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Lot Essay
As one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the Chinese contemporary art movement, Li Shan first began exploring themes of science, biology, and genetic engineering in 1993. In 1998, after several years of investigation and development, he began producing the works in his “Reading Series”. Li hopes that through his understanding of transgenic technology, he can make “life” the subject of his art, and help shape new understanding of the relationships between living organisms. In his "Reading Series” works, Li challenges current attitudes towards biological integrity, casting the processes of mutation and creation in a new light.
The leopard fish is a species of freshwater fish that sports leopard-like spots all over its body. However, in Reading Series - Cubs , Li Shan has painted leopard cubs superimposed with small teal fish, provoking a subtle feeling of surreal absurdity. The Surrealist artist Rene Magritte is famous for painting works in which familiar everyday objects are juxtaposed strangely or placed in absurd contexts – Li Shan’s work presents the viewer with a similarly jarring image, as a means of probing the diversity of life and its infinite permutations.
In Li Shan’s recent work, we can clearly see the influence that modern science has had on his creative thought processes, while also getting a glimpse of his avant-garde thought processes and daring spirit. By producing surreal works that reference all kinds of living organisms and their interconnectedness, Li promotes the concept that all lives and all species hold equal value, changing the way we view the other beings that share this world with us.
The leopard fish is a species of freshwater fish that sports leopard-like spots all over its body. However, in Reading Series - Cubs , Li Shan has painted leopard cubs superimposed with small teal fish, provoking a subtle feeling of surreal absurdity. The Surrealist artist Rene Magritte is famous for painting works in which familiar everyday objects are juxtaposed strangely or placed in absurd contexts – Li Shan’s work presents the viewer with a similarly jarring image, as a means of probing the diversity of life and its infinite permutations.
In Li Shan’s recent work, we can clearly see the influence that modern science has had on his creative thought processes, while also getting a glimpse of his avant-garde thought processes and daring spirit. By producing surreal works that reference all kinds of living organisms and their interconnectedness, Li promotes the concept that all lives and all species hold equal value, changing the way we view the other beings that share this world with us.