Between the Clouds, High-Temperature Porcelain, 30x50x44cm, 2024
Space Station announces Celestial Magic, a solo exhibition by Geng Xue to be unveiled on December 14, 2024, which is her first solo show at the Space Station. Known as an artist who resists easy categorization, Geng Xue has developed a distinctive approach to the exploration and advancement of artistic language. For this exhibition, she brings three new series created in recent years: the Netherlight series in ceramics, the Decaying of Hetu Transfigured series on paper and silk, and selected video works from the Cosmos: Liaozhai series, which originated from her participation in Xu Bing’s satellite art residency project. These three series, while distinct, share a common conceptual foundation.
Zhen, High-Fired Porcelain with Glass Pigments, 52x30x68cm, 2024
Ri, High-Temperature Porcelain, 30x34x53cm, 2024
Constellation, High-Temperature Porcelain, 30x40x50cm , 2024
The Netherlight and Hetu Transfigured series incorporate traditional materials such as ceramics, paper, and silk. The liberation of formal elements and methodologies in these works signifies an elevation of aesthetic power. Ceramics transcend their association with artisanal craftsmanship, advancing toward a sublime and mystical dimension within next-generation Chinese ceramic aesthetics. The satellite video Cosmos Prophecy and the folded works from the Hetu Transfigured series employ randomness to generate geometric forms, creating a temporal sculpture—a multidimensional geometry that encapsulates the possibilities, intentionality, and intuition of time.Through these explorations, Geng Xue raises questions about the intangible and the manifest, the void and truth, the visible and the invisible. Her engagement with astronomical aesthetics reflects a vast and profound tradition deeply embedded in Chinese civilization, one that predates the advent of modern space aesthetics. Ancient civilizations sought guidance and enlightenment from astronomy, and today, we continue to seek such insights to inspire our contemporary era.
Cosmos Painted Skin (Video screenshot), Image + Satellite Photography (Dual Images), 6' 2024
Cosmos Prophecy (Video screenshot), Triple Image Multi-Scree, 3', 2024
She juxtaposes ceramics, artifacts, paper, and silk rooted in ancient forms with high-tech devices, using voids and folds within her works to trace the spiritual trajectory between heaven and earth, light and shadow. Drawing on the symbolic systems developed from the ancient Hetu and Luoshu diagrams, she creates resonances with contemporary astrophysics. By reinterpreting Liaozhai tales as reflections of modern mythology, her works break the linear constraints of past, present, and future, seeking escape routes from the rules and limitations of the material world. This pursuit reveals an invisible yet indomitable resilience.
Grace, High-Fired Porcelain with Medium-Temperature Gilding, 28x22x82cm, 2024
Phantom Play of Skulls (Part), High-Temperature Porcelain, 64x40x32cm, 2024
About the Artist
Geng Xue (born in 1983, China) studied in the Sculpture Department at CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China) from 2002, and in 2013, she studied atHFG (Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, Germany).She graduated with a Master's Degree from the Printmaking Department of CAFA in 2014. Geng Xue ha sproduced many works in media such as sculpture, ceramic, installation, film and others.
She was invited to exhibit her works in the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019; the 21st Biennale of Sydney in 2018;“In motion” in 2017, 100th anniversary Exhibition, Princesseh of National Museum of Ceramics, Holland; 57th Venice Biennale"Memory and Contemporary" Exhibition; Busan Biennale in 2014, Busan, South Korea and so on. Her pieces were exhibited in museums such as Berkeley Museum of Art, CA., U.S.; Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, U.S. ; Miro Museum (Fundacio Joan Miro) Barcelona, Spain; Applid Art Museum, Frankfurt, Germany; Lehmbruch Museum, Germany; Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China; University Museum, Utrecht, Holland. ect.
She was invited to participate in Kwangju Art Museum, South Korea, Korea; Seto City Art Museum, Japan; Fireworks Clay Studios of Caediff, UK; National Sculpture Factory of Ireland, and different Artist-in-Residence Program held by artists in Berlin, Germany; Paris France. She participated in inter-university exchange programs with institutions such as West Virginia University in the United States and the Karlsruhe University of Art and Design in Germany.
Her pieces were collected by numerous domestic and international public institutions, including CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China; National Museum of Wales, UK.; Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A.; Kwangju Art Museum, South Korea; Seto City Art Museum, Japan; White Rabbit Collection, Australia; Princesseh of National Museum of Ceramics, Holland, Henan Museum, China and so on.
The film works have been selected for screenings at film festivals such as "A Century of Chinese Animation, Wan Laiming Documentary Exhibition - Special Screening of the China Independent Animation Film Forum" at the Art Museum of the School of Fine Arts and Film and Television, Chengdu University; 11.IZDANJE 25FPS Film Festival in Croatia; "Here out there" exhibition at the Helsinki Art Festival in Finland; the HAFF International Animation Film Festival at the Utrecht University Museum in the Netherlands; and the ANČA International Animation Film Festival in Slovakia.
About the Exhibition
Celestial Magic: Geng Xue Solo Exhibition
Dates: 2024.12.14-2025.3.1
Academic Consultant: Xu Bing
Academic Chair: Shao Yiyang
Curator: Fu Xiaodong
Opening: 2024.12.14 16：00
Address: Space Station, No.4 Jiuxianqiao Rd, 798 Art District, Beijing
Courtesy of the Artist and Space Station.
