About the artist

Li Zhanyang, born in 1969, was graduated from Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts and Department of Sculpture of Central Academy of Fine Arts and now teaches in Sculpture Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. He is one of important Chinese contemporary artists, whose works boldly portray the appearances and vulgar life of lower-class figures in China's social transformation in a straightforward and sharp narrative style. From the scenes and characters created by him, an enthusiasm for life spurts out, and human natures concealed and dissimilated by the social macroscopic ideological narration and insights into the social reality are presented. Li Zhanyang is also famous for astonishing "erotic" themes and his works of such kind often cause a sensation and heated discussions. Through investigation into erotic places and lower-class gures in dark corners of the contemporary society and attention to such behaviors as betrayal, incest, peeping and psycholagny, he discusses the con icts between social taboos and human instincts. His works of such kind boast for extraordinary imagination and challenge traditions in a humorous manner. He reconstructs the characters and scenes in the ancient history and stories, which dramatically reveal the latent crises of human natures in China's political, economic and cultural realities through daring and shocking narrations. His works have not only directly expressed the universal values of human but also profoundly metaphorized China's social reality for the time being.