(Brooklyn, NY) A Space Gallery is pleased to present Gray Days, Orange Ways, a solo exhibition by New York-based Chinese artist Xianghan Cheng. This exhibition showcases a series of oil paintings inspired by urban walls, featuring a range of sizes and exploring the interplay of layers, textures, and color relationships to engage with visual memory.
Cheng’s artistic process is rooted in his fascination with the unnoticed details of city streets—weathered surfaces, overlapping layers of paint, and traces left behind by time. These elements form the foundation of his visual language, categorized into three levels: Light Coverage, which distills colors into a grayscale foundation while retaining subtle warm and cool tones; Medium Coverage, where visible remnants of previous layers remain; and Heavy Coverage, where all recognizable elements are concealed, leaving only the interplay of texture and color.
Beyond an abstraction of urban landscapes, Cheng’s paintings reflect his personal experiences and perceptions of the city. Influenced by Piet Mondrian and Richard Diebenkorn, he adapts their treatment of lines and color fields to develop a distinctly personal aesthetic. The recurring arch-like structures in his compositions symbolize shelter and belonging while evoking a rhythmic quality akin to music. His technique of layering paint preserves underlying textures, allowing the surface to “breathe” rather than becoming a static, closed plane. This dynamic interaction between texture and color lends his work a sense of movement, mirroring urban impressions’ fleeting yet persistent nature.
The works presented in Gray Days, Orange Ways invite viewers to reconsider the often overlooked aesthetics of their surroundings—how walls accumulate traces of time, how colors shift under different lighting, and how urban landscapes embed themselves into collective and personal memory. Cheng’s exhibition offers a meditation on the visual and emotional imprints of the city, encouraging audiences to engage with the hidden beauty of everyday environments.
Exhibition Dates
March 6 – 19, 2025
Gallery Hours
Thursday – Sunday | 2 – 6 PM
Opening Reception
Thursday, March 6, 2025 | 6 – 8 PM
Artist
Xianghan Cheng
Venue
13 Grattan St, #402, Brooklyn, NY 11206
Contact
For more information, please visit
About Gallery
A Space Gallery, founded in 2024, is a pioneering incubator dedicated to discovering and supporting emerging artists in the contemporary art world. As a forward-thinking platform, we provide young talents with the space and opportunities to experiment, grow, and connect with a wider audience. Through collaborations with visionary artists and brands, we curate cutting-edge exhibitions, immersive art events, and dynamic cultural experiences that push the boundaries of artistic expression. More than just a gallery, A Space Gallery is a hub for creativity, dialogue, and innovation, shaping the future of contemporary art.
(text & photo courtesy of A Space Gallery)
