Building and Dreaming features Don Gallery artist LIU Ren at BY ART MATTERS from 28 May 2022 to 16 October 2022.
Panta Rhei 1932.12.24-2014.07.10, LIU Ren 刘任, 2019. Straw paper, UV print, mixed media 草纸, UV打印, 综合材料, 155 × 226 × 7 cm × 2
The diptych, Panta Rhei 1932.12.24–2014.07.10, is a reinterpretation of Kawara’s “Today” series. LIU extends the original format by supplementing two key dates -- Kawara’s birth and death. The commemorative significance of these additions correspond to the original meaning of the phrase “Panta Rhei” or “everything flows.” In terms of form, “Panta Rhei” is like yet unlike painting. Educated as a printmaker, LIU uses screen printing techniques in this series, but the process of creating bricks of paper is more commonly seen in sculpture or installation. The artist’s explorations of theme encompass a number of dualities -- the past and present, reality and the virtual, solidification and flow, and more. As for the all-important properties of the physical, LIU has transformed one of the cheapest and most disposable consumer products into works of art which strive at timelessness.
Panta Rhei 1932.12.24-2014.07.10 (Detail), LIU Ren 刘任, 2019. Straw paper, UV print, mixed media 草纸, UV打印, 综合材料, 155 × 226 × 7 cm × 2
