Liu Liyun’s first solo domestic exhibition “Content” opened at Beijing Amy Li Gallery at 3:00 pm on March 21, 2015, Feng Boyi serves as the academic director of the exhibition.
Liu Liyun has practiced penmanship with her grandfather, and learned painting with her father. She successively graduated from the Fine Arts School Affiliated to CAFA and the CAFA. Liu Liyun is one of the rare artists that are good at interdisciplinary creations, from the installation work “Lightness” series created during her study in the UK in 1999 to the large-scale installation “Landscape Painting” created when she resided in Fukuoka Museum of Asian Art in Japan, and the “Penholder Mountain” to a dialogue with Oldenburg presented in Kassel in 2012, she freely changed the two-dimensional work of ink painting to the multidimensional spatial installation. The exhibited works are made from fiberglass, which is different from the early works of cotton, but it is a continuation of the installation work “Lightness” series created during her study in the UK.
In his famous book “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”, the French writer Milan Kundera wrote: “Life for me is too heavy, and it is too light for you. This is for me the unbearable Lightness of being.” For the author, Light and Heavy seem to be a constant theme in life, like the Eternal Recurrence of Nietszche. In this exhibition, Liu Liyun pursues her interrogation and exploration about the “essence of life”, hence the name of this exhibition “Simple is Powerful”. The aesthetic of her works can be described as “simple, natural, intuitive, poetic, silent and experiential”. Yet, using a minimalist language and simple materials, she actually created thought-provoking works in a series composed of seemingly lightweight sculptures. The viewer cannot help but want to touch the pieces that are, beyond the imagination, much more heavy than they seem. Through the work the viewer can feel that it is not important for the use of materials or the creative technique, but to express the original idea, never forgetting that “puppy love” is first.
The exhibition will remain on view till May 24.
About the Exhibition
Duration: March 21 - May 24, 2015
Venue: No.54 Caochangdi (old airport road), Chaoyang District, Beijing 100015, China
Tel: + 86 10 64340616
Courtesy of the artist and Amy Li Gallery.
