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Wu Xiaohai: Mythology
Wu Xiaohai is an adventurer who abandons tradition and knowledge, and his works always give people a glimpse of the divine halo, this exhibition is not only a visual baptism, but also a voice that is both primitive and full of divinity in the artist's perceptual experience constructed and immersive paintings, such as the interpretation in an empty theater, always reverberates with a voice that is both primitive and full of divinity, leading us into the path of the artist's subconscious. The exhibition is titled "Myth", which Wagner argues is not just a story, but the embodiment of a nation's deepest values, fears, and aspirations, and that they provide a universal language that transcends the limitations of individual cultures and historical periods. In this context, Wu Xiaohai's art becomes a container for mythology, and his diverse and complex art world becomes a means to convey profound truths and evoke collective memories to us.
01 Myth and Flesh
Wu Xiaohai's art is about the flesh, deeply rooted in matter, and resonates with the raw energy of the material world. Nietzsche once regarded the body and its experiences as the basis for understanding life. In Thus Said Zarathustra, Nietzsche wrote: "I am all body, and nothing else, and the soul is but the name of something in the body." Wu Xiaohai's art subconsciously shows this exploration of bodily consciousness, depicted through a visceral and tangible painting language. In Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Jung mentions: "A primordial image or archetype is an image...... It is constantly repeated in the course of history and appears where creative fantasies are freely expressed". The collective unconscious is a treasure trove of archetypal symbols and themes that transcend cultural and temporal boundaries. In Wu Xiaohai's work, this focus on the physical body reminds the viewer that painting, while abstract, is rooted in the human experience of the body. The work delves into the individualistic dimension of mythology, in which individual experiences and reflections on the flesh are prominent. At the same time, Jung saw myth as a reflection of the inner world of the individual, and he saw myth as a symbolic expression of universal truth, providing a framework for understanding the mystery of existence and the interconnectedness of all things. In "The King" and "Part", we see the mixed relevance, and in "Han Yu Erasing the Moon", "Dada Da Vinci and Darwin", and "Love", we see the concrete expression of poetry, the passage of time and space, the mixture of art history, and the nonsensical association with the painter Margaret, the elements in these works are mixed like entropy, full of a certain coupling of divinity, in which he emphasizes the importance of divinity in shaping social identity and collective consciousness, myths and rituals. Divinity is a means of connecting the individual with the collective, and Wu's work reflects this sociological insight, depicting scenes that resonate with shared values and a shared cultural heritage.
Exhibition view
At the same time, Wu Xiaohai is wary of the grand narrative of knowledge and modernity, which is another manifestation of the artist's emphasis on physical or individual experience. Returning to the work "Part", as well as "Adventure", "I Saw You in a Dream Last Night", etc., just like the exciting experience brought by the grand audio-visual experience in the movie "Red Hot Chili Peppers", the classic scenes in art history are not only "great", but crazy, banter, and magical. This is reminiscent of Jean-François · Lyotard's argument in The Postmodern Condition: "Reduced to the extreme, I define postmodernity as a skepticism of metanarratives". His view of art embodies this postmodernist questioning, which is dangerous, even a provocation to the viewer's experience, questioning established truths and trying to explore other ways of knowing. The artist makes us rethink our relationship with the physical body and see it as a living, breathing force that continues to shape our understanding of ourselves, our lives, and ourselves. As the viewer walks through the exhibition, it is as if they have crossed a metaphorical threshold and entered a liminal space. As a result, the boundaries of tradition disappear here, and Wu Xiaohai captures this shift through his works that integrate traditional mythological symbols with modern elements, bridging the past and the present. "We must be willing to give up the life we have planned in order to usher in the life that awaits us", in the artist's conception, the subjective experience of the individual is the core of understanding the truth.
02 In the name of mythology! Total Theater
Wagner advocated the synthesis of various art forms into a unified whole, a concept he called the "Gesamtkunstwerk" (total work of art). He believes that music, theatre and visual arts should come together to create a holistic artistic experience. While Wu's exhibitions focus primarily on painting, his work reflects this idea by incorporating elements of narrative, symbolism, and emotional resonance. For example, in the series "Untitled", works on charcoal on paper show how the artist plays a role in visual drama in painting, and he has a large number of such books on paper that tell fascinating stories in multiple dimensions. The drama and tension of the composition, the bold contrast of light and dark to create a sense of movement and tension, the fragmented perspective and immersive narrative technique, the influence of surrealism on the artist is not only limited to the language of drama and painting, but also clarifies his identification with the realism of the photographic image, which has another crucial influence on the artist's creation because of its ability to manipulate time, space and narrative structure. In the concept of "mythology", cinematic images and narratives reflect and refract social beliefs and cultural values. Wu Xiaohai inspires the viewer to confront their own beliefs or assumptions about divinity, individualism, and transcendence. His works become freeze-frames for cinematic images, creating the fluidity of time and space in the medium of art, reflecting the mythological dimension of human experience.
Exhibition view
In Wu Xiaohai's art, myth is a metaphor for introspection and cultural criticism. He reinterprets an opinion that is considered preconceived, questioning the structure of society and envisioning new possibilities for collectivity and change. The combination of ancient mythology and the artist's art that coincided with a certain religious idea gave rise to this new possibility, and the France philosopher Gaston · Bachelard's exploration of the poetics of space makes us think about the psychological and symbolic dimensions of architectural forms and spatial configurations. In Wu Xiaohai's 2017 series of works "Life", we can gain insight into the artist's "one space", which breaks the limitations of painting's exploration of dimensions, Wu Xiaohai uses painting, sculpture and other media to show a vast and complex system, as well as the ambition to control the medium, in the utopian world built by the artist, art is like an atmosphere wrapped in the surface of this sphere, which he seems to echo Bachelard's concept, "The house is memory, A repository of dreams and imaginations – a sacred space where the boundaries between the inner and outer worlds dissolve".
03 The realm of mythology
In this exhibition, through a series of exhibitions of Wu Xiaohai's works, I am compelled to refer once again to Wagner's assertion that "art should pursue the realm of mythology". Modernity is characterized by a continuous process of self-examination and redefinition. In this context, the use of mythological elements can be seen as an act of reflection through which the artist looks back to the cultural heritage and understands and grasps the present. Under the evolution of the (de)globalization situation, Chinese artists also urgently need to write narratives, myths, symbols and cultural heritage that belong to their own cultural background, which can be regarded as a narrative way to integrate the traditional and classical into the present. In addition to the influence of culture and globalization, the use of "mythical" elements in contemporary Chinese painting is also driven by the appeal to new forms of expression. "Mythology" provides a rich symbolic language that allows artists to explore complex themes and emotions beyond the limitations of textual expression. Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss argues that myth is a form ·of "patchwork" in which different elements are combined to create new meanings. From this point of view, myth is a way of understanding the world, organizing chaotic experiences into coherent narratives.
Exhibition view
In this context, Wu Xiaohai's work is full of forward-looking, and I hope that this exhibition will not only showcase the artist's art, but also inspire the viewer to start their own "mythological exploration" in the depths of the subconscious. As the curator of this exhibition, I am honored to witness the evolution of Wu Xiaohai's art, and to share with you his insights into mythology, divinity, and the nature of human consciousness. May this exhibition be a beacon of evidence that art has the power to illuminate, inspire and transform the present.
(Text/Zhu Tong)
Dialogue on "Mythology" (partial)
Z=Zhu Tong
W = Wu Xiaohai
Z: I think there is a very strong relationship between your earlier sketches and these paintings, when did you start working on these easel works?
W: It started around '05. I have always paid attention to things with figurative characteristics, which are themselves a form of consciousness, and when they see figurative pictures, many people will subconsciously make up the narrative direction of the painting. There is no need to actively conceive and plan, as long as the recognizable image is put together, it is easy to think that the picture has a lot to say. But in fact, when I draw these paintings, my mind is mostly blank. I like to spend time painting in such a blind state, and after more than 20 years of sketching, I began to change materials and tools to complete this batch of colored works.
Exhibition view
Z: When did you focus on these works?
W: During the pandemic, I was painting almost every day. These works are quite in line with my mentality at the time, I didn't care what the painting looked like or what I wanted to do, the whole atmosphere and individuals were quite confused at that time, but it was a very precipitated and self-contained creative state. Whether it is a good era or a bad era, for artists, it is a material library for creative processing.
Exhibition view
Z: How do you think the casual intentions in your work relate to your subconscious thoughts or past experiences?
W: I always want to run contradictions through my work. For example, education has brought me some standardized dogmas, and I always try to identify those things in the dogma that have artistic practice value, and this habit of skepticism has formed my thinking pattern. When I make works, I try to empty my mind as much as possible, and I only work with my eyes and hands, and everything that comes out of my blind creative state seems to come from the subconscious. Smearing in an empty state, like shouting, rehearsing a play, building a theater, synchronizing a world. The reality is chaotic, the world is chaotic, as if it is my stand-in crawling inside, repeatedly tempting to deliberately offend.
Exhibition view
(Source: ArtAlpha)
Work appreciation
Part，布面油画，200×300cm，2024
Han Yu Erase the Moon, oil on canvas, 120×80cm, 2024
奇遇，布面油画，210×271cm，2021
Tian Shan, oil on canvas, 140×180cm, 2021-2024
About the Artist
Wu Xiaohai, born in Hunan in 1972, graduated from the Mural Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1997. He is currently a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the deputy dean of the Graduate School of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. IN 2008, HE WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF THE "TOP 10 MOST PROMISING ARTISTS IN THE WORLD IN 2008" BY BEAUX ART. His works have been exhibited at the STARKE Foundation in Berlin, London/Scottish Film Society, Théâtre Nationale de Chaillois in Paris, Grand Palais de Paris, BFI United Kingdom Film Association, National Gallery of Bulgaria, Crown Prince Foundation Institute of Traditional Arts, Inside-Out Art Museum, Chengdu Art Museum, Wuhan Art Museum, Xi'an Museum of Contemporary Art, CAFA Art Museum, and several important foreign institutions in France, Germany, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Spain and other important foreign institutions. His works have been collected by the CAFA Art Museum, FRAC Pays de la Loire, the France government and other institutions.
About the curator
Zhu Tong, curator of contemporary art, has curated "Future Archaeology - The Second Triennial of Chinese Art" (Nanjing Museum), "Writing: The First Nanjing International Biennale" (Jiangsu Art Museum), "Hazy - The 54th Venice Art Biennale Special Exhibition" (Venice, Italy), "Within Sight - Chinese New Painting in the Post-Financial Crisis Era" (Poly Museum, France Taylor Foundation, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan, etc.), "Brave New World - Nanjing Second International Art Exhibition" Unbounded - Contemporary Art from China (Arte de Mantegna, Italy) and many other important exhibition projects at home and abroad. He has published many academic monographs such as "Evolution", "Transcendent Dimension" and "Fantasy".