Li Xiaofeng
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Like all other chinese artists, Li Xiaofeng took a long and striving road of study and artistic practice. After graduating from Hubei Huanggang Normal College in last century, he came all the way to pursue further studies in Central Academy of Fine Arts and completed graduate courses in 2002. Then, Just like all the others persistently going in for art, Li chose to stay in Beijing, over the away - flying years.
However, Li Xiaofeng also spent as much the same time completely bresking away from the tie of academic art that he once diligently sought for, and cautiously keeping some certain distance from all the current trends of arts, which has been proved to be an entirely necessary and wise decision as an artist. It surely requires courage and preparation of cost for the tenacity. It seemed that Li Xiaofeng stayed a little bit marginalized, whick yet was able to be pregnant with regenerative force all the time.
We are clearly aware of that " Chinese culture" is the basic breakthrough point in Li's works. It has been thought of a difficulty when it comes to culture, Li Xiaofeng, however, has such a sense of mission for it, and the finds it a theoretic basis with beautiful name "Post Orientalism". Chinese landscape was always a major theme in his large number of paintings created in past. instead of simply copying, like some other contemporary artists, the landscape in his creation has beem melt into heart and then rearranged, thus his works are so unique that we can taste the modern flavor of poetic deram and super realism.
Li Xiaofeng's recent installations are of so much charm. He chooses the real fragments of Ming - Qing blue - white porcelain as materials in his works for he has been obsessed in the research and collection of ancient porcelain over years. That makes his works smooth rather than meticulous, like and old monk mending his robe of patches or and ancient artiste making a jade dress. The process during which the polished fragments are linked together in series with silver thread through the cut holes is an artistic behavior itself, which reminds me of a short description of being a little goldfish in One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marx, that process maintaining certain meaningless significance like one's life.
Li Xiaofeng kept indoors for three months, but finally he got a completely new appraisal: when hundreds of porcelain fragments are arranged in complete order on one garment, we even seem to read the information code left by our forefathers; while this modern garment made by arts of those dug up ancient porcelain fragments from long silent earth reflect today's sunshine, even people with little literacy are likely to have thoughts flooding in their mind: fragments or clothes?--- It is undoubtedly a conversation beween the past and today. I suppose that garment is merely a pretence or plea of the work, but the true meaning that is intended to convey is culture, which is a populous concept nowadays.
At last i'd like to remind you that Li Xiaofeng being talked here is not an exhibit planner from Shanghai, but a fat build one in Beijing, living in Discovery Art Space at Faijia Village.
August 12, 2006