Leon Xu Paints the Instability of Memory in “Afterglow”
Airbrushed works taking inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s ‘After Hours.’
Summary
- Marking the second solo exhibition of Chinese-born, New York-based painter
- The show takes inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s ‘After Hours’ film
Mai 36 Galerie in Zurich presents Afterglow, the second solo exhibition of Chinese-born, New York-based painter Leon Xu, on view through November 1, 2025. The show takes inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, drawing on its atmosphere of chaos, shifting control and the uneasy pull of the night.
Xu interprets the film’s mood rather than its storyline, using airbrush and acrylic to create paintings that blur edges and dissolve into dreamlike impressions. Works such as “Skyline,” “Neon Letters” and “Veils of Light” appear like half-remembered moments, suspended between clarity and disappearance. The canvases capture the glow of fleeting encounters, the intensity of disorientation and the fragile calm that follows.
In Afterglow, Xu resists fixed narrative and invites viewers to linger in uncertainty. His paintings highlight how memory slips, how perception sharpens and blurs and how beauty often becomes visible only when it begins to fade.
Maie 36 Galerie
Rämistrasse 37
8001 Zürich
Switzerland
