A transparent surface promises a clearer view. In Jia Aili’s new paintings, it also gives the eye another reason to pause.
At Gagosian Beverly Hills, Seeing Through: Jia Aili’s Parallel Paintings introduces the artist’s concept of “parallel painting.” Several works place Plexiglas bearing acrylic-pen marks in front of oil-painted linen. The gap between these surfaces makes the viewer’s position part of how the composition is perceived. Exhibition details
This physical separation raises a simple question: when do distinct marks become one image? The eye connects elements across the layers, but their relationship remains open to adjustment. Transparency complicates the view even as it allows us to see through.
Jia has previously expressed reservations about interpretations that tie his paintings too closely to historical reality, emphasizing his interest in aesthetic and philosophical questions. His comments encourage attention to how a painting works alongside what its imagery might represent.
That distinction matters when approaching contemporary Chinese art, where biography and social history can sometimes determine a work’s interpretation before its formal decisions receive sufficient attention. Here, surfaces, distances, and alignments deserve consideration as expressions of thought.
The exhibition draws on sources ranging from Eastern mythology to Delacroix’s The Barque of Dante. Their proximity invites us to consider how images acquire new relationships while retaining their separate histories.
“Parallel” suggests a way for these differences to coexist without settling into a unified story. It also offers an expansive perspective on art from Asia: one attentive to how artists transform visual traditions and contribute their own questions to painting.
The experiment’s value ultimately depends on whether its layers sustain looking beyond the initial effect. Jia’s exhibition makes that a tangible proposition, asking viewers to reconsider the space between recognizing an image and understanding how it comes together.
Seeing Through: Jia Aili’s Parallel Paintings is on view at Gagosian Beverly Hills through October 10, 2026.
