li wei: falls to the...

li wei falls to relics, 2003
digital print
image © li wei

artist li wei uses body as his artist medium of choice, a blank canvas in which in which
he performs like a chinese version of 'evil knievel'. his 'falls' series which began in 2002,
has now become his most known body of work - a combination of performance art
and photography. the series depicts li wei falling from the sky in various global locations,
with head and chest embedded into the ground and legs erect, as if he were a human rocket
that just crashed down on earth. all of the images are real. none of the art is computer generated.
only the scaffolding and wires which keep him upright are the only things cropped out
of the photos.

the work is a commentary on china's continuously changing and unfamiliar society -
the country's globalization and rapidly changing economic and natural landscape,
combined with personal concerns such as disappointment, family, happiness and love.

'if you picture someone falling to earth from another planet, there would really be no
soft landing, whether the landing were in china or in another part of the world. this feeling
of having fallen headfirst into the unknown and of having nothing firm under one's feet is familiar
to everyone. one doesn't have to actually fall from another planet to feel that way.' - LW



li wei falls to the earth, 2002
digital print
image © li wei


li wei falls to the car 2002
digital print
image © li wei


li wei falls to the glass, 2002
digital print
image © li wei


li wei falls to the tokyo palace, paris, 2006
image © li wei


li wei falls to new york, 2006.10.20
image © li wei


li wei falls to the como lake, italy, 2004
image © li wei


li wei falls to france, 2006
image © li wei


li wei was born in hubei province 1970.
in his late teens he moved to beijing and in 1993 enrolled at the oriental arts college
to study painting. through some financial and artistic struggles, li wei taught himself photography
and video and by 1997 he had adopted performance art which has become his preferred
form of expression.


li wei is currently presenting his work as part of 'china - contemporary revival',
an exhibition at the palazzo reale, milan, italy. on display is a selection of more than
180 art works including paintings, sculptures, installations and videos by 50 contemporary
chinese artists. on now until february 7, 2010.