Slade School of Fine Art

East and west is by no means a mere geographical parting; to any Chinese living in Britain, it represents markedly different sets of logics and ways of living. With these two systems colliding with each other in his mind and exerting their respective influences on his art, Liu Jincheng, a Chinese artist who has been in Britain for over 20 years, has formed his own artistic style and language. However, such formation has nothing to do with harmony—a feeling so commonly felt in “well-formed” art; to the contrary, his art is filled with entanglement and disintegration that is never possible to put to a word or get rid of and his pursuit among such dilemma composes a clue to interpret his works. Such a clue is understandable to overseas Chinese artists, for in response to a different social mechanism, cultural context and all the metaphysical concepts in a foreign land, we, just like Liu, have never stopped adapting, revolting, repositioning and reshaping, in utter bewilderment. Through visual means, Liu’s works enlarge such a state of mind straightforwardly, which is the purpose of the show.