Wang Xingwei

I see the artist as a postman, delivering letters. He should not be overly curious about what is inside the envelopes.
–Wang Xingwei

In the two decades of his mature output, Wang Xingwei has created an artistic universe all his own, where references collide, characters recur, and styles proliferate, all articulated in a deliciously skillful range of styles. In this, the artist’s most comprehensive monograph to date, 109 color plates are non- chronologically featured in three major sections based on the relationship of the painter or viewer to the figure depicted: rear views, profiles, and frontal views. Accompanying texts by art scholars, curators, and critics Raphael Gygax, Zhang Li, and Nataline Colonnello, in addition to a foreword by UCCA director Philip Tinari, make this an essential document of one of China’s most intriguing painters.

Published in conjunction with the artist’s first large-scale retrospective exhibition, “Wang Xingwei,” held at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing.