Xu Jin 徐进

Xu Jin is an active member of the 85’ New Space in Zhe Jiang province, a group of artists who were famous during the modern art movement in China in the 1980s.Near the end of that decade, he disappeared from China’s art scene and some twenty years later, we found him in a small basement studio in New York. In front us, the more than a hundred paintings piled on the floor, covering the walls all the way to the ceiling, told us his story. He came to US in late of 80s, became lost in the depths of the city. No matter how difficult his life in the city, he didn’t quit to be a sincere painter, never stopped painting. Despite being an outsider on the margins of New York’s colorful multi-art and cultural environment, he has become a true New Yorker. Compared to his life in China, here he found no authority to confront, no need to pretend to be a soldier, to be “politically correct” in order to be included in the mainstream of the art scene. All he needs now is to live, to survive, be himself, and be truthful to his soul.

 Illusion or Reality

Xu Jin, a lonely observer, isolated, lives away from the mainstream of the city. His art comes more from his inner world. Fascinated with the subway by the occurrence of all kinds people meet in a very disconnect way in a certain short time and small space, he sketches them whenever he is on a train, and recreates them later on canvas. He sees, feels, and experiences his life. Under his brush, is this inner and unrepresentable sense of individual and intimate existence, there is no clear line between objective and subjective world, illusion and actuality, dream and reality. As in a strange dream, the spaces and people are distorted. The space is mysteries with dazzling colors, and people are bared to their soul wandering on canvas, traveling through the cozy space.  These are the people for whom he cares most, those whose struggling lives are like his. His interpretation of the sense of human life is much truer than any of realistic representation.

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# 15 oil on linen                      48 x 60"	# 031 oil on linen                    48 x 70"
# 16  oil on linen                48 x 60"	# 0598 oil on board                      48 x 60"
# 0706 oil and acrylic on canvas          48 x 60"	# 026         oil on linen                      46 x 58"
# 014 oil on linen                          60 x 48"	# 013 oil on linen                          60 x 48"
# 1685 oil on linen                    84 x 60"	# 025 oil on linen                   46 x 58"
# 1680 oil on linen                      60 x 48"	#0688 oil on linen                    30 x 36"
027 oil on linen                        58 x 38"	# 041 oil on linen                       40 x 42"
# 0604 oil on canvas                   56 x 48"	# 023 oil on linen                    38 x 58"
#2082 oil on canvas                    48 x 56"	# 032 oil on linen                          40 x 32"
#056 oil on linen                        30 x 24"	# 008 oil on linen                         60 x 48"
#0722 oil an acrylic on canvas                     48 x 60"	# 0685 oil on linen                    30 x 24"
# 044 oil on linen                     30 x 24"	# 0694 oil on board                    48 x 36"

send e-mail   or call  508- 375- 0428