Installation views of 'Pieter Obels | Feng Xiao-Min', Opera Gallery London, June 2026 © Eva Herzog
Pieter Obels Feng Xiao-Min
Opera Gallery London
04 June - 05 July 2026
This exhibition brings together Dutch sculptor Pieter Obels and French-Chinese artist Feng Xiao-Min for their first time in London with Opera Gallery. Presented on the occasion of London Gallery Weekend, the show places these two contemporary artists in dialogue, marking Feng Xiao-Min’s first exhibition in the UK and Pieter Obels’ return to London after 10 years. It reveals the core concerns of their respective practices—meditative approaches that embrace the making process and its unexpected turns—despite their distinct cultural and geographic backgrounds.
Pieter Obels: calm and continuity forged into metal
Pieter Obels’ work is defined by his use of Corten steel. While metal often suggests weight and rigidity, his sculptures possess an unexpected organic quality. Drawing inspiration from the growth patterns of plants, Obels works in close dialogue with his material, allowing its inherent properties to guide the process. This approach lends his practice a meditative dimension, transforming the forge—typically associated with intensity and force—into a site of quiet emergence. The resulting forms, characterised by their rounded openness, are conceived to inhabit and respond to their surroundings, contributing a sense of calm and continuity while also embracing how the environment affects the material, for instance the patina that develops on the steel when exhibited outside.
| Feng Xiao-Min: inscribing landscapes through brushstrokes
Working from his studio in Fontainebleau, Feng Xiao-Min has developed a sustained engagement with abstract landscape. Rooted in a calligraphic tradition that has evolved into painting, his compositions employ subtle variations of colour to construct immersive, contemplative atmospheres. Whether through a restrained palette or more vibrant tones, he evokes indistinct terrains—mist-laden seascapes or shifting horizons—that resist fixed interpretation; the artist chooses not to title his paintings, believing that titles would constrain the way the public interprets his work. As with Obels, improvisation plays a central role. While informed by an underlying structure, Feng embraces the unforeseen developments that arise in the act of painting as integral to the work itself. In an increasingly accelerated world, both artists offer a deliberate counterpoint through practices grounded in material engagement. Their works evoke a sense of calm that feels almost out of step with contemporary rhythms—an understated form of resistance. Central to this is their commitment to making: each remains directly involved in the physical realisation of their work, privileging process and presence over delegation, and reinforcing the intimacy that underpins their respective practices. Discover the studio of Pieter Obels, where steel is transformed through fire, water, and time into poetic sculptural forms.
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