The fifth coming exhibition by Chen Liu is one which MoCa Loewen is particularly proud to be hosting. Chen Liu was born in 1973 in Kunming, Yunnan province, China. His works have since been exhibited extensively in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, New York, and Milan. He’s new series of works can be described as a re-coding of the conventions of war and violence. He aims to re-imagine war without the horrific violence and pain,managing to capture the spirit of soldiers as individual people with distinct personalities rather than senseless killing machines. The idea of the war hero as all powerful and invincible is negated by his ability to capture the innate panic, confusion and occasional silliness that every soldier, as a human being,experiences.

Chen Liu’s works enables us to visualize a reality that has become long lost as stereotypes about power and strength have been established. He humanizes the machine that is the soldier by making them comical characters; characters that bring a sense of childish delight and evokes the real sense of apprehension and curiosity rather than focusing on the pain and suffering war ultimately brings. By doing this, the artist reminds us that heavy artillery, soldiers and combat weapons are all social constructs and that their lived reality is not quite as seamless and orderly as we have been led to believe.

Chen Liu was born in 1973 in Kunming, Yunnan province, China. His works have since been exhibited extensively in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, New York, and Milan. He’s new series of works can be described as a re-coding of the conventions of war and violence. He aims to re-imagine war without the horrific violence and pain,managing to capture the spirit of soldiers as individual people with distinct personalities rather than senseless killing machines. The idea of the war hero as all powerful and invincible is negated by his ability to capture the innate panic, confusion and occasional silliness that every soldier, as a human being,experiences.