Detail: NEW YORK, NY – Chelsea’s Agora Gallery will feature the original work of Chengdu and Los Angeles-based artist Wei Xiong in The Substance of Abstraction. The exhibition opens on January 17 and runs until February 6, with a reception on January 22. Any art lover who enjoys thought-provoking artworks and meeting talented and interesting artists is encouraged to attend.

Wei Xiong’s lyrical, mysterious oil paintings bring grace back to contemporary art. The artist builds her abstract work out of short, wandering strokes of paint and lush clouds of hazy texture. The brushstrokes are jagged yet delicate, like frayed threads that ebb and flow across the canvas. In monochrome paintings, they pile upon one another to create gradients of darkness. In other work clashing colors are layered to create depth and movement. Wei Xiong’s work, which she says is significantly influenced by Zen teachings and the critic Donald Kuspit’s thoughts on spirituality in post-modern art, finds elegance through its masterful grasp of positive and negative space. She is not afraid to feature emptiness, front and center. Her bold use of it at times transports the work into the oxymoronic sphere of minimalist abstract expressionism. The paintings are a unique and wholly modern articulation of the artist’s right to ask questions.

Wei Xiong was born in Chengdu, China and today divides her time between Chengdu and Los Angeles. She has exhibited extensively in both countries, as well as in Taiwan.

Featured artists:

The Substance of Abstraction

Andreas Alba | Liz Johnson | Januario Jano | Michael Lam | Florent Lubienicki | Sanna Pyyhtiä-Lepistö | Jose Antonio Serbia | Fernando Soto | Gerd Rautert | Wei Xiong | David W. Whitfield | Brady Steward | Ines de Poligny

About the Exhibition

Abstract Art from Five Continents: January at Agora Gallery

Substance of Abstraction is an exhibition of obfuscation, featuring artists who bend and blur reality, questioning our preconceptions of truth and confronting us with their powerful aesthetic. Digital, acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media paintings line up in a compelling display of abstract imagery, occasionally introducing certain figurative elements to add certain levels of narrative to their indelible energy. With an intuitive and learned talent, these artists manipulate color, line, and shape to produce something unique and exciting. The artists hail from all across the globe: Finland, Angola, Germany, China, France, Puerto Rico, the United States of America, and more. A truly international collection, the exhibition brings some of the most innovative work from every corner of the world to a New York platform.

About Agora Gallery

Agora Gallery is a contemporary fine art gallery located in the heart of Chelsea’s fine art district in New York. Established in 1984, Agora Gallery specializes in connecting art dealers and collectors with national and international artists. The art gallery’s expert consultants are available to assist corporate and private clients in procuring original artwork to meet their organization’s specific needs and budget requirements. With a strong online presence and popular online gallery, ARTmine, coupled with the spacious and elegant physical gallery space, the work of our talented artists, who work in diverse media and styles, can receive the attention it deserves. Over the years Agora Gallery has sponsored and catered to special events aimed at fostering social awareness and promoting the use of art to help those in need.