Entitled “Agent L”, the first solo exhibition of Liu Xinyi is announced by White Space Beijing to be  open on June 23rd, 2012, and will present his recent installation and video works of the last two years.

If the task of politicians could be to clean up the chaos phenomena in clue, and thus offer a clear view of the world to us, then, an artist perhaps should do something else. For the curiosity to the guiding mechanism of public discourse, Xinyi creates works that focus on observing political experience in the contemporary moment. His tasks include collecting various forms of political knowledge, mixing their logic, combining peculiar contexts, which aims to have those undoubted facts transformed into new perceptions of seeing the world. His recent projects continue a line of his investigation into political comprehension. With a good sense of humor in choosing perspective, the artist explores the ambiguous boundaries in-between consciousness and absurd.

Born in 1982 in Hangzhou, Liu Xinyi had his BA in China Academy of Art, Hangzhou in 2007 and graduated from Goldsmiths College, London with MFA. He currently lives and works in Hangzhou.

Liu Xinyi, From Marx to Mao 01, 2010; iron, palm frabic, 310X60X32cm, Photography by Michael Heilgemeir

Artist's Statement About From Marx to Mao

Like most of my projects look into the ambiguousness of understanding politics, in this project, I was interested in those symbolic portraits represents the history of Communism. Along with the theories became practice, one of the features is the leaders’ beards and moustaches get fewer and fewer. Therefore, I adopt the classic composition to make a new monument to the World Communist Movement. The palm fiber is not only looks like hairs but a tropical and exotic material might also reminds us a little bit of beach scenery on the edge of Utopian.

Liu Xinyi, Rise of the 20th Century, 2011; Single Channel Video (HD). 43 picture ratio, Silence, 2 min 24 seconds (Loop)

Artist's Statement About Rise of the 20th Century

Due to different stand points, our efforts on evaluating those famous political figures always trapped in controversies. In order to solve this problem from a new ground, I created a stage for the historic leaders in my narcissus pot where they were allowed performing their best with some fairness. As a featured plant born from metaphors, Narcissus has diverse cultural sources in China and Europe. Regardless what we expect political figures to be in the era of globalization, fairies or narcissists, my interest was to find out how to emancipate these imageries from mythical and political oriented comprehension. With one month long documentation, the process was edited to moving images which presents a surprising integration of politics and nature.

About the Exhibition

Opening: 4pm, June 23rd, 2012

Date: June 23rd – July 30th, 2012

Opening Hours: Tues--Sun 10am -- 6pm

Venue: White Space, No.255 Caochangdi, Airport Service Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100015

Tel:+86 10 84562054

Fax:+ 86 10 84562749

Email: info@whitespace-beijing.com

Courtesy of Liu Xinyi and White Space Beijing.