In the exhibition On Set, artist Xiaoguo Chen reconfigures and reinterprets the contemporary image system through painting. Taking the human figure as his point of departure, he transforms portraits drawn from everyday life and circulating online imagery into compositions imbued with a sense of ambiguity. Positioned between reality and imagination, these works construct a “universal atlas of humanity” that transcends the boundaries of geography and identity. The figures resemble both actors on a stage and resurfaced visual fragments—freed from singular narratives, they enter into an open and egalitarian field of viewing.
Installation view of On Set, August 2, 2025 - Sept 14, 2025, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Courtesy of Nan Ke Gallery.
Xiaoguo Chen
Sartre, 2024
Oil on canvas
21h x 14.2w cm
© Courtesy of the artist
Xiaoguo Chen was born in 1990 in Hubei Province. He graduated with a BA in Sculpture from Hubei Institute of Fine Arts and later received an MA from the School of Experimental Art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He now lives and works in Shanghai. He has presented numerous solo exhibitions, including Children of the World, Gallery FUNC, Shanghai, 2023; Residents, Aranya Art Center, Hebei, 2022; Y-Space, Shanghai, 2022; Magician Space, Beijing, 2022; and Before Sunrise, WINETAIL, Beijing, 2021. His work has also been widely shown in group exhibitions such as An Average Comet, HackelBury Gallery, New York, 2024; Expansive Plateau, Suhe House, Shanghai, 2023; The Future of Now, Yang Gallery, Beijing, 2017; and Secrets Not to Be Told, King & Wood Mallesons Art Center / UCCA, Beijing, 2016. In 2017, he curated the Nation Gallery project at the China International Exhibition Center, Beijing.
Xiaoguo Chen
Maugham, 2024
Oil on canvas
19h x 26w cm
© Courtesy of the artist
In his practice, Chen deliberately removes the harshness and strict realism of the source imagery, instead reconstructing figures with softened tones and ambiguous brushstrokes. Rejecting sharp or didactic narratives, he creates a “soft aesthetic” that allows viewers to encounter the complex states of individuals and collectives within a light and inclusive visual environment. His portraits thus become an exploration of equality in the act of looking, while pointing toward a boundless, future-oriented vision of humanity.
Xiaoguo ChenRodin, 2024
Oil on canvas
26h x 19w cm
© Courtesy of the artist
Within On Set, Chen’s paintings appear as frozen instants: at once like unselected characters and like shadows lingering in memory. They reveal not merely individual likenesses, but allegories of identity and culture interwoven. In today’s context, his painting responds to the fluidity and hybridity of globalization, while offering audiences a mode of viewing that is at once gentle and profoundly resonant.
Installation view of On Set, August 2, 2025 - Sept 14, 2025, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Courtesy of Nan Ke Gallery.
September 6, 2025
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