October 2nd, 2012 through March 31st, 2013
Li Qing and Guo Hongwei are featured in the 9th Shanghai Biennale, running from October 2nd, 2012 through March 31st, 2013.
Curated by Qiu Zhijie, Boris Groys, Jens Hoffmann, and Johnson Chang, this Biennale, titled ‘Reactivation’, looks into artists’ practices that motivate the public, revisit/rewrite history, convert and transform energy and organize dialogues and communications respectively. In the section of ‘Revisit’, Li Qing presents a selection of large paintings from his recent series ‘Book of Creation–Reincarnation’, which is a time capsule that investigates the overlooked history of contemporary society and civilization, through a series of portraits of sacred and historical objects against transforming landscapes.
In the City Pavilion of Palermo, Guo Hongwei, who is inspired by his visit to this ancient city, exhibits a special diptych that comprises one photorealistic painting on wall and one extensive layer of acrylic paint on the floor. With Guo’s idiosyncratic sculptural brushwork, ‘A Page of Ocean’ (2011) emancipates the images of infinite wavy ocean from the frames and re-imagines the time and space.
Based in Hangzhou, Li Qing (b. 1980 in Huzhou) introduces a conceptual and intellectual dimension to his realistic painting. Li is known for his playful juxtaposition of identical pictures, and performative experiment with paint, which capture the nostalgia and absurdity in contemporary life. Li Qing has exhibited extensively. Major institutional exhibitions include ‘Community of Tastes: Chinese Contemporary Art from 2000’, São Paulo Museum of Contemporary Art (2011), Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu (2011), ‘Drift’ (solo), Centro de Artes Tomás y Valiente, Madrid (2010), ‘55 Days in Valencia–Chinese Art Meeting’, Institut Valencia d’Art Morden, Valencia, (2008), ‘Asia–the 3d Nanjing Triennial’, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing (2008), ‘Beyond Image– Chinese New Painting’, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai (2007), ‘Archaeology of the Future–the 2nd Triennial of Chinese Art’, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing (2005).
Born in 1982 in Sichuan Province, Guo Hongwei is one of the most active young painters from Beijing. Renown for his inventive execution of watercolor and oil, Guo takes painting as a form of collecting, a philosophy that has been the subject of his recent exhibitions. The subject matter of his works ranges from everyday objects to specimens of flora, fauna and minerals. Guo has exhibited at various international galleries and museums, among many others, ‘Catch the Moon in the Water: Emerging Chinese Artists’, James Cohan Gallery, New York (2011), ‘Today Documents’, Today Art Museum, Beijing (2007), ‘Refresh: Emerging Chinese Artists’, Shanghai Zendai MOMA, Shanghai (2007), ‘Archaeology of the Future–the 2nd Triennial of Chinese Art’, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing (2005).
For more information on the exhibition, please visit the Shanghai Biennale website.
For inquiries about the artists, please contact the gallery info@leoxuprojects.com or phone +86-21-34611245.