lui xiaodong recalls diary of an empty city in beijing exhibition

lui xiaodong recalls diary of an empty city in beijing exhibition
all images courtesy of faurschou foundation beijing

lui xiaodong: diary of an empty city
faurschou foundation, beijing
12.09.15 – 18.10.15

titled ‘diary of an empty city’ beijing based neo-realist artist lui xiaodong has exhibited a body of his work at the faurschou foundation in the chinese capital. curated by jérôme sans, the exhibition explores xiodong’s long term fascination with ghost cities, where he spent a summer on location painting scenes from ordos –located in inner mongolia– reflecting and producing work that conjure up a dreamlike-city environment within their canvasses.

the exhibition is hosted at the privately owned art institution faurschou foundation

‘ordos is situated in the center of a region, which has some of the largest deposits of coal in china, and has been transformed in record time from one of the poorest areas of china to one of the wealthiest. local farmers and miners have become the protagonists of rags-to-riches stories as regional and city governments have built the dream city. although it is a giant metropolis with amazing infrastructure including condominium towers, shopping malls, a museum and high-speed trains, ordos remains a place mysteriously empty with a population of approximately 20,000 inhabitants. a city without residents – an unfinished plan, a paradoxical place where the realization of a modern dream society in terms of urban infrastructure lacks only the inhabitants to live their fulfilled dream life.’

jérôme sans: how do you choose the locations to paint?

lui xiaodong: I find places where it’s challenging, and where conflicts form and where I cannot find clear answers. for example here in this place, shooting up from the middle of the grassland stand two pieces of alien architecture. if it were just two mongolian tents, that would be not as exciting.

jérôme sans: what I find very interesting in the characters you chose are the young couple, a young man and woman, dressed in traditional mongolian attire. they are like what tourists expect to see when they come to town, a perfect selfie from a mongolian visit with local people wearing their very traditional clothing. this is not everyday attire for these characters, but costumes they wear to pose for tourists in order to make their living. you can find this in new york, paris, venice, rome, barcelona…

lui xiaodong: right now everything can be painted. traditionally people can paint their real life and how they act in their real life instead of how they pose in front of tourists for photographs. for example, the people who dress like gladiators standing in front of the coliseum in rome, I would not know how to paint them. but now, the purpose of painting is not to restore the real life. as long as you find some interesting points, you can paint even people’s posing. I paint this mongolian young couple not to restore their everyday life, but as symbol of mongolian life. different work has a different focus.