Liu Wei’s three sculptures of fortress-like cities made of carved books, are high on towers of bedrock that appear to be splitting apart, suggesting both destruction and crystalline growth. (At Lehmann Maupin on the Lower East Side through April 18th).
Liu Wei, Library II-II, books, wood, iron, and hardware, 2013.
The first U.S. solo show of acclaimed Chinese portraitist Mao Yan opens with this young man, Xiao Dai, staring up and out at us from a smoky grey environment with a confident look and defensive posture. Mao’s models are usually drawn from his circle of family and friends, but could this figure’s cautious gaze be a stand in for Mao’s own feelings on his debut? (At Pace Gallery’s 534 W. 25th Street location through April 4th).
Mao Yan, Xiao Dai, oil on canvas, 51 3/16 – 35 7/16,” 2013 – 2014.
Chinese art group ‘Polit-Sheer-Form Office’ asks what that collectivity means today in China in light of trends toward individualism and consumption. Here, in a painting at their Queens Museum show, they riff on Cultural Revolution propaganda posters that featured happy workers gathering around Mao, substituting themselves cheerfully tucking into a communal dish. (Through March 18th).
Polit-Sheer-Form Office, Polit-Sheer-Form-16, oil on canvas, 2007.
Inspired by the Fujianese practice of adding an annual coat of lacquer to your coffin in old age, Beijing-based painter Wang Guangle adds layers of paint to his ‘Coffin Paint’ canvases to signify the passage of time. (At Pace Gallery, 510 West 25th Street, through Nov 1st).
Wang Guangle, (detail) Coffin Paint 140404, acrylic on canvas, 2014.
Beijing-based artist Jiang Pengyi suggests a dystopian quality to China’s rapid urban development with his ‘Unregistered City’ series now at Chelsea’s Klein Sun Gallery. Here, skyscrapers scaled down to toy-size are surrounded by dust and debris in an old, industrial-looking setting that suggests a bleak bigger picture. (Through June 21st).
Jiang Pengyi, Unregistered City No. 1, archival pigment print on cotton rag paper, 59 x 82 ¼ inches, 2008.
