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Lot Essay
Liu Wei was a representative of Cynical Realism. He began his career with the critically acclaimed Revolutionary Family Series in the early 1990s, with their "group photos" of the dead-eyed, deformed-mouthed members of a military family. Then from the "Swimming" series with its images of Chairman Mao without his mystical "halo," to the fleshing decaying figures in later works such as "No Smoking," "You Like Pork?" and "You Like Me?" every change in Liu Wei's style has seemed to cast aside his own past work in a bold, new program of experimentation. Liu Wei is known for his "ugly" paintings. His style did not come from an anti-art or anti-aesthetics perspective but rather a sense of the "real" and the "raw". The bright colours and unique brushwork of Flowers of Evil are visually shocking, while his Landscape series is rendered with breathtaking poise. Liu emphasizes the expression of his own inner sensations, instinct is his currency as Liu himself once put it: "In my paintings, I respect my own psychological reactions; I use my own methods to interpret the scenes that present themselves to me. Anyone who looks at one of my paintings can tell immediately that I painted it. An artist needs to paint with feeling if they are going to move the viewer, to produce something that can be truly beautiful."
In Who Am I? (Lot 33), a black shadow of a figure emerges from the depth of darkness, seesawing between translucency and corporeality. The characteristic pink flesh of the decaying body is now replaced by a dark and disappearing shadow of a human figure. Straddling between existence and disappearance, the figure seems to be unsure of his identity, his own makeup, echoing the title of the painting. Accompanied with pink fleshy flowers characteristic of the artist, they appear to be dripping and melting with the green spiky leaves. Beneath this bouquet of disorderly plants, facial features gush out from grey stones, turning into skulls. A sense of ambivalence permeates the canvas; everything appears to be in a state of flux, reflecting the artist's own state of mind. The translucent effect is created by using layers of thin paint, attesting to the artist's technical brilliance. The half figures and the lack of a narrative is a departure from his usual repartee.
It is important to note that the painting was created between 1999 and 2000, a time when the artist's output was severely curtailed. Mulling over his own life and spiritual development, he felt confused and exhausted. Out of this period of difficult emotional introspection, Liu painted Who Am I? in 1999, which encapsulates his forlornness and agitation with a depiction of the nullified, inherently transient quality of life. The transparent figure in Who Am I? embodies this sense of existential angst reminiscent of Francis Bacon Head VI. (Fig. 1)
Within this context, Who Am I? is suffused with symbolic meaning. Traditionally, the skull and flowers are common symbols of vanitas, a kind of symbolic Still life paintings popular in Flaunders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries (Fig. 2), though also common in other places and periods. The Latin word means "vanity" and can be loosely translated to mean the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. Flowers were a metaphor for the stages of human life. The skull is one of the most common symbols for death and mortality.
Hence, Who Am I? is an intimate emotional portrait of an artist. It reveals Liu Wei's innermost thoughts and feelings during a time when he felt lost. Stylistically speaking, it is also a time of change. In the portrait, the thin layers of paint and lack of a narrative show a new direction in Liu's artist oeuvre. Through the symbolism of flowers, skull and the transparent figure, Liu Wei reveals to us his anxiety and frustration of human existence, a stage where most people go through once in a life time. The emotional honesty of this portrait is as if the artist is inviting us to share his journey of emotional growth as an artist and a human being, connecting us to his art even more.
In Who Am I? (Lot 33), a black shadow of a figure emerges from the depth of darkness, seesawing between translucency and corporeality. The characteristic pink flesh of the decaying body is now replaced by a dark and disappearing shadow of a human figure. Straddling between existence and disappearance, the figure seems to be unsure of his identity, his own makeup, echoing the title of the painting. Accompanied with pink fleshy flowers characteristic of the artist, they appear to be dripping and melting with the green spiky leaves. Beneath this bouquet of disorderly plants, facial features gush out from grey stones, turning into skulls. A sense of ambivalence permeates the canvas; everything appears to be in a state of flux, reflecting the artist's own state of mind. The translucent effect is created by using layers of thin paint, attesting to the artist's technical brilliance. The half figures and the lack of a narrative is a departure from his usual repartee.
It is important to note that the painting was created between 1999 and 2000, a time when the artist's output was severely curtailed. Mulling over his own life and spiritual development, he felt confused and exhausted. Out of this period of difficult emotional introspection, Liu painted Who Am I? in 1999, which encapsulates his forlornness and agitation with a depiction of the nullified, inherently transient quality of life. The transparent figure in Who Am I? embodies this sense of existential angst reminiscent of Francis Bacon Head VI. (Fig. 1)
Within this context, Who Am I? is suffused with symbolic meaning. Traditionally, the skull and flowers are common symbols of vanitas, a kind of symbolic Still life paintings popular in Flaunders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries (Fig. 2), though also common in other places and periods. The Latin word means "vanity" and can be loosely translated to mean the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. Flowers were a metaphor for the stages of human life. The skull is one of the most common symbols for death and mortality.
Hence, Who Am I? is an intimate emotional portrait of an artist. It reveals Liu Wei's innermost thoughts and feelings during a time when he felt lost. Stylistically speaking, it is also a time of change. In the portrait, the thin layers of paint and lack of a narrative show a new direction in Liu's artist oeuvre. Through the symbolism of flowers, skull and the transparent figure, Liu Wei reveals to us his anxiety and frustration of human existence, a stage where most people go through once in a life time. The emotional honesty of this portrait is as if the artist is inviting us to share his journey of emotional growth as an artist and a human being, connecting us to his art even more.