Shafei Xia
Profumo concerto
2020
watercolor on sandal paper mounted on canvas
cm 110×112 
Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna
Photo credit: Carlo Favero 

THE BLANK CONTEMPORARY ART
99 WORDS WITH SHAFEI XIA

The great director Federico Fellini defined himself as a clown, he used to say that films were his circus. And life is Shafei’s circus.

Sometimes I’m a clown who brings joy to people. Sometimes I’m the tiger who has been tamed and has to jump through the ring of fire. Sometimes I’m the master of violence. I want to control everything.

My approach to life is a game and, as such, also the circus embodies this face: it makes others smile while preserving a universe of emotions and oppositions.