We are delighted to announce that Yang Xinguang's solo exhibition will open on November 28, 2019. As his fourth show at Beijing Commune, “Above the Soil” will showcase the artist's latest works and run until February 5, 2020.
Over the last few years, Yang Xinguang seems to always take “soil” as his starting point. Using natural materials like twigs, leaves and foxtails that can be found “above the soil”, the show maintains the internal logic that runs throughout the artist’s creative process, one in which he sets out to explore the changes and evolution of the form according to the order of nature. One of Yang Xinguang’s recent experiments includes spraying acrylic paint onto dead plants and withered leaves, during which the natural quality of the vegetation is gradually replaced by a social quality brought by the various bright and artificial colors, ranging from iridescent green, yellow and copper to pastel green, violet and blue. As a result, nature is absorbed into the chain of production. While flamboyant colors stand out against the plain backdrop, they are neverthess toned down to set off the irregular color blocks when being brought to the back. The color contrast nicely compliments the black and white exhibition wall.
Rugged rocks store mineral pigments, and “soils” are essentially collective particles of the consolidated mineral mass. They neither bury nor reject any form of life. In this exhibitioh, dark and solid rocks are purposefully enlarged to spread the walls so that their natural status gives way to being part of the urban environment. The artificial colors in this new body of work serve to remind us that the “estranged” landscape is no longer made of mineral matter in a traditional way, albeit its natural elements could still grow locally and grasscycle. In the process, each material’s origianl cultural quality is subverted.
Yang Xinguang strives to trace the origin of nature, whilst explore to what extent this original state can be transformed by art. Through his intervention, a new landscape is unfolded in the exhibition space to challenge audience’s aesthetic appreciation. The eyes will step in for the body to ramble in the space. This turns to Yang Xinguang's consistent position as a contemporary person who would estrange “tradition" so as to reset his relationship with the world.
