Yan's work portrays the tension in everyday life in the context of rapid urban development. She manipulates objects and subjects into different painterly forms - reality and fantasy are mixed on the same canvas, and the dynamic and the tranquil are blended - revealing the conflict between being a part of society and being an individual. The irony and humor in her paintings invite viewers to escape the solemnity of reality and enter a universe of imagination and possibilities.
Yan Xinyue's solo exhibitions include Revisit, Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai (2024); A Prayer for the Sunset, Sans Titre, Paris (2023); To look Is to Eat, Jack Barrett Gallery, New York (2023); and Summer Mist, Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai (2020).
Her work has also been shown in group exhibitions at C L E A R I N G, Los Angeles (2024)；Public Gallery, London (2023); Harper's, Los Angeles (2023); Sans Titre, Paris (2022); Current Plans, Hong Kong (2021); Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai (2019); A+ Contemporary, Shanghai (2019); De Brakke Grond - Flemish Cultural Center Amsterdam (2018), among others.