Palate Wonder 6-3

He Xiangyu | New York

Arts New York He Xiangyu Palate Wonder paintings

Location: 250 Vesey Street, New York, NY 10281

This artwork is not open to the public

About the work

He Xiangyu began his series Palate Project when he moved to Pittsburgh from Beijing in 2012. Feeling isolated in America, He began to draw the roof of his mouth everyday as he learned English. Using his tongue as a guide, He transcribed the tactile sensations of his palate into drawings. Impressively colorful and gesturally erratic, the works question how perception shapes and determines what we feel or see, as well as the impossibility of disentangling perception from one’s individuality.

Palate Wonder 6-3, 2021

Pencil, colored pencil, oil colored pencil, oil stick, acid-free oil based marker, water color, Japanese ink on paper

Each panel: 59.84 x 41.14 inches (152 x 104.5 cm)

About He Xiangyu

He Xiangyu’s (b. 1986, Kuandian County, China) conceptual practice comprises multi-year projects that span sculpture, drawing, installation, video, feature-length documentary, and publication. Emerging as part of a generation of artists who grew up in post-socialist China, He aims to investigate personal, social, and political themes, addressing the institutionalized status of contemporary art, the archeological aspect of the everyday, and various post-human conditions. He’s recent solo exhibitions include Soft Dilemma, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York (2021); Hard Palate, White Space Beijing, China (2020); Evidence, White Cube, London, UK (2018); and New Directions: He Xiangyu, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (2015).