O-1 Visas
If the Neo-Expressionists who took over the art world in the 1980s had come from small-town China, they might have painted pictures that look something like the canvases of Xuanlin Ye. Keep the expressive gestures, big scale, and legendary themes, but lose the decidedly Western subject matter of Schnabel or Basquiat in favor of Chinese art historical motifs. The results feel new and old at once, as classic jade koi swim amid neon-veined lotus leaves, fashioned with the decidedly unclassical technique of airbrush atop a large cyanotyped canvas. “Have a boat ride with me to the peach blossom spring” might allude to a tale told by the ancient poet Tao Qian; Ye’s murky, moody version floats a boat with three riders in a rich landscape ringed by stylized landforms that look like electrified versions of shan shui mountain styles. Chinese artists have been reinterpreting earlier artworks for millenia, and so one continues.
—Lori Waxman 2025-10-13 4:59 PM