors endowing the canvas with fluidity, while the joyous and ardent colors give rise to an atmosphere of joviality. This unique painting expression imbues her seemingly still images with motion and dynamism. At the same time, because they are contrasted with special hues, the original realism of the scene is concealed, and is replaced with an abstract painting that contains a scene. The figurativeness highlights the spirituality, making it more poignant, and through the simple narrative expression on the canvas, the viewer is empowered with a more profound impression. Usually brightly hued and multicolored, her paintings ignite fervent emotions in the viewer. The two indispensible colors in traditional Chinese culture, red and yellow, are the main protagonists in her works, and they are used to heighten the scents of tradition on the canvas. In addition, the Olympic icons that appear in her work, and the little five-star red flags that are harmoniously integrated in the abstract paintings make them full of meaning and interest. With the following of a specific activity, the recording of a particular instant, Wen Xiaoya has put her focus on these ordinary yet inspirational events – deconstructing the abstract (the blocks of colour) with the passionate (the rich colour palette) which undoubtedly instills them with a vitality of the spirit. It invigorates them and imbues them with the rhythm of life, which will last for eternity.