Xie Lei was born 1983 in Huainan, Anhui Province, China
Lives and works in Paris, France
Education
2016
Practice-based PhD in Visual arts (Very Honorable with unanimous Jury Congratulations)
Beaux-Arts de Paris and Ecole normale supérieure (PSL), France
2014
Painting Research Programme, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2010
MA (Jury Honours), Beaux-Arts de Paris, France
2006
BA, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Solo exhibitions
2025
Mort heureuse, Semiose, Paris, FR (upcoming)
2024
Nachtgesänge, Caprii, Düsseldorf
Fleur de Peau, Meessen De Clercq, Brussels
2023
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
Victim, Lyles & King, New York, USA
Nachleben, Kandlhofer, Vienna
2022
Chant d’Amour, Semiose, Paris, France
Secret, flatmarkus, Zürich, Switzerland
2021
Slumbers, Meessen de Clerq, Brussels, Belgium
2019
Xie Lei, Christopher Orr, HdM Gallery, London, UK
Xie Lei, Z Gallery Arts, Vancouver, Canada
2017
Walden II, Yima Gallery, Chengdu, China
Poe’s Garden, Z Gallery Arts, Vancouver, Canada
2016
Xie Lei – Entre Chien et Loup, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
2015
Xie Lei – Sans rivage, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
2014
Xie Lei – Murmur, Grenier du Chapître, Cahors, France
Sortilège et diableries: l’inquiètant ordinaire, Château d’Ardelay, Les Herbiers, France
2013
Xie Lei, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Everything And Nothing, Feast Projects, Hong Kong, China
2012
Xie Lei – Chimères, Fondation Yishu 8, Beijing, China
Xie Lei, Galerie Charlotte Moser, Geneva, Switzerland
2011
Xie Lei – Destination, Feast Projects, Hong Kong, China
Xie Lei, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
2009
Enter At Own Risk, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Group exhibitions
2025
Apocalypse, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, FR (upcoming)
2024
La vie liquide, Musée d'art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne, Rochechouart FR
Eighteen Painters, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York US
Portrait of a Man, X Museum, BeijingCN
Une Chambre à Soi, cur. Margaux Plessy, Château La Coste, Le Puye-Sainte- Réparade (FR
Second Nature, Semiose, Paris FR
Absences, mues et macules, L’Atlas galerie des mondes, Paris FR
Sur tes lèvres, Lieu Unique, Nantes FR
Le jour des peintres, 80 peintres contemporains de la scène française, Musée d'Orsay, Paris FR
Une chambre à soi, Château La Coste, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade FR
2023
Sonámbulo, two-person show with Charlotte Moth, Galería Marta Cervera, Madrid, Spain
Closer, curated by Russel Tovey, Grimm Gallery, London, UK
Antéfutur, curated by Sandra Patron, CAPC, Bordeaux, France
Immortelle, curated by Numa Hambursin and Amélie Adamo, MO.CO., Montpellier, France
Eulogy of Nothing, A Tribute to Christian Bobin, Meessen de Clercq, Brussels, Belgium
2022
Viva Villa, curated by Victorine Grataloup, Stéphane Ibars, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France
En Soi et Au-delà, curated by María Santoyo, Institut Français, Madrid, Spain
Raw, curated by Daniel Lippitsch, Vacancy, Shanghai, China
Machines of Desire, curated by Kat Sapera, Emilia Yin, Simon Lee Gallery, London, UK
The Tale Their Terror Tells, curated by Geena Brown, Lauren Guilford, Lyles & King, New York, USA
An extraordinary adventure: 8 Chinese artists and the UK, curated by Lu Chao, Gallery Rosenfeld, London, UK
Futuros Abundantes, Works from the TBA21 Collection, curated by Daniela Zyman, C3A Centro de creación contemporánea de Andalucía, Córdoba, Spain
Itinérance, curated by Virginie Bourget, Beaux-arts de Nantes, Nantes, France
Atlas of Affinities: The Far-Near, HUA International, Berlin, Germany
Mist & Thunder, curated by Àngels Miralda, Sally’s Fault, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Hearing Trumpet, curated by Danielle Shang, Marguo, Paris, France
Mouthed Echoes, Lyles & King, New York, US
Traverser les silences, curated by Thomas Fort, Editions Dilecta, Paris, France
Itinérance, Institut de France, Paris, France
2021
Laberinto del ramaje, Galería Marta Cervera, Madrid, Spain
Descripción de un estado físico, curated by Pepe Suarez, Schneider Colao – Elba Benitez, Madrid, Spain
Male Nudes: a salon from 1800 to 2021, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil
Incipit, Cruce arte y pensamiento contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain
Itinérance, Casa de Velázquez, French Academy in Madrid, Spain
BRAFA in the Galleries, Messen de Clercq, Brussels, Belgium
2020
Much Without Many, Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, Belgium
2019
Flesh And Bone, curated by Loïc Le Gall and Justin Polera, PS120, Berlin, Germany
Persona Grata?, curated by Alexia Fabre, Anne-Laure Flacelière and Ingrid Jurzak, MAC
Val, Vitry-sur Seine, France
Yellow Reflection, Galerie Liusa Wang, Paris, France
Couleurs de la Chine Contemporaine, Musée Saint-Remi, Reims, France
2018
How To See [What Isn’t There], curated by Gianni Jetzer, Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany
Persona Grata, curated by Anne-Laure Flacelière and Isabelle Renard, Musée national de
l'histoire de l'immigration, Paris, France
Group Show Moulin Joly, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Collection David H. Brolliet – Geneva, Fondation Fernet-Branca, Saint-Louis, France
2016
Nouvelles acquisitions, Fondation Colas, Boulogne, France
Who Cares?, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Utopie Picturale 3, FORMA Art contemporain & cabinet d’expertise, Lausanne, Switzerland
2014
Memo II, White Space, Beijing, China
Utopie Picturale 2, Fonderie Kugler, Geneva, Switzerland
Picturalités Singulières, Chateau d’Assas, Le Vigan, France
2013
Utopie Picturale, Villa Dutoit, Geneva, Switzerland
Ca grimpe, Galerie Charlotte Moser, Geneva, Switzerland
2012
1912-2012 France – Chine, un siècle de dialogue, Fondation Yishu8, Beijing, China
Visage et Portrait, Galerie Charlotte Moser, Geneva, Switzerland
Tranches de carrés sur tranches de cercles, Saline Royale, Arc-et-Senans, France
Accrochage, Feast Projects, Hong Kong, China
2011
Résonance/Dissonance, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Le Vent d’après, curated by Jean de Loisy and Ulla von Brandenburg, Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, France
2010
Ligne de Chance, curated by François Bouillon and Bernard Moninot, Fondation Ricard, Paris, France
2008
Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Shcontemporary, Marlborough Gallery, Shanghai, China
Institut de France, Paris, France
Marlborough Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Serge Aboukrat, Paris, France
Salon de Montrouge, France
2007
Dessine moi un…, Galerie Serge Aboukrat, Paris, France
Back to Canvas, the Poetry Between Abstract and Imagism, Amelie Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2006
Shi Tang Arts Space, Beijing, China
Residencies
2022
Boghossian Foundation, Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium
2020/2021
Casa de Velázquez, French Academy in Madrid, Spain
2012
Fondation Yishu 8, Beijing, China
2011
Saline Royale, Arc-et-Senans, France
Grants and Awards
2016
Prix Fondation Colas
2012
Prix Alphonse Cellier, Institut de France
2011
Prix Nicolas Feuillate
2010
Bourse de la Mairie de Paris pour l’art contemporain
2008
Bourse Colin-Lefrancq, Hunter College, New York, USA
2003
Drawing Award CAFA
Catalogues
2021
Casa de Velázquez – Membres de l’Académie de France à Madrid, texts by Àngels Miralda, Caterina Amirall, Madrid, Spain
2014
Murmur, text by Guitemie Maldonado, Les rencontres d’art contemporain, Cahors, France
2013
Xie Lei, text by François-René Martin, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
2012
Xie Lei – Chimères, texts by Henry-Claude Cousseau, Liang Shuhan, Emmanuel
Fessy, Fondation Yishu 8, Beijing, China
Tranches de carrés sur tranches de cercles, text by Pauline Lafille, Saline Royale, Arc-et-Senans, France
Xie Lei, Galerie Charlotte Moser, Geneva, Switzerland
2011
Destination, text by Philippe Koutouzis, Feast Projects, Hong Kong, China
Xie Lei, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Le Vent d’après, texts by Jean de Loisy and Ulla von Brandenburg, Beaux-Arts de Paris, France
2010
Ligne de Chance, Fondation Ricard and Beaux-Arts de Paris, France
2008
Salon de Montrouge, France
Selected Bibliography
2022
Judicaël Lavrador, "Xie Lei, le brouillard et la manière", Libération, 6 September, p. 27.
Marie Maertens, "L’inquiétante étrangeté de Xie Lei", Connaissance des arts, September, p. 106.
Julie Chaizemartin, "Gros plan sur dix artistes", Le Quotidien de l’art, 3 March, p. 13-15.
2021
Xie Lei, "Circulation of Images, From Recognition To Erasure: An Artist’s Response", Artl@s Bulletin vol. 10, 1 (Spring), p.134-142, École Normale Supérieure, CNRS and Purdue Publishing.
Judicaël Lavrador, "Peintres de la vie quotidienne", Beaux-Arts Magazine, n°441, March, p.47.
Itzhak Goldberg, "Xie Lei, un Sommeil agité", Le Journal des Arts, n°578, 26 November.
2018
Sophie de Santis, "Eldorado Désenchanté", Le Figaro, November 21, N°23102, p. 31
Olivia Sand, "Contemporary Voices From the Asian and Islamic Art Worlds", Milano, Skira, p. 732-741
2015
Pauline Vidal, "Les visions hallucinées de Xie Lei", LeJournaldesArts.fr, October 26
2014
Olivia Sand, "Asian Art", February, Profile 2-5, Elephant Magazine, Issue 19, Summer, p. 6
2013
Pauline Vidal, "La peinture onirique de Xie Lei", Le Journal des Arts, N° 398, October 4-17 , p. 31
Philippe Dagen, Le Monde, N°21361, September 22-23, p. 12
Bettina Wohlfarth, FAZ, September 27
2012
Liu Shiyao, "Hidden Current", Time Out Beijing, November 9, p. 75
Yue Lian & Xie Lei, "New Communication and Allure", Gallery, November
Chen Hongming & Xie Lei, "Double re-interpretation of East and West tradition", Contemporary Art, December
Xu Nan, "Xie Lei in Yishu 8", Master Oriental Art, December, p.18
Tian Tian, "Xie Lei pays tribute to masters in ‘Chimères’", Hi Art, October 22
Yang Jiaqing, "Chimères: Xie Lei in Yishu8", Beijing Review, October 23
Xu Qinghong, "Xie Lei solo", Jinghua Newspaper, October 23
Zhang Shuqi, Xie Lei, "Chinese artist in France", Xin Hua News Daily, October 23
Xiong Ying, "Xie Lei debut in Yishu 8", China Art Newspaper, N° 1215, October 20
2011
Valérie de Maulmin, "L‘artiste du mois: le monde surnaturel de Xie Lei", Connaissance des Arts, February, Nº 690, p. 104
Sonia Desprez, "Espoirs – Le Vent d’après", A Nous, July 4, p. 24
Monica Lau, "Destination", Splux, December, p. 64-65
Valérie Duponchelle, Le Figaro, February 14
Bruce Helander, "Xie Lei, artist to watch", The Art Economist, Issue 9, p. 67
Collections
Burger Collection, Hong Kong, China/Zürich, Switzerland
Fondation Colas, Paris, France
Rennie Museum, Vancouver, Canada
Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection, Madrid, Spain
MAC VAL Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
Casa de Velázquez, Madrid, Spain
X Museum, Beijing, China