Artist talk: 'Peter Xiao: A Room That One Is In (And All Things In It)'

Hear from Peter T. Xiao, beloved local artist and the Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts at Augustana College, at this celebration of Professor Xiao's first solo exhibition of work at the Figge in "Peter Xiao: A Room That One Is In (And All Things In It)."

About "Peter Xiao: A Room That One Is In (And All Things In It)"

A student of art and art history, Xiao blends and bends Renaissance concepts of perspective and color and our evolving understanding of how we see the world around us. Through his paintings, he encourages us to explore the link between art and the world we inhabit. With his studio as inspiration, Xiao synthesizes the space which he inhabits onto painted views of multi-panel intersecting planes of canvas which wrap around corners and bend up to the ceiling.

Including over 15 new large scale paintings, the Figge's first floor Gildehaus Gallery will be awash in a swirl of color and forms, providing us visual insight into his creative practice. Xiao describes the installation of paintings in this way: "From walls and things that wrap around me, I explore modernist approaches to the picture plane." His floor painting Rise Ye Point, Line and Plane explores the idea of a chair (absent the sitter) and its dimensional "lift" through the viewer's associations with the chair's purpose. Xiao's innovative approach, a "walk-around playground" as he describes it, helps us to better understand the differences between how we see the world with our eyes and experience it with our bodies. 

The show runs through April 7, 2024.