To our community and applicants,
It is with great pleasure that we announce the chosen recipient for our Winter 2023 open call as Tianxing Xu. After a fantastic round of applications, this was a difficult decision, but one that our studio has full confidence in.
Tianxing Xu (b. 1996, Shanghai, China) is a visual artist now based in New York. After receiving a formal education and training in oil painting between 2014-2018 from the East China Normal University, as well as an exchange program with Pratt Institute in 2016, Tianxing continued his education at the Savannah College of Art and Design where he completed an M.F.A.
The proposal submitted was closely tied to his recent work and thesis, COLORING BOOK, an expansive study across mediums of painting, printmaking, and self-published artist's books that serve as building plans for an imaginary amusement park. Constructing this fairground out of fragments both highly rendered and distorted, Tianxing presents a unique world bound by chaos and absolute order.
COLORING BOOK explores motions of regret, unfulfilled promises, and distance in regards to recollection. With influence taken from the artist's own memories, the scenes act like diary pages, torn or incomplete to represent the sense of being forgotten, hard to remember, or spotty. He recalls instances from childhood, of abandoned family plans to visit an amusement park close to where he grew up in Jinjiang Park, Shanghai, that never came to fruition. The very same park would come up in later promises made to others that were too deserted.
For Tianxing, the work remains incomplete without the presence of the audience. Viewer participation plays a large role in the artist's practice, as he often crafts moments for the viewer to 'fill in the blanks', both metaphorically and literally, in his narratives. We greatly anticipate our upcoming collaboration with him to see how we can push these ideas further and create a project together that will truly be special.
To all the artists who applied for this Winter's open call and were not selected, we want to commend you and thank you endlessly for your time and efforts. The proposals received this round eclipsed every expectation we had, and we were extremely humbled to be approached by so many talented individuals. Each proposal was thoroughly read and evaluated, and our studio will be reaching out personally to each applicant to respond to their proposal. It is our privilege to have been introduced to your work.
As our sponsorship circuit continues into the next year, we hope to continue meeting and working with artists in this capacity. As a small studio, we do not have endless resources to share, but we believe deeply in the creative community we are a part of. Our ultimate hope is that we grow to the point where providing sponsorship for more and more people will be possible.
To a future of continued creation and opportunity,
Maya, Stephen & Martin
The Brooklyn Editions Team
All artwork and images courtesy of the artist, Tianxing Xu. Visit Tianxing Xu's Website here
