Xu Dawei was born in 1980 in Zhejiang, China. He studied at the Comprehensive Painting Studio of the Department of Comprehensive Art at the China Academy of Art from 2001 to 2005, and now lives and works in Shanghai.
Xu Dawei’s paintings begin with blank canvases, where images gradually emerge through layers of application and erasure. He avoids predefined structures or explicit themes, instead relying on intuition and rhythm to develop the composition, allowing forms to organically evolve through the process. His work often merges figuration and abstraction, with subjects—typically figures—captured in states of gazing or heightened perception. The overall compositions exude a quiet, introspective quality, carrying a visual tension imbued with a spiritual atmosphere. Xu tends to construct image spaces detached from reality, utilizing color, light, and illogical structures to forge a contemplative viewing field. Rather than emphasizing narrative, his work invites viewers to engage with their own perceptions, seeking resonance within suspended time and blurred boundaries between the real and unreal, the tangible and illusory.
His solo exhibitions include: Ephemera and Echo, Leo Gallery, Shanghai(2025); A Clearing in the Woods, LIANG PROJECT, Shanghai(2023); Fusion and Absorption, LIANG PROJECT, Shanghai(2020); Relics, West Bund Art & Design (Solo Project), Leo Gallery(2018); The Stalker, Leo Gallery, Hong Kong(2017).