You Like Me? Why Not!

Do You like me? (Lot 35), created in 1996, is a unique representative works of the earlier Expressionism of Liu Wei. The large, twisted face of a man is placed almost in the center of the canvas, painted in exaggerated, explosive strokes. The elusive background may be a landscape, and what appears to be flowers and the chaotic results of an explosion are scattered around. With a big face, thick neck, uneven warty cheeks, small eyes and tetracycline-stained teeth, the figure does not have a likable visage. But he happens to be a clown and blurts out straightforwardly: "do you like me" the serious and profound themes of the picture are dissolved by the artist into a typical "dalliance" in Beijing Hutong. We are wondering whether the artist was "fooling people" or maybe "fooling around with himself". The sense of boredom evoked by painting and the nails hammered into the frames create a strong contrast. The inability and loss the artist feels in reality can perhaps only be vented physically by mechanical movement of is body, as expressed by those nails.