Li Hei Di: the year of mud

Preview: written before the show opened

Li Hei Di kept thinking about Nüwa, the Chinese goddess believed to have made people by dipping a rope in muddy water and swinging it, each flying drop landing as a person. Over a year of personal change, Li pictured their body as one of those drops. These new paintings came out of that year, and Li calls them "giant listeners" that held them through it.

The figures never settle, sliding between figuration and abstraction in a palette Pace calls almost shimmering, forms surfacing and receding. The hang is planned so that different works and pairings come into view as you move through the space. Anyone who has been sprayed by a cab on Tenth Avenue in December knows half of Nüwa's method.

It's Li's first solo show with Pace in New York, and no one has reviewed it yet. Entry is free at Pace's Chelsea building, 540 West 25th Street, from 6 November to 19 December, with an opening reception on 5 November from 6 to 8pm.