Shanxi born Mao Lizi was one of the most eminent founders of the Stars Art Group established in the late 1970s. He had participated in Stars Art Exhibitions, namely 1st and 2nd Stars Art Exhibition and the “Stars: Ten Years” Exhibition in the 1980s, and then achieved widespread fame and recognition both at home and abroad. Later he was appointed visiting professor at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris.Since 1989, Mao has been holding exhibitions in the most important international cities. In 1998, he was invited by the Guggenheim Museum, New York to participate in its blockbuster“Chinese Arts for 5000 Years Exhibition”.
The hyperrealist style is characteristic of Mao’s early works of art, in which the real objects represented vividly and delicately from a subtle angle of observation. For example, his rendition of a wooden door from a Beijing courtyard house is stunningly life like; and both a cigarette butt onthe floor and a crack on the wall arrest the eyes for the details, and make a great visual impact on the beholder even at first glance.
Mao has refocused on the painting since 2005. His recent endeavours, however, show a different approach to art through a hybrid from the style of representation and that of abstraction, as such in the representative “Scraper”and“Withered Lotus” series. Beneath the casual appeal of his art lies much thought and care in the planning of the works, and the vast expanses of blank white give the compositions ample breathing space, infusing his works with an active and passive tone. These feature Mao’s new style, turning to be an interesting experience of visual sensitivity on“Reality” and“Illusion”.
Having had sufficiently experiences in the international exhibitions, Mao’s works are in favor with many Chinese and oversea collectors, such as Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Eric de Rothschild; Guy & Myriam Ullens; the founder and Chairman of DAVOS World Economic Forum Mr. Klaus Schwab; the founder of China Club in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore, Sir David Tang; Johnson Chang Tsong-zung; the president of My Humble House Co., Ltd, Michael Wang; Wu Erlu; Houa Gerard; Huang; and the famous artists Ai Xuan and Fang Lijun.
Asia Art Center (Beijing) is pleased to launch Mao Lizi’s first formal and large-scale solo exhibition in China in 2011 entitled “Reality & Illusion - Mao Lizi Solo Exhibition”, curated by Professor Peng Feng who is the Curator of Chinese Pavilion for the 54th Venice Biennale. Also, Yin Shuangxi, as a Professor at Central Academy of Fine Arts, famous Art Critic and Curator, is invited to give his insights from the perspective of academic art critic. This exhibition features Mao Lizi’s latest collection of works that is imbued with a hybrid semi-representational and semi-abstract style. It also includes some of the artist’s purely abstract paintings completed recently as well as early representative works on loan from private collectors. Through this exhibition, the audience is able to revisit Mao’s paintings rendered in various styles at different periods of time. Ours is indeed a holistic effort at presenting Mao’s art in a comprehen sive fashion.
