LIU   YIXUAN

Liu Yixuan was born in 1988 in Jilin, China; he currently lives and works in Beijing. In 2012, Liu received Bachelor Degree from Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. In 2015, he received Master Degree from Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.

Liu Yixuan’s painting appears “conservative,” and this quality evokes a certain emotion, with nostalgia seemingly inescapably present within the work. It carries an indefinable sense of obsession, one that could persist for an extended period. His works transition from objects to the pursuit of artificial landscapes, focusing on the deliberate crafting of scenes. The aesthetic tendencies formed by habitual ways of viewing give rise to numerous “conventional” modes of observation, which appear simple and clear in old magazines, photographs, and other antiquated images. Deliberately attempting to break these habits through painting often seems futile. Instead, Liu prefers to engage in a collective parody of these so-called “conventions,” making possible deviations in order to evoke a sense of strangeness. The old-fashioned style, both in objects and people, exhibits an anachronistic elegance—a serious leisure. Rather than the likely melancholic sentiment associated with nostalgia, he would rather the paintings carry a slight hedonistic inclination, thus achieving an expression that is “not profound,” a simple norm. It is like strolling in a park—not for sudden enlightenment, but for the pleasure of the walk itself.

Past Exhibitions: Lost in the details, ihere Gallery, Beijing, China (2024); Bryology: to touch, Chow Space, Shanghai, China (2024); Mist in the moonlight, East Gallery, Nanjing, China (2023); Romantic Street Dance, Gene Gallery, Shanghai, China (2022); Pastiche Park, Gene Gallery, Shanghai, China (2019); Yi Yi Yi Yi，Aura Gallery, Beijing, China (2017); Conversion, Aura.a Gallery, Shanghai, China (2017); BIG Biennial—All the world’s futures, BigSpace, Shanghai, China (2015);