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Liu Wei stands among his work Love It, Bite It in his solo show Color in Beijing, where the exhibition rooms are filled with large installations. Photo provided to China Daily |
The exhibition is titled Color but that doesn't mean the exhibition is drenched in colorful hues. With the exception of the paintings, the sculptures and installations feature little coloring and are predominantly in white and gray.
Liu chose the word "color" to examine the way people see the world and to discuss the orders that support society and people's inner lives.
"Color reflects how we understand the things around us and how we perceive the world," he says.
He demonstrates his great passion for reading in the artwork Look! Books. He compressed books and printed paper and then shaved and carved them into different shapes resembling marble. He placed these monument-like cubes to make a miniature urban landscape dominated by high-rises.
Liu also displays a new addition to his iconic Love It, Bite It series. He was inspired to create the works after seeing his dog chewing an ox hide toy. In the new work, he seeks to explore the connection between animals' desire for food and man's lust for power.
In 2006, Liu created his first Love It, Bite It installations. With the same ox hide material for making chewing toys, he re-created world-famous venues, such as the Pentagon and Tate Modern museum, touching upon the issues of prestige and interest.
In the latest piece now displayed in the UCCA lobby, Liu has employed the forms and elements of religious architecture. The work looks like he has disassembled a religious building into several components and restructured them in a different order.
"I don't think art is some sort of knowledge. It isn't produced to lecture people," he says. "I wish to remove from my works, any traces of existing knowledge and then restore their most elemental status."
