Feng Xiao-Min, Compositions

Opera Gallery Bal Harbour is pleased to present a solo exhibition displaying the work of French-Chinese artist Feng Xiao-Min.

Painting Music

Music provides a point of entry to Feng's creative process and approach to painting. All artworks share a common attention to rhythm, movement, and balance. In 'Compositions', Feng explores these relationships through works in which color and light seem to follow rhythms of their own. Rather than presenting a fixed image to be deciphered, his canvases offer an experience that changes with each encounter.

The connection to music extends beyond metaphor. Music is a constant presence in the artist’s studio, where a piano stands alongside his brushes and pigments, and Claude Debussy's La Mer and Erik Satie's Gymnopédies can be heard. As he paints, each work unfolds through a dialogue between intention and improvisation: he begins with a loose plan, then embraces accidents as unexpected discoveries. Translucent washes of color overlap and dissolve, while more concentrated brushstrokes introduce contrasts and shifts in movement. Areas of greater intensity alternate with quieter passages, creating a visual rhythm that recalls the variations and pauses of a musical score.

A space for the viewer's emotions

This openness is also reflected in Feng’s decision to title his works Compositions. Rather than assigning descriptive titles that might suggest a particular subject or interpretation, he allows viewers to approach each painting through their own associations and experiences. Much like an instrumental piece, the work does not require a specific narrative to convey emotion or evoke a response.

From Chinese calligraphy to Western abstraction

Feng Xiao-Min’s creative approach is rooted in his early study of Chinese calligraphy, which taught him to consider the brushstroke as an expression of energy and to recognize the importance of space around a mark. , or the Void in Chinese painting. The artist explained that in his point of view, "it’s easier to fill a canvas than to master emptiness. It’s a bit like silence in music. It’s all a matter of subtlety and measure.” His encounter with Western painting expanded this language through color and abstraction. In his work, these influences meet in compositions that balance spontaneity and control. Fleeting suggestions of water, mist, sky, or distant horizons may emerge, only to dissolve again into expanses of color. These associations remain possibilities rather than defined subjects, allowing each viewer to find their own point of entry.

Through 'Compositions', this relationship between gesture, color, and space comes to the forefront. Feng's paintings resist a single reading, drawing attention instead to the formal relationships that shape them. Their openness is central to his practice, allowing the same composition to suggest different images, sensations, and meanings depending on the viewer.