{"id":6540,"date":"2025-05-13T12:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/observer-arts-interviews-artist-feng-xiao-min\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T12:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:59:11","slug":"observer-arts-interviews-artist-feng-xiao-min","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/observer-arts-interviews-artist-feng-xiao-min\/","title":{"rendered":"Observer Arts Interviews: Artist Feng Xiao-Min"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Feng
Feng Xiao-Min, Composition n\u00b06.4.23<\/em>, 2023; acrylic on canvas, 195 x 130 cm | 76.8 x 51.2 in. Courtesy of the artist, Opera Gallery, and \u00a9 On White Wall<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Born in Shanghai in 1959 into a family of intellectuals, Feng Xiao-Min<\/a> began studying Chinese ink painting and calligraphy at an early age. Nearly thirty years later, he moved to Paris to pursue an artistic career. He attended \u00c9cole Nationale Sup\u00e9rieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris and, there, began developing a painting style inspired by both Chinese and French artistic traditions. His abstract yet colorful paintings, adored by individual and institutional collectors alike, create a unique visual impact of tranquility and fluidity on the picture plane.<\/p>\n

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Feng\u2019s endeavor to develop a style that bridges Chinese and French artistic languages has come a long way. \u201cIn my first exhibition, I showed twenty-eight works, but none of them sold. It was hugely frustrating,\u201d Feng told Observer. His ink paintings, when exhibited outside their cultural context, required more mediation to be appreciated by audiences. After that disheartening experience, he spent extensive time reflecting on how his works could speak to the French art background and began pairing the techniques he\u2019d spent years perfecting with new mediums.<\/p>\n

According to Feng, instead of pursuing depth in color textures as in European oil paintings, Chinese painting emphasizes the smoothness of brushwork across the picture plane\u2014something European audiences often associate with watercolors. \u201cThe pursuit of color effect is something embedded in European art, as the inspiration is everywhere: the unique nature, history or even more quotidian things like the curation of shop windows,\u201d he said. He eventually realized that such depth of color could not be achieved using traditional ink pigments. \u201cI found that the more vibrant and diverse color schemes in oil paintings speak better to the French audience, so I worked to create more visible color effects. My first step was to mount my paintings on Chinese rice paper onto canvases, as paper surfaces are too fragile,\u201d Feng added.<\/p>\n

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While experimenting with canvases, Feng considered critically the Chinese ink painting traditions he inherited. \u201cWhen I was young, we all painted by modeling after painting manuals like the Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden, and thought that it was the best form of painting,\u201d he explained. \u201cHowever, what it teaches us is a highly stylized way of painting individual motifs that, in a way, limit individual creativity. A painter has to go beyond that, otherwise everyone\u2019s work will end up looking the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Feng\"Feng
Feng Xiao-Min, Composition n\u00b010.2.24<\/em>, 2024; acrylic on canvas, 195 x 97 cm | 76.8 x 38.2 in. Courtesy of the artist, Opera Gallery, and \u00a9 On White Wall<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are still elements of Chinese painting that remain more or less intact in Feng\u2019s works. His composition and the proportions of his paintings follow the principles of Chinese calligraphy, especially the treatment of space that is intentionally left blank to create a sense of breadth. The rendering and penetration of colors\u2014and the unique yet sporadic reactions that pigments, water<\/keyword> and canvas produce when blending\u2014are signatures Feng has inherited. Abstraction is his answer to the question of how to break away from academic painting traditions.<\/p>\n

When viewing Feng\u2019s works, one is reminded of a number of masters, from Chinese landscape painters like Juran to modern Western artists such as J.M.W. Turner or C\u00e9zanne. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting because these painters happen to be the ones that I love,\u201d Feng said with a laugh. \u201cI always argue that Turner is actually the pioneer of Impressionism, prior to other painters like Monet. Honestly, I\u2019m not too interested in Turner\u2019s early academy paintings, but he had a huge surge of creativity at the end of his life, in which he broke previous concepts and traditions about painting. That is extremely rare for any artist to experience, and I think it comes from a superior realm of relaxation in painting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Feng\"Feng
Feng Xiao-Min, Composition n\u00b02.7.24<\/em>, 2024; acrylic on canvas, 130 x 97 cm | 51.2 x 38.2 in. Courtesy of the artist, Opera Gallery, and \u00a9 On White Wall<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Feng believes that finding one\u2019s own artistic voice is one of the most important things a painter can do. \u201cI don\u2019t think of others\u2019 styles when I paint, as I focus solely on my canvas. However, I am aware that one can be unconsciously influenced by other painters as one surrounds oneself with these works,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI am very alert about that and try not to be encompassed by others\u2019 styles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to his unique abstractions and his contributions to both Chinese and French contemporary art, Feng is often mentioned alongside other Chinese-French abstract painters like Zao Wou-ki or Chu Teh-Chun<\/a>, with whom he had personal relationships. \u201cPeople often describe my paintings as bridging Chinese and French art,\u201d Feng said. \u201cI think my style was developed naturally rather than intentionally created. The artistic education and training that one receives live in one\u2019s blood and soul for a lifetime. I\u2019m lucky that these traditions were kept with me and not forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Feng\"Feng
Feng Xiao-Min, Composition n\u00b010.12.24<\/em>, 2024; acrylic on canvas, 130 x 97 cm | 51.2 x 38.2 in. Courtesy of the artist, Opera Gallery, and \u00a9 On White Wall<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every one of Feng Xiao-Min\u2019s paintings, even those of similar size, takes a different amount of time to complete, and Feng rarely feels fully satisfied with his output. \u201cThis subtle process is related to the mood, nature, temperature and sometimes I actually don\u2019t know why,\u201d Feng said, adding that he views presence and absence\u2014and the ability to control the painting process\u2014through a Taoist lens. The time it takes to practice calligraphy and painting is particularly long, and the training lies in the control of the brush. But when it takes too long, it instead becomes difficult to control. Hence, the natural and perfect reflection on the canvas is the balance of yin and yang from a perspective of philosophical relationships.<\/p>\n

When asked to comment on the opinion that painting is dead in the contemporary art market, Feng disagrees: \u201cPainting as a field is difficult because there are too many painters out there, and it\u2019s hard for painters to establish themselves. People have been saying that painting is dead for decades, yet painting as a medium has been alive for thousands of years and will remain alive. Sales figures for paintings remain high today.\u201d<\/p>\n

This fall, Feng will present a new solo exhibition in Singapore. His shows focus almost exclusively on new paintings and rarely revisit older works. Feng says he no longer titles his works or exhibitions to allow space for imagination. \u201cI used to spend a lot of time thinking about titles, but I realized names might restrict people\u2019s perception of paintings.\u201d He might, he said by way of example, title something as water<\/keyword>, but viewers see streets or walking or dancing figures. \u201cIt all makes sense after they explain what they see to me, and I\u2019d like to encourage this free imagination and association.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFeng Xiao-Min, Sailing Through the Light<\/a>\u201d is on view at Opera Gallery New York through May 17, 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Feng\"Feng
Feng Xiao-Min, Composition n\u00b012.5.23<\/em>, 2023; acrylic on canvas, 146 x 114 cm | 57.5 x 44.9 in. Courtesy of the artist, Opera Gallery, and \u00a9 On White Wall<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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