Hao Xing's Paintings Explore Folklore and Speculative Reality Through Fragmented Narratives
Hao Xing, a 2001-born artist from Shenzhen, China, now residing in London, produces intricate paintings that intertwine folklore, ghost tales, literature, and his own memories. His pieces, such as 'Petrichor' (2025) and 'Arrested' (2025), utilize oil and pastel to challenge perceptions of reality. By referencing Chinese allegory and zhiguai fiction, he delves into themes of fate and personal agency through fragmented imagery. Common elements in his work include Suzhou garden designs, remnants of industry, and fantastical creatures, which evoke a sense of temporal dislocation. Focusing on the 'pretext,' Xing incorporates historical allusions and fictional narratives into recognizable contexts. His art has been showcased at Hive Center for Contemporary Art during Art Basel HK (2026) and at Gene Gallery's booth at Beijing Dangdai (2025).
Key facts
- Hao Xing was born in 2001 in Shenzhen, China and is London-based.
- His paintings use oil, oil pastel, and pigment stick on canvas or linen, with works like 'Petrichor' (2025) and 'Arrested' (2025).
- Xing draws on Chinese classical allegory and zhiguai fiction, including Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
- Recurring motifs in his work include Suzhou garden architecture interiors, industrial relics, and hybrid animals.
- His practice employs the 'pretext' device to weave historical references, imagined narratives, and everyday fragments.
- Xing's paintings have been shown at Hive Center for Contemporary Art's booth at Art Basel HK in 2026 and Gene Gallery's booth at Beijing Dangdai in 2025.
- He describes his pictorial space as akin to fortune-telling, favoring open-ended inquiry and indeterminate readings.
- Xing treats painting as both controlled and unpredictable, allowing material shifts to shape final works from his personal archive.
Entities
Artists
- Hao Xing
Institutions
- Hive Center for Contemporary Art
- Gene Gallery
Locations
- Shenzhen
- China
- London
- United Kingdom
- Suzhou
- Hong Kong
- Beijing