Leah Ke Yi Zheng, No.7, 2025
Leah Ke Yi Zheng’s upcoming exhibition presents a complete series of 64 paintings based on the hexagrams of the I Ching (Book of Changes), a foundational text in Chinese philosophy. Each painting reflects on a hexagram not through literal representation, but through an evolving visual language shaped by abstraction, intuition, and the interplay of light and material. Working with silk, hardwood, and hand-built stretchers, Zheng brings together traditional Chinese techniques and conceptual art methodologies to explore transformation, multiplicity, and the logic of impermanence. Her practice is influenced by thinkers such as John Cage and Yuk Hui, and rooted in a dialogue between Eastern and Western modes of thought. In this project, the I Ching is not only a reference—it is a method, a structure, and a philosophical companion. The exhibition becomes a meditation on change itself: how it is read, made visible, and experienced through painting.
Curated by Myriam Ben Salah and Karsten Lund.
LEAH KE YI ZHENG (b.1988, China) lives and works in Chicago. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Machine(s) at Layr, Vienna (2025); I-Ching/Machine at Mendes Wood DM, New York (2025); Leah Ke Yi Zheng at Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2024); John Cage, Leah Ke Yi Zheng: The Grasshopper Lies Heavy at Castle Gallery, Los Angeles (2024); Leah Ke Yi Zheng at David Lewis Gallery, New York (2023); and Currency @ Swiss National Bank, Zurich at Soccer Club Club, Chicago (2021). Recent group exhibitions include New Museum, New York (2025); Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp (2023); and Caffé Centrale, Monte Castello di Vibio (2022) among others. She was awarded a 2019 – 2021 Fellowship from The Arts Club of Chicago.