The exhibition title "On Demand" continues the theme of the artist's previous solo exhibitions ('VIOLENCE ON DEMAND' 2017 and 'MAKING TRANSCENDENTS ON DEMAND' 2019). Emphasizing the transient nature and high level of independence of events and their instantaneity. The term "ghost" is explained by the artist as follows: in the post-epidemic era, everyone's face becomes blurred like a ghost, and emotions are caught between two states of alienation and reunion. Even though the crowd still exists, it has nevertheless become different from the past.
In "Ghost Paintings," the artist uses a canvas with black background to depict ghostly image made with flames, and using diluted paint to blur the image. It creates some fuzzy, translucent colors, which emerge on the face of the darkness. The artist believes that this uncertainty-filled approach to painting can suggest that there is a possibility of the person producing more power inside darkness. Since 2018, truck tarps have started to appear frequently in his work; then in 2020, the artist created "red stained paintings" by using truck tarps as canvas. In this series, the artist used red spots, black stripes, and scribbles to present the power of nature and smeared scribble to depict mountains, water, sunrise, sky and ground. This group of works are often placed on the ground and finished with splashes of colors to compose a free style of art. By using splashes of colors, the inspiration and influence on the artist of the Chinese modern art movement of the early 20th century is made visible. The "Hunched Sculptures" series are made of aluminum tubes, and they display the structural characteristics of bamboo. In painting and calligraphy, literati often express their noble character by depicting bamboo. In this series, bamboo poles are hunched together and twisted, and different layers of lacquer are applied to a surface polished to make the colors mottled. The series is inspired by the artist's rediscovery of traditional elements and the redefinition of modern masculinity-a vessel of consciousness that mixes aggressiveness, violence, repetition and vulnerability.
Li Jingxiong is an artist, born in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China in 1987, in 2010 he earned his bachlor’s degree in Nanjing University, of the Arts Painting department; he also earned his art master’s degree there in 2013. Now he works and lives in Shanghai. Since the beginning of Li Jingxiong's career, he has been experimenting with various materials and sees them as a possible way to achieve personal liberation. He often uses inexpensive industrial materials with a small DIY workshop style, such as recycled truck tarps, aluminum, steel plates, foam paddings, and fire-burned objects to complete paintings, sculptures, and immersive installations. His work often combines social history, art history, contemporary culture, and personal growth, and draws inspiration from these unrelated fields. His work is seen as a social record, but at the same time retains a formal timelessness that connects it to broader art historical tradition. Since 2013, Li Jingxiong has finished many solo exhibitions and projects in mainland China and Hongkong (including Shanghai chi K11 Art Museum, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Beijing HdM Gallery, Hongkong Gallery Exit, etc.), group exhibitions (including UCCA, CAFA Art Museum, Sifang Art Museum, Beijing Times Art Museum, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Goethe-Institute, etc.), artist talks in museums, and he also writes for several art magazines. He was selected in the 'Future Greats' nomineed by Artreview magazine in 2017.
