Osage Gallery Kwun Tong is pleased to present Machine in the Body, a solo exhibition by Beijing based artist Li Xinping.

Life as objectified by worldly beings has been a continual source of inspiration and driving force behind Li Xinping's works. For the artist, the notion of the human body in particular serves as a major platform and vehicle in seeking an understanding and parallel between the vast realms of Western philosophy and Chinese culture. The exhibition explores the paradoxical idea of a force based on Eastern narrative and Western symbolism that is at once external yet embedded as an inner mechanism within Li's painted characters.

Though originally trained in traditional oil painting, Li’s ever- fluid artistic style in the medium has spanned across different genres, from decorative, realist, abstract, to experimental. The subject matter in the paintings ranges from the manifestation of Western scientific motifs that spans across astrology and medicine, to traditional myths and folklores intimately grounded within the contemporary culture of China.

This eclectic combination presented in Li’s works defies easy categorization and more importantly, as a result, has ironically positioned Li to be on the outer skirt of both the traditional and contemporary art circles in China today. Machine in the Body at the same time will present a selection of new and old, as well as unfinished works created during Li’s prolific career that will allow the audience to closely examine the painting process and skillful technique by the artist and at the same time, explores the undefined area in which the artist’s artistic practice situates.