The newest work styles of Xu Xiaoguo are different from his past classical humanism styles, he throws away all the possibilities from the past, and turns into a complete agnostic, in which he tries to reconsider all the values of the reality. The changes of his ideas were basically from his self-examination and questionings, but it is the basics of his earlier works like "The Manufactural sceneries", "Stage", and "The Holy places". The series of works above are full of classical characteristics and ideas, while the artist shows us a virtual world different from the presence of the image, and created an independent art order towards our reality.
From the establishment of the ancient Greek philosophy to the Hegel philosophy system, classical philosophies were believed to have an absolute truth, but philosophers like Conde, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche overthrew this tradition, and completely overturned the belief for the absolute truth. The "new-born" philosophers both completed the deconstruction and criticism of their philosophy idols, and also completed their criticism towards the historical collusion, the world itself is spontaneous, co-incidental, and unknown.
Xu Xiaoguo, A Shepherd, 2010; oil on canvas, 350x400cm 60x50cm
Xu Xiaoguo, Consumptions of Rights, 2010; oil on canvas, 215x320cm
Xu Xiaoguo, Landscape, 2012; oil on canvas, 215x320cm
The truth of classical philosophy is considered to be in accordance with the language and things, from the "ideas" of Plato, Conde's "things in itself", and Schopenhauer' s idea of " things in themselves", philosophers pursue an understanding of how this accordance can be possible. Things can be very realistic and material, but language is abstract, we need to find the evidence towards the form for the world of sense and the world of the intellectual.
Based on those concepts, Xu Xiaoguo started a new search and reflects on the relationships between the classicism of the image and the meaningless image. From the classical confirmed idols, and the unchallengeable rules of the idols, also those idols who were openly overthrown by artists.
Xu Xiaoguo, Leukoethiope, 2012; oil on canvas, 200x300cm
Xu Xiaoguo, Painted Cage, 2012; oil on canvaqs, 160x120cm
Xu Xiaoguo, The Dividing Line, 2012; oil on canvas, 120x150cm
Therefore, could we make it a pure form, turn a meaningless form into a classic, and also put the pretentious classics into the original language of meaning, it became Xu Xiaoguo's newest painting concept. The topics and characteristics of the painting became a blurry and uncertain figure, figures like Mickey mouse, box, cap, ladders, balls, Stalin, chairs, tiger skin, skull, monkey head, flowers, cage, and lobsters, all those unrelated figures all had an unreal meaning, and makes the artist find its intellectual existence.
From a human point of view, in other words it makes time and space into a dimension, just like how we sense things from it's mass, size, shape, and color. Without those characteristics, we can't spread our imagination towards the figure. Therefore, the accordance towards the language and things can only be possible within our consciousness. It also means the change is only within human's consciousness. It might be impossible for us to understand the truth of things, all we can understand is the surface of things.
About the Exhibition
Curator: Dai Zhuoqun
Opening: Saturday, June 16, 2012, 4p.m.
Dates: June 16, 2012 –July 9, 2012
Venue: WHITE BOX MUSEUM OF ART, 798 Art Dist
Courtesy of Xu Xiaoguo and White Box Museum of Art, for further information please visit www.798whitebox.com.
