Diane Farris Gallery is delighted to welcome Mongolian artist Xue Mo to her first solo exhibition in Canada.
The Beijing-based painter's latest body of work explores a contemporary approach to the portrayal of Eastern women with themes of beauty, virtue, benevolence, tranquility and serenity. Highly influenced by the works of the European Masters including Piero della Francesca and Paolo Uccello, and modernists such as Klee and Mondrian, Xue extends her Eastern perspective to create paintings that examine a global approach the portrait genre.
Xue's Mongolian women, painted on natural linens, communicate their identity to the viewer though their dress, demeanour and often the landscape beyond. Each portrayal by Xue has her own narrative, her own fiction. The clothes and adornments alone build and confer the identity. Some denote social status, racial background, others cultural tradition and an aesthetic. It is these, rather than the woman and her figure through gesture, action or surroundings that carries the portrayal in this series. Xue's celebration of classical Eastern beauty, idolizing "woman", and her homage to Western art tradition, takes her work outside the constraints of time and era.
Born in Inner Mongolia, Xue taught fine art in Beijing for seven years. She has been painting full time since 1997.
May is Asian Heritage Month across Canada, a celebration that showcases the diverse artistic and cultural experiences of Canadians of Pan Asian descent. Although not a Canadian artist, Xue Mo's exhibition is presented as a parallel showcase.
