HE XI 何曦
“Ice cold glass is a symbol of the city, just like ‘the people’, who are both right here and very far away.”
He Xi is a man of few words, yet through the paintbrush, he has found a way to express his concerns for real world issues using his classical Chinese bird-and-flower painting training. The result? His works cannot be categorised, breaking the rigid rules of traditional Chinese painting. In his ink and brush world, there is no limitation to what can be considered as his landscape, his human figure, or his bird and flower.
The art historian Lu Fusheng describes He Xi thus: “With symbolic language, he deconstructs the semiotic system of traditional painting. His use of mesh and glass hints at restrictions and being on display, opening up commentary on the conflicting allegories of traditional culture.”
He Xi uses the rules of traditional painting to defy tradition itself, creating works that simultaneously narrate, express and discourse. With the most classical methods of ink and brush, he paints out modern feelings: mystic nights and fleeting days, compassion and hope, restraint and release, order and impermanence.
“冰冷的玻璃是城市的符号。就像近在咫尺又远在天边的人群。”
通过画笔，不善言辞的何曦找到一个自我呈现的具体路径：借花鸟表达对现实与世界的关注。但他一直都是永不安分、无法归类、离经叛道的探险者，认为迹有巧拙，艺无古今，甚至在他的笔墨世界中，山水、人物、花鸟也没有严格的界限。
卢甫圣先生曾评价道：“何曦用带有象征性的形式语言重新解构了传统图式的符号系统，用网罟与玻璃柜的图象来暗示一种束缚与陈列的空间，从而容纳并展开其对于与传统有关的文化命题矛盾而暧昧的寓言系统。”
在何曦的隐喻系统中，他“知法犯法”，勇往直前，基于传统又跳脱传统。他能巧妙达成宏大叙事、艺术表达与哲学思考的融洽，从寻常处演绎不寻常的寓意，将惯常的题材作出意味深长的表达。他试图用最传统的笔墨传达最当下的感受，传达暗夜的诡谲与白昼的匆忙，传达悲悯与希望，拘囿与释放，秩序与无常 。
