Huang Xu was born in Beijing in 1968. He established the Sub-stratum Art Studio in 1989, Migrant Bird Art Studio in 1991 and the Big Basin Studio in 2003. He works as both a professional and commercial photographer in Beijing. solo exhibitions 2009 Fragment, October Gallery, London. 2008 Fragments, Arc 1 Gallery, Melbourne, Australia; Artists Residence Program - Huang Xu: Untitled (Mixed Media on Canvas), ColorElefante C, Valenci, Spain; Huang Xu Solo exhibition, Mulpa Space, Beijing. 1996/1995 Huang Xu Solo Exhibition, Free Man Saloon.2007 Huang Xus Photograph, La Case Art Spaces, Beijing, China. selected group exhibitions2009 Catching Light, Quac Space, Beijing; Beautiful World, Stella Downer Gallery, Sydney; 2 Voices, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane. 2008 Luminous Dark, Bleibtreu Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Luminous Dark, King on William Gallery, Sydney, Australia; Huang Xu: Plastic Bags, Art Beijing 2008, China; Dancing with the Dragon: Contemporary Art From Beijing, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, North Carolina, USA; Meaning-Less Photo Exhibition, VIS A VIS Artlab, Beijing, China; P.O.P. (Painting/Print/Photography) Exhibition from Beijing & New York Artists, Pickled art center, Beijing, China; Act First and Report Afterwards, 3 Space, Beijing; In Lens, Out of Lens, Duke Art Space, Beijing; C.A.P. Launch, Two Lines Space, Beijing; Whatever, Dou Zhen Space, Beijing. 2007 Warm Up, Hot Sun Space, Beijing; Ke Center Gallery, Shanghai. 2006 Paper View, Two Lines Gallery; Allocate, Beijing International Art Campus (BIAC). 2005 Demolish, Demolish, Demolish, BIAC; The Non Government Center, Master Art Center, Beijing; The First and Second Open Exhibitions, BIAC, Beijing. 2003 Going to Market, Shangri La Community Art Center, Beijing. publications Photo Images published in Beijing Photo Newly 1 and 2, 1999 and 1997.

Fragments / Cultural Landscapes

In his new photographic series contemporary Chinese photographer Huang Xu has created images both arresting and mysterious. Using nothing more than discarded plastic shopping bags the artist has arranged these items like the sumptuous folds of delicate silken garments. Hanging in space this most common of materials is here transformed into diaphanous and indeterminate shapes, closer in appearance to vaporous wisps of cloud than the universal holdall of the worlds daily goods.
Recalling the traditional fabrics of his countrys imperial past, Xus aesthetic program is unquestionably Chinese in character. The dynamic movements expressed in these interlocking fragments are similar to the rhythmic energies of ancient Chinese calligraphy, martial arts and acrobatics. Simultaneously their appearance seems reminiscent of 19th Century spirit photography. Xus images rise from their darkened settings like spirits in a drawing room spirit reading. Rather like billowing clouds their masterful formulations give rise to all manner of possibilities.
Were we to ask these apparitions what message they come to deliver one suspects their response to be a plea for environmental sanity. After all, the bags from which they are composed contribute daily to the worlds accumulation of refuse and ever increasing rubbish heaps. They are what we will become.
The crux of Xus images hinges on their positioning between a historically laden aesthetic and a material that threatens to disrupt our current social order. Here one must acknowledge Xu as a Chinese contemporary artist whose work reflects critically on his nations rush to modernity, even in the face of its long history of self-reliance. Where once the world had an insatiable appetite for Chinese silk (from which the great old road takes its name) now there is an even greater demand for all things cheap and disposable.
In addition to his fragments series, Huang Xu has turned his attention to the tradition of Chinese scholars rocks or Gngsh. Also known as Spirit Rocks, these naturally occurring minerals were once used by Chinese scholars as an aid to their daily meditations. Similar to the concerns at play in Xus earlier series this new photographic suite brings to light the extent of the artists preoccupation with the philosophical traditions of his native homeland. Viewed together they provide an insightful reflection on the ever changable nature of matter, moving from conditions of solidity to flux and decay.
Huang Xus work looks to the past as a way of negotiating the present and the future. In this he asserts a language rooted in nature, at once complex yet strangely reductive in form. Through this he has mirrored many of the contradictions inherent in Chinese culture today.

Damian Smith, 2008

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