Xue Song 薛松 (b. 1965)

Xue Song’s art finds expression in the negative space usually left behind: soot and ash are crucial elements in his art, and the outlines of many of the figures in his images look as if they have been burned out. For Xue, ash is a reminder of fate and a symbol of rebirth. Fire plays a central role in Xue Song’s work. It is a form of mourning. Time and again the artist elaborates on the fire that burned down his studio in the early 1990s, destroying all of his work to date, mainly oil paintings and calligraphy. The charred leftovers of pictures rescued from the ashes are used as fragments in the new works, as a kind of memorabilia of past events. The collages become a tactile site of remembrance and reflection with traces of the fire unavoidably present. Xue produces scenes that pick up on themes of traditional painting and calligraphy, as well as combines them, for example, with silhouettes of contemporary politicians.

Xue is known for his innovative integration of contemporary elements with elements manifested in the collective cultural memory. He continues to invent new forms and reinvent those left by tradition. The approaches and explorations are not only inspired by traditional calligraphy but are also transformed. By collecting random samples of mass media language, including the revolutionary language of Mao and contemporary consumer culture language, Xue Song creates a kind of multi-sensory imagery. Scattered across the canvas, the visual juxtapositions are whimsical and inspired, proving that the artist possesses a keen eye for colour and form.

Xue Song’s distinctive collages represent the many different aspects of Chinese culture; he incorporates traditional Chinese paintings, ancient calligraphy, folk art, religious icons, legendary figures and historical photographs, effectively erasing any categorical imperatives. His methodology is one of appropriation, manipulation and subversion in order to create a subjective universe that manifests his personal memories and loses.

Xue Song was born in 1965 in Anhui province. He graduated from the Shanghai Drama Institute, Stage Design Department in 1988. He resides and works in Shanghai. Xue Song has exhibited widely since his first solo exhibition in 1999. Recent exhibition including Phoenix Art from the Artist Xue Song, Long Museum, Shanghai (2019); Xue Song: The Mountain Echoes, ShanghART Singapore (2016); The Fragment Time, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an (2013); XUE Song, New Shanghai Style Paintings, MoCA, Singapore (2013); Xue Song: Piercing Through History and the Fashion, A Retrospective from 1988-2011, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai (2011); A Fashion, Or the History?, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2010); Looking Back: Deconstruction Classics, Xue Song Portfolio, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai (2009); Xue Song Solo Exhibition, ArtChina, Hamburg, Germany (2007) and more.

Education

1988 | Department of Dance, Shanghai Academy of Drama

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2019 | Xue Song: Phoenix Art form the Ashes, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai
2015 | Chinese Pop Art, Solo Exhibitions of Xue Song and Wei Guangqing, Asia-pacific Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
2013 | New Shanghai School, Solo Exhibition of Xue Song, MOCA, Singapore
2011 | Cross History and Fashion, a Retrospective of Xue Song 1988-2011, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai
2010 | History or Fashion?, Solo Exhibition of Xue Song, the Ueno Royal Museum Tokyo, Japan
2008 | Solo Exhibition of Xue Song, Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, New York, USA
2002 | Ver Da Ga – Xue Song 2002 Fashion Series, ShanghART, Shanghai

Selected Group Exhibitions

2020 | Psychedelic-Urban landscape and abstraction, Shang Hai Ming Yuan Art Museum, Shanghai / In the name of flower, Pearl Art Museum, Shanghai,
2015 | Mysterious Characters – Calligraphy in Chinese Contemporary Art, Dam Gate Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
2014 | Ethic as the DNA of Art – the 9th Florence Biennale, Exhibition Center of Florence, Italy
2013 | Portraits of the Time – 30 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, Power Station of Art, Shanghai
2008 | Chinese New Vision, La Spezia Contemporary, Italy
2007 | Social Art, Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of Russia, Moscow, Russia
2005 | Orient – Modern Art of China, Madrid, Spain / Awaking – the French Influence on Chinese Art, National Art Museum of China, Beijing
2004 | Dreaming of the Dragon’s Nation – Contemporary Art of China, Contemporary Art Museum of Ireland, Ireland
2002 | Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Green Dog & Masters, London, UK
1996 | China!, Touring Exhibition, Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany