New Artist Spotlight: Qiu Xiaofei at Xavier Hufkens
Portrait of Qiu Xiaofei in his studio. Photo byYang Hao. Courtesy of the artist and Xavier Hufkens, Brussels.
“New Artist Spotlight” is a recurring editorial series featuring artists who have recently joined the rosters of Artsy’s gallery partners.
Inspired by ancient and modern philosophers, Qiu Xiaofei views time as a spiral, where past, present, and future interact in a constant state of flux. This prominent Chinese artist, who is based in Beijing, is celebrated for his improvisational paintings that obscure linear time, and evoke dreamlike memories. In Qiu’s surreal, intricately colored works, such as Trotskyky grew into a tree (2021), reflections on the artist’s childhood and history are turned into compositions that mirror and reimagine traditional Chinese landscape paintings.
This October, Xavier Hufkens will feature Qiu’s work at Paris+ par Art Basel. In addition, the gallery has announced a solo exhibition for the artist, slated for June 2024. Qiu commented on the announcement, saying, “It felt like Xavier and I were old friends right from the beginning. He’s an outstanding leading gallerist, and I’ve always been impressed by his ability to combine a pioneering spirit with a classical taste. I’m looking forward to our collaboration.”
Qiu’s work takes inspiration from philosophy, and the spiral is a recurring motif in his work, both visually and conceptually. The painting Society Emissary (2020–21), for instance, depicts a serpentine head beneath two figures in a yellow landscape. The circuitous creature twists upon itself, reminiscent of a mangled and imperfect spiral. As it descends into the yellow background of the painting, it is unclear whether the form is finite—an embodiment of Qiu’s philosophy on time’s uncertainty. No matter how abstract Qiu’s work is, it does not abandon tangible symbols completely. Viewing painting as a fusion of physical sensation and cognitive knowledge, Qiu taps into spiritual energy to help make sense of the world.
Drawing inspiration from his childhood memories in Harbin, China (at the time, not far from the U.S.S.R. border), and traditional Chinese landscape painting, Qiu’s works often incorporate multiple temporal dimensions, blurring foreground and background to create a sense of infinite space. This is vividly illustrated in his piece Untitled No. 5 (2010), where the absence of boundaries suspends the figures in a spatial limbo. In his recent works, Qiu has embraced traditional mineral colors, creating an organic texture to evoke the passage of time.
The artist’s work has been featured in major international exhibitions, including shows at M+ in Hong Kong, Taikang Art Museum in Beijing, and G Museum in Nanjing, China, as well as several solo shows at Pace Gallery.
Xavier Hufkens, the gallery’s founder, said: “From the very first encounter, Xiaofei’s enigmatic paintings left a lasting impression on me. His works brilliantly combine elements of dreamlike reality, the psychological and the uncanny—speaking to deeply personal yet collective sentiments.”
