TL;DR
Get art and craft supplies delivered free — and shop member deals
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Access to Prime Big Deal Days deals on October 6–7
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
Tang Shuo’s first solo exhibition in New York, “Borrowed History,” is on view at Plato Gallery from October 8 to November 7, 2026. Its oil paintings place the artist in fictional scenes inspired by his ancestors and his childhood home, Dashishan Village, where the population has fallen from more than 200 people to about a dozen, according to Colossal.
Artist Tang Shuo’s first solo exhibition in New York, “Borrowed History,” opened at Plato Gallery on October 8, presenting oil paintings in which he imagines himself in scenes associated with his ancestors. The work connects personal and family history to Dashishan Village in southern China, where Tang grew up and where, according to the exhibition report, the population has dwindled from more than 200 residents to about a dozen.
The paintings are based on photographs of Tang, but their situations are invented: he depicts himself in positions he imagines his relatives might have occupied. In “The Migrant” (2026), he carries a small sack over his back. “The Settler” shows him lifting a tree trunk, with tools and bones scattered nearby. Both are oil paintings on linen measuring 100 by 80 centimeters, according to Colossal’s report on the exhibition.
Another painting draws on a childhood fear. Tang grew up afraid of snakes, the report says. In a new work, he pictures himself grasping a black serpent, with its shed skin on the ground. The scenes are not presented as documented episodes in his family’s past; they are fictional self-portraits through which he considers how ancestry and the land shape personal identity.
The exhibition includes works such as “The Tree Hollow I” (2026), “Waiting” (2026) and “Vessel” (2026). The paintings use lush landscapes and brightly colored clouds, and the report describes their mood as touched by magical realism. It identifies Gabriel García Márquez’s novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” as an influence cited by Tang.
Paintings Link Family and Place
“Borrowed History” brings together two different forms of record: imagined scenes of ancestral life and Tang’s ongoing documentation of the village where he grew up. The distinction matters. The paintings do not verify what individual ancestors did; instead, they make visible Tang’s attempt to picture lives that cannot be recovered through his own experience alone.
The village’s reported population decline gives that project a present-day dimension. Colossal says more than 200 people lived in Dashishan when Tang was a child, while only around a dozen remain today. As residents and stories become harder to encounter, the exhibition frames art as a way of thinking about continuity between generations and the place they share. Tang’s works offer an interpretation of that connection, not a substitute for a factual village archive.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Dashishan to Plato Gallery
Tang’s connection to Dashishan is rooted in his childhood in a small community where several generations of his family lived together and farmed. Colossal describes residents tending crops and sheep, with the surrounding terrain and wildlife part of everyday life. In the exhibition, that remembered landscape becomes more than a setting: it is the thread Tang uses to link his present-day self with people who came before him.
The paintings belong to a broader interest in ancestry, family and how people understand their origins. Tang works from photographs of himself, then places his likeness in imagined historical roles. The resulting pictures combine a recognizable self-portrait with scenes that are openly speculative, allowing the artist to explore family history without claiming to have reconstructed exact events.
According to Colossal, Tang continues to document Dashishan’s inhabitants and stories and plans to publish a book recording the village’s history. He has described the planned book as his “own bible,” the report says. That project sits alongside the paintings as a separate effort to preserve accounts of a community undergoing substantial change.
““own bible””
— Tang Shuo, as quoted in the Colossal report
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
The Record Behind Imagined Scenes
The available report does not give the names or detailed histories of the ancestors represented by the paintings, or identify specific family events that informed each imagined scene. It is therefore unclear how closely individual images draw on oral accounts, family records or Tang’s own interpretation beyond the information described in the report.
The population figures are also presented as approximate: the report says more than 200 people lived in Dashishan during Tang’s childhood and that around a dozen remain today, but it does not specify the dates or method used to establish those counts. Details such as the book’s publication date, scope and sources have not been provided. The gallery listing establishes the exhibition dates but does not, in the source material, provide further information about programming or future venues.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Exhibition and Village Book Plans
“Borrowed History” is scheduled to remain on view at Plato Gallery through November 7, 2026. Visitors can see the paintings during that period; the source report does not describe any additional exhibition dates or a later tour.
Tang’s longer-term work is the planned book documenting Dashishan’s history. Colossal reports that he continues to record the village’s inhabitants and stories, but no release date or publication details are available. That project may provide a more direct historical record alongside the exhibition’s fictionalized approach, though its contents and timetable remain unannounced in the material provided.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
What is “Borrowed History”?
It is Tang Shuo’s first solo exhibition in New York, featuring oil paintings that use fictional self-portraits to explore ancestry, family history and the artist’s connection to Dashishan Village.
When and where is the exhibition?
“Borrowed History” is on view at Plato Gallery from October 8 to November 7, 2026, according to the source report.
Do the paintings show verified events from Tang’s family history?
No. The scenes are described as fictional. Tang uses photographs of himself and imagines him in roles his relatives may have occupied; the report does not establish the depicted episodes as documented events.
Why does Dashishan Village figure in the exhibition?
Tang grew up in Dashishan and connects his family’s past to the land and landscape there. The report says the village has changed from more than 200 residents in his childhood to about a dozen today, and that Tang continues to document its inhabitants and stories.
Is Tang publishing a book about the village?
According to Colossal, Tang plans to publish a book recording Dashishan’s history. No publication date or further details are given in the source material.
Source: rss
Fall Picks
fall essentials
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
