Liu Wei

signed in Chinese and Pinyin and dated 1996, framed

Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Liu Wei, Red Bridge Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2008, p. 85

This work is in good condition with minor wear in handling around the edges and corners. Minor foxing to canvas is visible from the back of the canvas, and minor stain marks to the upper left quadrant which are only visible upon close inspection. There are minor chips to the impasto on the upper edge 39 cm from the left edge and10 cm from the top. Minor abrasion is observed in the lower center, 29 cm from the left edge and 22 cm from the bottom edge. Very minor craquelure on the left figure's eyebrow is observed. No evidence of restoration of the work observed when examined under ultraviolet light.
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Created in 1996, Swimming No. 2 (Lot 647) is a work from a seminal period in Liu Wei’s career, spanning from his creation of the famous Swimmers series in the mid-1990s to his later Meat series of eroded and rotting landscapes and figures, exploring the limits of creativity within a work. Swimming was always an important subject matter for Liu Wei’s early works. For instance, swimming imagery is distinctly perceptible throughout Liu’s Revolutionary Family series. In 1994, at the Sao Paulo Biennale, Liu Wei’s exhibition of the Swimmers series proved to be a moving experience for many scholars and curators, including Achille Bonito Oliva, the organiser of the previous Venice Biennale. During a round table discussion with notable art critic Li Xianting, who was not able to visit the Biennial, Liu specifically mentioned that “there were many people whom I didn’t know. [Achille Bonito] Oliva was especially ecstatic and actively proposed future exhibition plans with us.”¹

1995 was one of the most crucial years in Liu’s artistic career. At that time, Political Pop was an important symbol of contemporary Chinese art in overseas exhibitions. Having attracted international attention, Political Pop became a popular trend. At this juncture, Liu Wei chose to depart from his early style of strong political colour, typified by his Revolutionary Family Series. His painting language became more cynical and willful, divorcing himself completely from the realist style prevalent at the academic level; his brush became a conduit for feeling. Beginning with the Meat series, Liu’s subject matter began to ignore all social constraints, challenging the viewers’ acceptances, as well as their conventional ways of looking at art. Swimming No.2 is representative of this crucial period. The focus of the piece is the two swimmers, a further rendering of one of Liu’s significant early period motifs. However, the brushwork is quite unlike the meticulous style of his early years, now more relaxed and carefree. By using this thicker brush-style to depict the figures and the surface of the water, Liu achieves an intensity of feeling and emotion throughout the work. In fact, Liu himself once said; “painting needs feeling, it should capture your heart. As long as your heart is lively and vivacious, then you can capture the freshness of creativity, and forever imbue this into your work.” ² With its brash, aggressive style the Swimming No. 2 expertly displays the correlation between human desire and human nature. Indeed, Liu’s figures in the series, though varied and diverse, are all rendered with the most primitive of countenances.

¹ Fang Lijun, Culture And Art Publishing House, Beijing, China, 2010, p. 45
² Liu Wei, Red Bridge Gallery, p. 7