Xiao Zhiyu's research mainly concerns the contemporary perception of images in relation to the formation of painted objects. He explores the notion of exhibition as a medium through material discursive practices of painting, in which the rematerialisation of objects and bodies take often a central role: canvases of pages filled with descriptions, paintings that repeat the form and weight of books, or a large sculpture of curtain that acts both as art object as well as a vertical space for display of the others.