Fang Wei: Assassin

Assassin marks Fang Wei’s first solo show in two years with a survey of ambitious large scale works on canvas as well as an array of works on paper and other objects that help to define his distinct oeuvre. 

Taking the stealth character of the assassin as his departure point Fang weaves abstract narratives - inhabited by spirits, shadows, and fleeting glimpses - onto his multiple surfaces. In this exhibition we see two sets of recent works, one dominated by strange mythological narratives, and one in which a web becomes the central compositional device. The web is employed as both an abstract pictorial strategy as well as a way to entwine and restrain the central figure in a maze of interlocking visual laces. Fang’s ambiguous but evocative themes are always as equally as important as his development of a technique that is characterized by a tension between tight brushwork and its fluid appearances. From afar the works looks like watercolors but upon closer inspection the solidity of rigorously painted oils emerge. 

Fang Wei studied and lived in Japan before returning to his native Shanghai in 2005. He has held solo shows at Shanghai Gallery of Art and participated in many group exhibitions. His work is in the DSL Collection and many private collections worldwide.