Xie Ai Ge

Biography

Xie Aige, Born in 1977 year,Hunan province China, she graduated  from the Shanghai Fine Arts college.

Xie Aige, has been exhibiting extensively in both China and overseas international museums including solo exhibitions in Shanghai Duolun Museum and Germany Crailsheim Museum.

Her works are collected by many institutions including Shanghai Park Hyatt, Beijing Capital Airport, Shanghai Hongji Group, People's Bank of Italy, Shanghai Sculpture Art Center. She currently stays and works in Shanghai.

She is currently a member of the Shanghai Sculpture Society and  her artworks have been featured in multiple publications including "Contemporary Modern Art", "Outstanding Young Artist Publication" among others.

Articles

"Taiji", Close to Sculpture: Xie Aige’s Tremendous Transformation

Chu Hao

It was in the spring of 2004 that I first came to know Xie Aige.

I was then working at the organizing committee of Shanghai Spring Art Saloon when a large- scale art exhibition entitled “spring” was organized by the Fashion Saloon of Shanghai CITIC Square. With hundreds of participating artists, the art show covered a multitude of art works employing an entirely different variety of materials and works, among which I was most deeply impressed by the pottery works created by an artist named Xie Aige. I did not meet her when making arrangements for the art show. Her pottery was on display at an eye-catching place in the center of exhibition hall portraying a detailed-oriented yet proportionately exaggerated and slightly transformed realism figure.

Ms. Xie arrived at the art exhibition on the date of the opening ceremony. To my surprise, with a long-stemmed Chinese pipe in her hand, she stepped into the exhibition hall hurriedly and put that pipe on the hand of her art works. It turned out that the long-stemmed Chinese pipe was an indispensable part of her works, which has left an unforgettable impression on my mind. Ms. Xie played an active role in almost all group exhibitions planned by me from 2004 to 2005. Her distinctive art works and remarkable style definitely enriched art materials and enhanced artistic appreciation of art shows. Her works on display include such works as a touching moment in early spring, spring tropic and waking up time, etc.

The art exhibition entitled I have a date with spring has been known as a benchmark in my career as an art show planner. The term “Contemporary art in China” was not invented or even clearly defined in 2005. Chinese art planners, who were not content with the status quo of the Chinese art at that time, took the lead in organizing a great many of influential pioneering artists in Shanghai by taking bold and drastic steps and coming up with relatively clearly-defined definition. Despite their relatively immature art works and imperfect materials and artistic languages, they still came up with their own versions and interpretation of early contemporary Chinese art free from dominance and influence of western art planners and organizers. These artists created art works showcasing their unique understanding and knowledge of art by insisting on taking a road of their own instead of copying and imitating art of western counterparts. The art planning team included more than 10 artists such as Xiao Xiaolan, Ji Wenyu, Chen Qiang, Chen Guanghui and Kangqing. I recommended art works and sculptures made by Xie Aige, Han Zijian and Yuan Kan. With her dedication and passion, Ms. Xie was the only artist participating in the art show named “spring trilogy” planned by me in 2005.  

The years from 2006 to 2008 witnessed tremendous and turbulent changes in terms of artists and development of artistic community in China. Because of gradual changes of my art show planning orientation, there were some gaps between Ms. Xie and me and thus she was not actively involved in my exhibitions and was moving away from my eyesight. However, she has thus embarked on a road leading to brilliant and fruitful artistic creation by setting up her studio in M50, which is equipped with electric kiln making pottery art works. Although I planned very few group art exhibitions at that time, yet I still paid visits to Ms. Xie’s studio whenever I traveled to M50. Moreover, Ms. Xie set up her very first art gallery on the second floor of a building in M50, where I have seen art sculptures made of glass steel and cast copper, characteristic of her impressive creativeness and vivid imagination in her pursuit of artistic development and improvement. 

I am not aware when Ms. Xie started to create sculpture. But I am sure the works named “Taiji” are of significant importance in her works. I am of the view that there is much extensive knowledge and profound understanding behind her “Taiji” works. Known as a complicated, mysterious and everlasting subject evolving from the time immemorial, Taiji might represent the most essential and profound concept of ancient oriental culture, which interprets the eternal cycle of birth of all creatures and lives on the earth and has a direct bearing on the knowledge from  the Book of Changes. According to YiJing Etymology, Yi consists of Taiji, which gives birth to the two appearances, and the two appearances give birth to the four images which in turn lead to development of the BaGua. What do two appearances mean? In a word, they are composed of Yin and Yang, two types of vital energy, which are used to explain the unfolding implications of the universe and all phenomena within, and they can hardly be changed by any human beings in the world.

How could we explain and interpret such in-depth and profound knowledge and principles? Profound as the knowledge sounds, we still have to impart and pass it on to future generations in a relatively simple and easy manner. Therefore, Taiji shoulder boxing is one of the easiest ways to interpret the concept of Taiji in real life. Ms. Xie has also come up with her own version of “Taiji shoulder boxing”, which is known as “silly roots” series featuring works carrying a more relaxed and harmonious facial expressions, which are common characteristics of Taiji boxing grand masters. Compared with her other art works, Xie’s ‘Taiji” series are a great success.

By choosing “Taiji” as the theme of her works, Ms. Xie has selected the most essential and brilliant chapter of Chinese culture. Her works depict and represent the most important philosophical ideas between the heaven and earth such as Yin vs Yang, inner vs outer, movement vs quietness, soft vs hard, visionary vs real, strong vs weak, evil vs justice, dark vs bright, life vs death, etc. 

The year of 2010 is still deteriorating in terms of art market and economic scenario. British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley used to say: if winter comes, can spring be far behind? Ms. Xie’s works are closely related to the theme of spring. I have been looking forward to seeing her important works at art shows planned by me once again, in which “Taiji” works are arranged like a strong army with unyielding spirit symbolic of our Chinese nation. With “Taiji”, we are able to weather numerous calamities and surmount various catastrophes in the world. When facing land and heaven, the sun and the moon, the thunder and lightning, the tyrannical rain and strong wind, earthquake, flood, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, or even all kinds of disasters, both man-made and natural, we stand rock solid and rock firm with the very concept of “Taiji” deep in mind. 

Xie Aige 

Exhibition at the Duolun Muesuem of Modern Art, write up

Romance and freedom belong to our human nature, chasing them is like cultivating excellence. Pure heart has been changed by material. Xie Aige’s work is trying to illustrate the essence of human nature, getting off all the chains and getting back to the nature, to show the true colors of soul. Within the Chinese Sculpting community, which is a melting pot of many trends – classical, modern and port-modern - Xie Aige is a sculptor who deserves a special place,The sculptures of Xie Aige are very characteristic of her way of life, traditional and modern at the same time, while reflecting her Hunan Province roots, they are shaped in a kind of abstract mould that is yet very modernist.

Her creativity is limitless but encompasses mainly women, either sitting in a waiting posture or in faceless freeform groups or playing with a pet. These sculptures are centered on the Chinese women's condition – somewhat lost between the traditional Chinese culture and the modern requirements of today’s life.

Since her beginning, Xie Aige has evolved in the size and shapes of her sculptures but through her evolution, is always consistent with the message she wants to convey through her creations which is about the challenges Chinese women face in our modern world

As she says in her own words: 

“I like making portraits, and I can spend hours working on them without feeling time passing. Those figures normally appear with rustic, plain and straightforward profiles.

I was born in a remote countryside village, and now living under the roof the metropolitan city of Shanghai. Due to my origin, I naturally cherish those simple, rustic and plain things. In my work I tend to take my countryside life experience as a background; the old times garments and fashion as form and media; and my understandings of urban culture and live as a foundation. My sculptures are always with a straightforward appearance, without any pretentious manner and any fancy decorations, they are just as authentic descriptions of the real life of normal common people.

The description itself is meaningless, but once its endowed with the form of life, then this description is no longer the matter of describing, but has become the body of art, the part of culture thus become meaningful. These are the feelings that put in my works such as The man playing chess. Music player and relaxing.

I like angel, and like to think of women as angels. Today angels are suffering so much from heavy pressures competition and violence of everyday life, making them losing their innocence and natural beauty.

As an artist and a woman, I really want to share through my work joys and pains, to reveal the true beauty of life. The work the tears of Angel is the portrait of my life, and my attitude towards life. I love my life, and enjoy so much working as a sculptor.

I enjoy capting transient moment and trivial things in life and transport them into my work. The characters appearing in my work are mostly portrayed in a state of total relaxation in total simplicity. They just behave themselves, with no artifice, make up, and designed postures. They seem to live in their own world, enjoying their own lives, without noticing the time passing and the world changing. It is a moment with no time dimension, space and environment."