BE NOT AFRAID

Huang Yuxing uses his trademark kaleidoscopic style to explore the concept of life in his latest solo exhibition.

At just 41, Chinese artist Huang Yuxing is a rising star in the contemporary art world, captivating admirers of his works with what is described as an expressionist style in his paintings.

Since the Beijing-born artist graduated from the Mural Department of China’s renowned Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2000, he has developed his craft through multiple series of works that explore his own emotions and experiences.

His paintings a re abstract, featuring mostly a deconstruction of everyday forms rendered in colourful geometric shapes and brilliant hues.

At his exhibition in Hong Kong’s Galerie Perrotin – the artist’s first solo show with the gallery, which runs till 15 October – he is distant and cheerless in demeanour, yet earnest and contemplative in his response.

The 14 pieces on show – every one already sold – is each anchored by its own narrative, yet held together by a common thread, as expressed in the exhibition’s title, And ne forhtedon na.

Drawn from the epitaph of the 20th-century Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, it means “Be not afraid” in Old English.

The phrase is itself a quote from the Anglo-Saxon poem The Battle of Maldon, which Borges translated and often discussed.

“Because the exhibition title is from Borges’ epitaph, people are more likely to feel that this is from the perspective of death,” says Huang. “On the contrary, death is part of life too, so this series explores the concept of life. Borges has been very active

He has developed his craft through multiple series of works

that explore his own emotions and experiences.