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“My work is a reflection on reality, taking topics from real life or inserting them into reality. We don’t just look to the past, but also think about and develop a future vision.”
— Liu WeiBorn in 1972, Liu Wei graduated from the China Academy of Art in 1996 and was part of a generation in China that experienced rapid urbanisation and a quickly changing socio-political landscape. First rising to international prominence alongside Chinese artists Qiu Zhijie, Yang Fudong, and others for their 1999 exhibition Post-Sense Sensibility: Alien Bodies and Delusion, Liu’s earlier works were more political in approach, commenting on the overtly ideological nature of art during that time.
Since gaining recognition for his own practice, Liu has most recently exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2019, May You Live in Interesting Times. Working across various mediums from video, installation, sculpture, painting to drawing, Liu’s current practice touches upon a broader exploration of the human experience in the context of urban life.
Liu Wei, Microworld, 2018. Aluminium plates. Dimensions variable
Courtesy Liu Wei Studio & Faurschou Foundation Beijing Photo: © Jonathan LeijonhufvudPart of Liu Wei’s seminal cityscape series, Purple Air 2017 No.1 presents the viewers with monolithic neon-green structures, set against a vivid, pink sky – a modern interpretation of and homage to the tradition of Chinese landscape paintings. Though the abstracted landscape is a recurring motif throughout the history of art, Liu’s interest seems to lie beyond the visual deconstruction of the Beijing skyline.
Purple Air 2017 No.1 presents a duality of scenes: one in which a sweet, sticky blanket of pollution weighs down on the city. And the other being: one in which a rising pink sunrise, illuminates the city below – as if Liu has captured the serenity of a bustling city at dawn, a static vibration of energy, ready to exhaust itself anew. These scenes are not lyrical in any sense, but rather an observation of the brutalist architecture that has scattered the city skyline in the context of rapid urbanisation.
“Those who are truly contemporary are those who neither perfectly coincide with their time nor adapt to its demands...Contemporariness, then, is that relationship with time that adheres to it through a disconnection.”
— Giorgio AgambenThe linear deconstructions of Liu’s cityscapes find comparison in another work to be offered in this season’s sale: Gerhard Richter’s Strip (lot). Beyond the visual similarities of both works, there is a further connection found within the way in which these images are informed.
Lot 17, Gerhard Richter, Strip (923-23), 2012
Phillips Hong Kong, 20th Century and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, 30 March 2023Both Liu and Richter were born into a generation dealing with the aftermaths of certain unprecedented events that caused psychological trauma to the collective psyche: Europe in its post-war era and China in its post-Cultural Revolution era. For both artists, the reference point is clear—Richter’s Strips begin with his Squeegee paintings (and his photorealistic paintings before that) and Liu’s cityscapes begin with the city of Beijing (and the tradition of Chinese landscape paintings before that). What you are seeing is never the question, but rather the why. In making sense of the present, there is a return to the past to understand the scope and scale of these consequences.
“I am with the viewers, in the quest for meaning. I hope the viewers could use my works as starting points or points of reference in their discussions, contributing to their own thinking. In this sense, art means freedom. Not only am I free as a creator, the viewers are free as spectators as well.”
— Liu WeiLiu’s Purple Air 2017 No.1 depicts two distinct temporalities in the Beijing skyline: one in which the past still dwells heavy in its atmosphere and one in which the present is trapped amid pollution and rising skyscrapers with nowhere to go. In a city where the past and present are so tangibly interconnected, Liu imagines the potential and freedom for the future – simultaneously asking his viewers to consider the same.
Liu Wei at work in his studio. Image courtesy of Liu Wei Studio.
Collector’s Digest
- Since his first European solo show, Purple Air, where this work made its debut at Grace Li Gallery, Zurich in 2006; his multi-faceted works continue to show in solo exhibitions internationally, including the White Cube, London in 2014; Long March Space, Beijing in 2018; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland in 2019. Liu has participated in multiple Biennales including two installations at the central show of the Venice Biennale May You Live in Interesting Times in 2019.
- Many more of his works can be found in major collections worldwide, including the DSL Collection in Paris; the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the M+ Sigg Collection in Hong Kong, which holds another work from the Purple Air series.
Provenance
White Cube Gallery, London
Acquired from the above by the present ownerExhibited
London, White Cube Bermondsey, Memory Palace, 11 July – 2 September 2018
PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ж34
Purple Air 2017 No. 1
signed and dated 'Liu Wei [in Chinese] Liu Wei 2016-2017' on the reverse
oil on canvas
300 x 300 cm. (118 1/8 x 118 1/8 in.)
Painted 2016-2017.
Estimate
HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
€351,000-585,000
$385,000-641,000
Charlotte Raybaud
Specialist, Head of Evening Sale
+852 2318 2026
CharlotteRaybaud@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Hong Kong Auction 30 March 2023
1
Genesis Tramaine
Mother of Suns of Thunder
Estimate HK$300,000 - 500,000
Sold for HK$2,667,000
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2
Christina Quarles
Our Eyes Our Open/Are Eyes Are Open
Estimate HK$1,600,000 - 2,600,000
Sold for HK$4,064,000
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3
George Rouy
Posing in Our Image
Estimate HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold for HK$889,000
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4
Louise Bonnet
The Velour Jumpsuit
Estimate HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for HK$2,413,000
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5
Lauren Quin
Third Belly
Estimate HK$700,000 - 900,000
Sold for HK$1,905,000
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6
Loie Hollowell
A Gentle Meeting of Tips
Estimate HK$5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for HK$6,604,000
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7
Lucy Bull
False Tail
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$4,826,000
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8
Matthew Wong
The Road
Estimate HK$24,000,000 - 35,000,000
Sold for HK$36,145,000
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9
Hernan Bas
The hillsides must not know it
Estimate HK$6,500,000 - 8,500,000
Sold for HK$8,255,000
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10
Yayoi Kusama
Pumpkin
Estimate HK$40,000,000 - 50,000,000
Sold for HK$56,110,000
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11
Yayoi Kusama
Infinity Dots (HTI)
Estimate HK$25,000,000 - 30,000,000
Sold for HK$27,675,000
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12
Yayoi Kusama
Untitled (Mannequin from The Driving Image Show)
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,300,000
Sold for HK$2,032,000
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13
Yoshitomo Nara
Lookin' for a Treasure
Estimate On Request
Sold for HK$83,850,000
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14
Takashi Murakami
Flower Parent and Child
Estimate HK$15,500,000 - 23,500,000
Sold for HK$14,002,000
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15
Izumi Kato
Untitled
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$5,715,000
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16
Stanley Whitney
The Last Cowboy Song
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$5,080,000
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17
Gerhard Richter
Strip (923-23)
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$2,286,000
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18
Roy Lichtenstein
Reflections on Brushstrokes
Estimate HK$14,000,000 - 19,000,000
Sold for HK$19,810,000
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19
Claude Monet
Paysage à Villez
Estimate HK$5,500,000 - 8,500,000
Sold for HK$8,890,000
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20
This lot is no longer available.
21
Li Chen
The Pavilion and Angelic Smile
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 2,400,000
Sold for HK$1,778,000
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22
Angel Otero
Butterflies Drinking Crocodile Tears
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for HK$2,032,000
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23
Rashid Johnson
Untitled Escape Collage
Estimate HK$5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for HK$6,350,000
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24
Kudzanai-Violet Hwami
Let Us Now Praise the Children (Zwizwai Family)
Estimate HK$600,000 - 800,000
Sold for HK$762,000
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25
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Time is Money)
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$3,429,000
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26
Andy Warhol
Life Savers from the series Ads
Estimate HK$4,500,000 - 6,500,000
Sold for HK$5,334,000
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27
Andy Warhol
Mobilgas from the series Ads
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$3,810,000
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28
Andy Warhol
Untitled (Volkswagen Lemon) from the series Ads
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
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29
Andy Warhol
Paramount from the series Ads
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
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30
Takashi Murakami
Cherries
Estimate HK$2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for HK$3,302,000
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31
KAWS
Pinch
Estimate HK$5,500,000 - 7,500,000
Sold for HK$6,096,000
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32
Mr.
The Endless Landscape of this Reality
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$5,080,000
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33
Liu Ye
Flagship No. 1
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$6,985,000
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34
Liu Wei
Purple Air 2017 No. 1
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
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35
Huang Yuxing
Bubbles
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$2,667,000
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36
Ayako Rokkaku
Untitled
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 5,000,000
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37
Chen Ke
Outside the Window
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for HK$5,080,000
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38
Cheng Xinyi
Goodnight, Thomas
Estimate HK$600,000 - 900,000
Sold for HK$1,206,500
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39
Anna Park
Covees
Estimate HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold for HK$1,524,000
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40
This lot is no longer available.
41
MADSAKI
Untitled (Masters of the Universe)
Estimate HK$900,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for HK$889,000
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42
Brett Crawford
H3RE HE COMES
Estimate HK$600,000 - 800,000
Sold for HK$2,159,000
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