Xiao Jiang
Xiao Jiang (b. 1977, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province, China) creates atmospheric oil paintings of landscapes, people, and interiors. His subjects are drawn from his daily routine, mostly deriving from his own photographs, and serve as extensions of his lived experience. Jiang takes a painterly, imaginative approach to his source imagery, generating pictures of real places that are simultaneously detached and emotive. Inspired by a childhood of growing up in the mountains, Jiang’s expansive landscapes and rugged highlands are sites of unconscious expression and serve as meditative repositories for the artist’s inner thoughts. Human presence is often implied through empty, man-made paths that act as metaphors of the idiomatic ‘road ahead.’ The artist structures his paintings using complementary shades of muted red and green that echo the quiet harmony of his subjects. Visual elements are simplified into flat planes of color, barely modulated and stripped of fine detail. The resulting works are reflective and reminiscent of the poetic solitude of Edward Hopper paintings. As the artist has stated: “I would like my artworks to be less straightforward; they appeared to be ordinary yet with a hint of suggestion. This helps leave room for audiences to have their own interpretation.” Jiang obtained a degree from China Academy of Art in 2003.
Recent solo exhibitions include López de la Serna Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid (2023–2024); Karma, New York (2022); Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai (2021, 2018); LEO Gallery, Hong Kong (2020); and MOCUBE, Beijing (2017). His work is held in the collections of the Aïshti Foundation, Beirut; Dallas Museum of Art; and the EMDASH Foundation, Berlin, among others.
Born 1977, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province, China
Lives and works in Shanghai, China
EDUCATION
2003
China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
2000
Nanchang Professional Technology Academy, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023-24
López de la Serna CAC, Madrid, Spain, Ordinary Days
2023
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Xiao Jiang: Hills Beyond a Breeze
2022
Karma, New York, Continuous Passage
2021
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, An Inward Odyssey
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Mountains Aside
2020
LEO Gallery, Hong Kong, In Common
2018
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Right in Sight
2017
MOCUBE, Beijing, MOUNTAINS
2015
BIG SPACE, Shanghai, PARK
2014
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Along the Way
2013
Café Showroom, Taipei, Object / Room
2012
Platform China, Beijing, Sign for an inexistent river
2011
Platform China, Beijing, 19 Solo Shows About Painting
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, No Man’s Land
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
70 Main Street, Thomaston, Maine, A Particular Kind of Heaven
2023
TANK, Shanghai, Friends in the Arts
ASE Art Space, Shanghai, Upstairs Cities
Galerie du Monde Hong Kong, Lost in Translation
2021
Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, Spring Fever 2021
2020
Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, Platform China’s 15th Anniversary Special Exhibition
2020
MOCUBE, Beijing, Work and Wait in Silence – Mocube Five-Year Anniversary Exhibition
2019
UNArt Center, Shanghai, The Kind Stranger
BIG SPACE X Chino gallery, Shanghai, Incandescence
Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, Group Exhibition in Summer – To Youth
2017
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Pieces
N3 Contemporary Art, Beijing, Socialist Baroque
ShangART, Shanghai, Decoherence
2016
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Warehouse Story V
2015
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Warehouse Story IV
Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Chengdu, The Park
Today Art Museum, Beijing, IVY ART 2015 – Chinese Young Artists Annual Exhibition
Galerie Huit, Hong Kong, Illusory Realness and Truth
SVA-NYC Art Platform, Shanghai, Resolution
2014
Café Showroom, Taipei, The Thorn of Life
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Warehouse Story – The 10th Anniversary
Olympia Grand Hall, London, ART 14 London
Night of Shanghai Art Theatre, Shanghai, RED
Jewelvary Art & Boutique, Shanghai, Study
K11 art space, Shanghai, Art in the City
2013
M50 Art Space, Shanghai, Studio
Platform China, Shanghai, Jungle II – A Diffuse Pattern
V Art Center, Shanghai, The Sun
K11 art space, Shanghai, Shanghai Surprise
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Warehouse Story II
2012
Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, Daily of concept – A practice of life
YOUNG ART TAIPEI, Taipei
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, Showtime
Platform China, Beijing, Re – Painting
Bund18, Shanghai, Contemporary Art Exhibition of Chinese Young Artists
2011
M50 Art Space, Shanghai, The Youth Sale Store
TOP Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, Contemporary Art Top Events
World Trade Center, Beijing, China International Gallery Exhibition
Arrow Faxtory, Beijing, Décor
Galleria Dell‘Arco, Shanghai, Yun Lang Project
M50 Art Space, Shanghai, At Sixes and Sevens
Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai, Shell Economics
Chongqing art museum, Chongqing, The 2nd chongqing Biennale for Young Artists
Qinghe art museum, Nanjing, Daily – depicting the cultural existence 2nd
Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork, IE, contemporary china
2010
MOCA, Shanghai, Reflections of minds – MOCA Shanghai envisage
Shift Space, Shanghai, 2nd time- mindless but pleased
Shift Space, Shanghai, Opening exhibition – use the hand do the job
Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, In the blink of an eye
Qinghe art museum, Nanjing, Daily – depicting the cultural existence
2008
YueZhouRoad No.50, Shanghai, Gray Fertilizer Is Gray
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Aishti Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
EMDASH Foundation, Berlin, Germany
