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Tianbing
Li treads the line separating two dramatically different
worlds: the China of his ancestral past and the
China of the present. I feel impelled to do
this: all artists have a need to distance themselves
from the world they live in to facilitate conditions
conductive to reflection otherwise they die.
The motivations underlying all of Lis work
are best characterized by an ongoing dialogue between
old and new, between ancestral and modern, between
the realities of China, on the one hand, and those
of the European continent on the other.
I created this series of canvases using ancient
Chinese painting as a model. Each piece is composed
using ancestral techniques. However, as one
approaches the work it becomes evident that Lis
content is contemporary. The blacks, whites and
browns traditionally used give way to a modern palate
an allegory for the influences of western
culture on present day China. Lis images echo
this theme: plants become parts of human bodies,
insects transform into toys and other industrial
products. In an ironic fashion, I express
in my paintings what is taking place in China today,
where long-held traditions are little by little
being eroded by the invasion of a consumer society
and it is becoming subsequently, a world submerged
in desire and yearning.
IN THE NAME OF THE BRAND
LI TIANBING WITH THE CHARACTER OF PORTRAIT
AN INTERVIEW WITH LI TIANBING
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