Xie Lei Debuts 'Pain of Others' at François Ghebaly in Los Angeles

François Ghebaly is presenting 'Pain of Others,' an exhibition of new paintings by Xie Lei, opening at 415 N Camden Dr in Beverly Hills. This marks the French-Chinese artist's first solo show with the gallery and his debut presentation in Los Angeles. The exhibition continues Xie Lei's exploration into how to depict fundamental emotional states. His paintings are built through meticulously applied layers of oil paint, resulting in surfaces with a breathlike shimmer. The palette includes phosphorescent blues, Sèvres greens, and warm ochres, lending a nocturnal, enveloping quality to the scenes. In these indeterminate spaces, illumination comes almost exclusively from the figures themselves, which emit a luminosity rising from the deepest layers of their forms. Xie's subjects appear as human silhouettes stripped of identifying features, inflamed by this inner light, achieving a near-archetypal expression. The show is on view at François Ghebaly's Beverly Hills location.