Recently, I had the opportunity to meet the artist Xiaoze Xie at his exhibition opening at Tally Dunn Gallery in Dallas. Born in a small town in Guangdong Province, China, at the beginning of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1966, Xie now splits his time between studios in Beijing and Palo Alto, California, where he a Professor of Art at Stanford University. Xie is probably best-known for his monumental paintings of library books and newspapers, sometimes based on banned and forbidden books in China. The OJAC is fortunate to own two works by Xie, including Chinese Library #6, and Untitled (for Polit Bureau Politician).
Shortly after introductions by mutual friends, Xiaoze offered previously unknown background information on his untitled work. He shared that Untitled (for Polit Bureau Politician), 1995 is a portrait of Yuan Shikai, a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty. Through negotiations with revolutionaries, he became the first official president of the Republic of China in 1912 and, only a few years later, boldly declared himself emperor. Faced with widespread opposition backed by Japan, Yuan was forced to abolish his newly announced monarchy in March 1916 and died three months later.
In Xiaoze’s portrait, the bottom half of the painting depicts a partial newspaper image of Yuan in Western-style suit and tie standing behind a large microphone. By cropping off Yuan’s head and leaving only a stark white void for the top third of the painting, Xie‘s work speaks to the power of the loudest voice, while also illustrating its fleeting nature.
-Amy Kelly, Registrar
XIAOZE XIE, Chinese Library #6, 1995, oil on canvas. Gift of Karol Howard and George Morton. 2012.012
XIAOZE XIE, Untitled (for Polit Bureau Politician), 1995, oil on canvas. Gift of Karol Howard and George Morton. 2012.013