Internationally acclaimed Chinese contemporary artist, Xu Bing, is staging his first major solo exhibition – It Begins with Metamorphosis: Xu Bing is generously supported by MetLife Foundation, the Lead Sponsor, and other partners.

Recognized for his originality, creativity, self-direction and contribution to the community, Xu Bing is known for his extraordinary print making, calligraphy and installations, as well as his works using unexpected materials such as tobacco leaves, debris and silkworms.

This exhibition features some of the artist’s latest works alongside newly commissioned works and shows how metamorphosis marks the beginning of the process of ideas and methods, which brings insights to Xu Bing and his art.

Notable works in the exhibition include newly commissioned exhibits Background Story (2014) which looks like a traditional Chinese landscape painting but is in fact, a composition made of leaves and debris; and Square Word Calligraphy (2014), an excerpt from Zhuangzi, a famous Taoist classic, written in what appears to be authentic Chinese characters but on closer examination we see they are invented characters formed by alphabet letters, a product of the artist’s imagination.

The exhibition also features artworks that provide a glimpse into Xu Bing’s life - who he is, how he started as an artist, his family relationships and where he is going today.

-Asia Society

Image: © Xu Bing
Courtesy of the artist and Asia Society