Introduction: Sniper of Multinational Forces

—Preface to Li Nanfeng’s (known as Reagan Lee) Art Exhibition

By Wang Lin

Accompanying with the globalization of world economy arrive the cultural diversity and increasingly frequent multicultural exchanges. Much as the growingly significant role that the UN peacekeeping force play in conflict areas around the world, artists who travel between countries as a force which cannot be overlooked in the world culture, are ushering in important changes in contemporary art and attracting high attention of art criticism.

Intervention is the most important characteristic of contemporary art. Rooted in modernism ontology, art intervenes in politics, culture, history, community, consumer and other fields; and gets involved in the interrelation of diversified cultures: mainstream and marginal culture; religious and secular culture; European American and the Third World culture, etc. Li Nanfeng’s artistic creation is a result of an intervention into various cultures by individual life experience, cultural identity and mentality.

Born in 1966, Li Nanfeng graduated from Printmaking Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1990 with a strict training of the Chinese art education. In 1991, he moved to the Seychelles, serving once as an individual painter for president. Settled in New Zealand since 2003, he returned to Guangzhou, China in 2011 to engage himself in artistic creation there. The living experiences in Asia, Africa and Oceania bestow Li Nanfeng an opportunity of researching the Chinese academic art, the African primitive art and the New Zealand aboriginal art. To Li, these cultural resources are environment as well as effect. Essentially, nevertheless, Li’s heart is filled with wildness–not that of the original, but of the contemporary. Even during his schooling, his works were featured by being strongly critical. Much as an inborn quality, Li neither agrees nor obeys the existing power and force of habit. His works are full of male desire, strong and energetic, rough but not rude. Following no certain style, he nearly starts every painting from scratch: but in his strong and heavy work something will always be found to see. Be it acting or performance, painting feeling or integrity, he has his own routines. To Li Nanfeng, painting is a self-fulfillment of art of composition with inborn talents.

It is not unusual to study abroad for Chinese artists who travel from home and abroad with an international cultural identity, the reason of which, however, owns more to the need of existence than that of art. There are few like Li Nanfeng who maintains a spirit of resistance while being independent. Chinese contemporary art need such isolated snipers who suddenly come out from underground, firing at the long-aimed targets. In this world where conventions, culture industry and ideology devour everything, art is an exception; but real artist can only make a sudden challenger. Isn't it a truth?

April 29th, 2014

About the exhibition

Opening time: 4pm, June.28, 2014

Duration: 2014.06.28 -- 2014.07.13

Location: 2/F Exhibition Hall of Building 2

Courtesy of the artist and Today Art Museum, for further information please visit www.todayartmuseum.com.