Chinese artist Li Yousong brings a contemporary vision of the Cultural Revolution in an exhibition
The Chinese Cultural Revolution and its aesthetics served as an inspiration for the works of Li Yousong, now exhibited in the head office of the Confucius Institute of Barcelona Foundation (FICB), (Elisabets street, 10), in an exhibition which is co-organized by the institution and the University of Barcelona. “The exhibition is part of a current trend in China that does not want to lose its historical legacy”, says the commissioner of the exhibition, lecturer of Fine Arts of the UB Domènec Corbella. Li Yousong was born in 1968 in Shenyang, north eastern China, and lived the Cultural Revolution as a kid and teenager. This is reflected in the drawings which are now exhibited in Barcelona until December 20, which belong to private collections and are exhibited in a western country for the first time.
The Chinese Cultural Revolution and its aesthetics served as an inspiration for the works of Li Yousong, now exhibited in the head office of the Confucius Institute of Barcelona Foundation (FICB), (Elisabets street, 10), in an exhibition which is co-organized by the institution and the University of Barcelona. “The exhibition is part of a current trend in China that does not want to lose its historical legacy”, says the commissioner of the exhibition, lecturer of Fine Arts of the UB Domènec Corbella. Li Yousong was born in 1968 in Shenyang, north eastern China, and lived the Cultural Revolution as a kid and teenager. This is reflected in the drawings which are now exhibited in Barcelona until December 20, which belong to private collections and are exhibited in a western country for the first time.
The exhibition, titled “Darrere lʼespai” (behind space) brings twenty drawings. These are small pieces (approximately 50 x 60 cm) that reminisce about the aesthetics of China in the seventies, featuring the rise of industrialization and collectivism. However, Li Youson remembers that time from a current perspective: “symbols and artistic features of the Chinese Cultural Revolution intertwine with other influences from the western world and build a new space for creativity”, says Corbella. When Li Yousong, now lecturer at the Department of Artistic Design at the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication (BIGC), brought these drawings for the first time to China all of them were got by individuals who were interested in this creative proposal. Now, the drawings can be seen in Barcelona thanks to the collaboration with the FEEFANʼS Art Gallery of Beijing.
Opening: Thursday, November 30, 2017 at 7 p.m. in FICB. There is free access but previous registration is required: Registration Form (for the opening)
More information here.