Flowers

Liu Wei's art is an indicator of the values of the post-1990s Chinese generation in the rapidly changing China, and reflect the political, economic, and cultural changes and reconstructions happening in the society. In the early 1990s, Liu Wei became a part of the first wave of Chinese artists to exhibit internationally. He and Fang Lijun were referred to by the Chinese art critic Li Xianting as the leading figures of China's Cynical Realism style in the early 1990s.

Upon his trail on Cynical Realism, Liu Wei is keen on exploring, through his expressive painting style, the values and mentality of contemporary life, and has gained recognition for his unique and noteworthy creative vernacular. Through self-examination and observations on society, Liu seeks expressions through the stylized aesthetics of traditional Chinese painting. Flowers (Lot 103) and Untitled (Lot 104) borrows its depiction of the subject from traditional Chinese bird-and-flower genre in literati paintings. Liu has developed his signature rusty, dancing strokes matched with a jarring palette of deep red, green black hues that confronts the conventions of literati painting. Through the juxtaposition of peonies, skulls and text in his images, Liu aligns the symbols of extravagance with that of mediocrity to toy with the binary of abundance and scarcity on his canvas. The arrangement contrasts the duality in refinement and the coarseness in its imagery, the beautiful and the foul, and even, life and death. As such, Liu also suggests the undeniably balance in duality of life, a type of yin and yang in the forces of the universe through these works.

Liu's Flowers series all demonstrate the way he attempts to break free from the mainstream: when most Chinese contemporary artists were focusing on political and social reflection, Liu takes the step to guard against and reform the aesthetic traits and spiritual work of traditional Chinese literati painting, allowing us to look afresh at life and nature from the vantage point of Chinese culture and experience its inspirational influence over contemporaneity.