Liu Wei: Panorama

Since the inauguration of Rodin Gallery in 1999 and renaming in 2011, PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art has been dedicated to presenting the dynamic landscape of Korean and international contemporary art. As the final exhibition of the museum program, PLATEAU is pleased to present a solo exhibition of the acclaimed Chinese artist, Liu Wei (b. 1972). 

Liu Wei’s works, created from materials such as architectural debris and old books through labor-intensive handcraft, examine the dystopic cities of China, and more broadly Asia, as sites of endless urban development. Through the process of deconstruction and reconstruction, the works reshuffle fading time and memory, and as a result, create new urban landscapes of expanded time and space that profoundly reflect on the human condition. At the same time, while Liu’s practice directly touches upon the complex realities of contemporary China, it does not give into stereotypes in its portrayal, but rightly positions itself in the narrative of contemporary art history. 

Entitled Panorama, this exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of Liu’s nearly twenty-year career, from the controversial early works to his most recent work site-specifically installed in PLATEAU’s Glass Pavilion. The panorama, signifying the all-encompassing and complete landscape, implies a contradiction that reflects the impossible human desire to visually control and experience everything at once. The fragments that construe Liu’s works inherently hint at the impossibility yet precisely reflect such desire. 

Liu Wei, who claims that “the political in art does not need to be presented as politics,” distances himself from politics and commercialism, yet his ambiguous and indifferent attitude nevertheless reveals acute criticism and cynicism against the reality of present-day China. This exhibition further highlights the artist’s unique perspective through which he examines the global issues of urbanization from a distinct personal standpoint. Presenting one of the leading figures in the next generation of Chinese art, the exhibition hopes to propose an open perspective for the future which Samsung Museum continues to strive.