Two extremes take centre stage in Xie Lei‘s new works. During his one-month residency at the Villa Medici in Rome, six new works were created. Inspired by Friedrich Hölderin‘s Nachtgesänge, Xie thematises the night as the time of human instinctivity, and as a safe space in which sexuality and identity can be freely expressed. Desires, concealed by day, transpire in the twilight, unfolding in all their beauty and horror in the night. Innermost encounters and threatening interactions emerge unreservedly out of memories. Lust and longing are juxtaposed with violence and dominance. Despite the overlaps between both themes, Xie treats them as two distinctly different subjects. Connection is established through the depiction of hands and touches, whose colour connotations alone convey their meaning. The colour palette reveals the artist‘s emotion in relation to what is depicted: deep blue and dark violet tones conjure up a sense of danger and fear, while bright yellows and greens evoke stirrings of intimacy and excitement. In some cases, the glaring light substitutes an object or body part. Indeed, it takes the place of the object of desire and creates a space for personal associations, expanding the understanding of what we as a multi-layered and inhomogeneous society are striving for. Mostly monochrome, gestural brushstrokes form torsos, feet, mouths, and arms. By assigning none of the depicted figures a complete face, Xie leaves the identity of his protagonists undefined. In this way, he opens the works to the viewer and enables them to empathise with the scenes depicted. Xie lends his works, which oscillate between tragedy and ecstasy, a dream-like quality that also emphasises the omnipresent desire for love and security.

Text Lorenz Ecker