Pil Ho Lee

"Western Avenue No. 3" Contemporary Impressionist Scene of Loa Angeles

2023

Artist Comments
Artist Yangzi Xu depicts a breathtaking evening scene at dusk on Wacker Drive, Chicago. "The lights of the city are on, creating a mesmerizing effervescence t...

Artist Comments
Based on artist Onelio Marrero's sketches, the scene depicts a Manhattan avenue looking south on a winter night. The brushwork captures the bustling energy of...

Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero depicts the bustling energy of Midtown Manhattan traffic, looking south on a rainy afternoon. Dashing yet precise brushstrokes convey move...

Artist Comments
Artist Yangzi Xu depicts an iconic view of LaSalle Street in Chicago, facing south from the bridge. She rendered this piece in a warm muted palette, setting the stage to highlight sporadic lights and reflections on wet concrete. "My focus was to convey the mood and feeling a rainy day brings to my beloved city," shares Yangzi.

About the Artist
Artist Yangzi Xu captures a nostalgia for Chicago and its dramatic seasonal changes in her expressionist cityscapes. Having a full-time job and being a wife and mother, Yangzi makes a habit of painting everyday to keep her passion exciting and fresh. She keeps a queue of ideas and reference photos that she takes throughout the year. She looks through her references, tweaks and adds elements to them. Once inspiration strikes, Yangzi draws several sketches and begins to work with oils on canvas on multiple pieces at once - to keep each painting spontaneous and new. "I try to capture the paradox of life in the city, where one can be in a crowd and yet feel alone," Yangzi says. "My main intent is not to capture the physical reality of a scene, but to express my own moods and feelings to my audience." In her free time, Yangzi enjoys reading, with her current favorite genres being biographies and memoirs. Yangzi is an alumnus of DePaul University in Chicago.

Words that describe this painting: Chicago, La Salle...