Dogs of Dark

Li Xu

April 23 – May 23, 2026

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Dogs of Dark marked a substantive exhibition by Xu which probed the ambiguity between human and canine bodies, drawing on themes presented in a rich collection of visceral poems created during time spent in New York City.

Referring to this body of work as inhabiting the space of ‘visual poems,’ Xu positions the elements present in these human-canine compositions as potentially inhabiting dream states, offering a glimpse into the psychological underpinnings of these anthropomorphic figures presented within mysterious interior scenes. The consistent theme linking the works on view together was the presence of ambiguity: it served as a functional aspect of the body of work on view in Dogs of Dark. On view from April 23 to May 23, 2026, the exhibition presented a fully realized suite of paintings that serves as a salvo to the power of the fragmented image.

Similar to human systems of behavior, dogs have been domesticated from the earliest ages of prehistory. As such, the artist captures the ability of dogs to represent the duality of our own social yet instinct-driven nature. This duality is also present in the formal elements depicted in this body of work, where abstracted floors, walls and objects exert themselves in the same interior as figures represented in these perplexing tableaux. Perhaps most unsettling in Xu’s works are the inscrutable faces of his figures: unlike the fervent realism depicted in portraiture by contemporaries Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, Xu’s human and canine faces are hidden from view. More aligned with the raw expressionism in depictions of human figures by painter Egon Schiele, Xu’s paintings exude the emotional and psychological weight of instability and isolation. Form and shape coalesce within the unsettling and surrealistic tones of skin and fur that define the subjects present in Xu’s haunting images. His brushwork is subtle yet intransigent. Alternately menacing and appealing, seductive and morose, Dogs of Dark is a siren song to the underground aspects of life in New York City, offering insight into the hidden, isolated elements of a bustling cultural metropolis and the figures – human and dog alike – inhabiting these destabilized spaces.

Dogs of Dark was on view at VillageOneArt, 150 West 25th Street, Suite 403, New York, from April 23 to May 23, 2026. For inquiries regarding available works by Li Xu, please contact info@villageoneart.com.