I nitially working in photography, Liu Wei quickly began experimenting with other media including videography, readymade sculptures and installations. An important participating member of the seminal exhibition, Post Sense and Sensibility: Alien Bodies and Delusion, curated by Qiu Zhijie, Liu Wei wanted to part with the previous artistic trends of political idealism and rationality. Urban life has been a recurrent theme in his work. The large oil paintings of the series, Purple Air, of which the present lot belongs, evoke both the urban landscapes of skyscrapers and the electronic punch cards of computers. As such, Liu reflects on the rapid changes in Chinese society and particularly addresses the themes of urbanization and digitalization. The creation of his Purple Air paintings is a long and laborious process that needs several weeks or months, and the help of numerous assistants, to complete. His work has been met with international acclaim, and after his participation in numerous notable exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale of 2019, Liu’s works are now in the permanent collections of multiple institutions around the world.

劉 韡的藝術生涯以攝影作為起點，其後亦以影片、現成雕塑及裝置藝術等不同媒體進行創作實驗。他曾在邱志杰策展的標誌性展覽「後感性︰異形與妄想」中參展及擔任重要角色，在藝術上致力擺脫過往充滿理性及政治理想主義的風潮。他常在作品中探討城市生活這個主題。另一幅同系列的大型油畫作品《紫氣》令人同時聯想起現代城市高樓林立的景象和電腦的電子化打孔卡，劉韡藉這作品反思中國社會的急促發展，並特別集中探討城市化及電子化的主題。《紫氣》系列的創作過程頗為漫長而費力，每件作品需耗費數週甚至數月，並在多名助手的輔助下才能完成。劉韡的作品在國際藝壇上備受讚譽，他參與了2019年的威尼斯雙年展及多個知名展覽後，世界各地不少機構紛紛將他的作品納入永久收藏。