Xiyao Wang (b. 1992, Chongqing, China; lives in Zurich) creates large-scale, immersive paintings in which gestural lines evoke echoes of landscapes, bodies, movements, thoughts. In the process, she develops a kind of hybrid abstract painting that combines various influences and inspirations: Taoism and post-structuralism, ancient Chinese pictorial traditions, bodywork, dance, martial arts, and the canon of Western art history. In her work, mythologies and the lyrical, hermetic painting of Cy Twombly merge with global mass culture, electronic music, with the networked, media-influenced thinking of millennials and Gen Z. Xiyao’s paintings explore inner visions, bodily perceptions, sensations, feelings, interrogating her East-West biography.

Xiyao Wang’s work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions in several museums, including the Albertina Museum (Vienna), Fondazione D’ARC (Rome), Arsenal Contemporary (Montreal), K11 Art Foundation (Hong Kong), the Centre d’Art Contemporain et du Patrimoine d’Aubenas (France), Shepparton Art Museum (Victoria), and the Arndt Collection (Australia). In China, she has exhibited at the Song Art Museum (Beijing), X Museum (Beijing), The CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) Art Museum (Beijing), TANK Museum (Shanghai), and Aurora Museum (Shanghai), Jiu Shi Art Museum (Shanghai), at the Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and Jia Xiang An Shan Art Museum (Chongqing), and at the Pingshan Art Museum (Shenzhen). In 2024, she has been invited to participate in the Bangkok Art Biennale.