di liu: animal regulation series

di liu animal regulation no. 6, 2010 C-print, 80 x 60 cm edition of 10 all images © di liu / pekin fine arts

25 year old chinese photographer, di liu has been awarded the 2010 lacoste elysée prize. twelve nominees were selected and given carte blanche to capture and adapt photographically, the codes of the famous lacoste polo shirt, L. 12.12. each of the selected artists were given a scholarship of CHF 3,000 and had three months to undertake and develop three photographs. liu’s achievement was announced at this year’s art basel miami beach.

di liu animal regulation no. 8, 2010 C-print, 80 x 60 cm edition of 10

liu, represented by pekin fine arts, is known for his work which deals with conflicting relationships between nature and human society, generated by the rate of chinese urban development. for his series of three images, he chose to depict three different animals: a rhinoceros, a rabbit and a deer, each piece entitled ‘animal regulation no. 6’, ‘animal regulation no. 8’, and ‘animal regulation no. 7’ respectively. in liu’s imagery, these animals become an overwhelming part of daily life in the city.

di liu animal regulation no. 7, 2010 C-print, 80 x 60 cm edition of 10

‘as consumer merchandise, the L. 12. 12 polo shirt is the exact opposite of nature. however, by choosing an animal as its symbol, lacoste reflects its spirit. thus, lacoste imports an element of nature into people’s daily lives. I do the same in my work and have therefore chosen to let the L. 12. 12 become an integral part of it. if you look very closely, you will notice three polo shirts, one inside each image.’ – di liu

di liu animal regulation no. 2, 2010 C-print, 80 x 60 cm edition of 10

it was on the occasion of the ‘regeneration2 – tomorrow’s photographers today’ exhibition at the musée de l’elysée in lausanne, switzerland, that lacoste inaugurated the prize, in partnership with the museum, dedicated to young photographers. from the show’s eighty photographers, twelve were chosen to participate in the prize.

di liu animal regulation no. 5, 2010 C-print, 80 x 60 cm edition of 10

the nominees were: benjamin beker (serbia); camila rodrigo graña (peru); di liu (china); florian joye (switzerland); geoffrey h. short (new zealand); jen davis (united states); kalle kataila (finland); kristoffer axén (sweden); liu xiaofang (china); richard mosse (ireland); tereza vlcková (czech republic); ueli alder (switzerland)

the jury consisted of: felipe oliveira baptista (creative director, lacoste); christophe pillet (design director, lacoste); michel mallard (director, festival international de mode et photographie à hyères); agnès sire (director, fondation henri cartier-bresson); tom watt (art director, art review); sam stourdzé (director, musée de l’elysée); carla sozzani (founder and director, galleria carla sozzani)

di liu animal regulation no. 4, 2010 C-print, 80 x 60 cm edition of 10

the work of the twelve nominees is currently being shown in a lacoste elysée prize exhibition at galleria carla sozzani in milan until january 9th, 2011.