Xu Lei，who has good insights into images, can tells stories and is good at drawing painting

In his paintings, Xu Lei is accustomed to interweaving real elements with fictional scenes. He meticulously carves objects with delicate and realistic brushstrokes, yet places them in spaces filled with a fantastical atmosphere, creating a unique ambience that is both real and illusory, and where the virtual and the actual coexist. It’s as if he is narrating stories that occur deep within dreams from the perspective of the protagonist, guiding viewers into a poetic and mysterious otherworld.

Xu Lei enhances the contrast between the real and the illusory in his works through the exquisite manipulation of light and shadow, endowing his paintings with a distinctive visual tension. In some of his works, he illuminates the subject with soft and focused light, while the surrounding environment is shrouded in hazy shadows, making the subject seem to emerge slowly from the boundless darkness or presenting a half-hidden, half-revealed state of wonder. This sense of proximity and distance greatly adds to the mystery of the story and stirs the viewer’s curiosity and desire to explore. 

In the narrative system Xu Lei constructs, he often employs the technique of using objects to represent people, skillfully replacing characters. Through the superimposition and integration of different visual elements, as well as the subtle differences in the real and illusory aspects of the foreground, background, and middle ground, and the contrast between the mirror image in water and reality, he meticulously arranges and performs the allegorical stories in his mind, creating a unique and dramatic multi-dimensional space in his paintings. Each work is like a silent yet tense drama. Furthermore, Xu Lei is adept at juxtaposing images and mirror images in his paintings. This unique form of expression symbolizes his deep self-examination and reflection, as well as his precise capture and eternal fixation of moments. 

In his paintings, time seems to stand still, and the postures of the scenes are perfectly frozen. This unique interpretation of time easily evokes deep feelings about the passage of time and nostalgia for the past in the viewer’s heart, allowing them to engage in a dialogue with their inner selves while appreciating the works. To attend the opening of Xu Lei’s solo exhibition at the Shenzhen Art Museum this time, I was deeply touched. I specially selected several photos from our first visit to Prague twenty years ago as a memento.