In nearly every one of Liu Wei’s works, he seems to “preset” a graphic and experiential foundation similar to some sort of cityscape, which he then deconstructs, rebuilds and depicts using computer software. This is especially apparent in the use of colors, with the flickering fluorescent lights akin to the neon lights of a sleepless city, like a television screen showing signs of digital disruption. Yet it is exactly this flattened composition that imbues the image with such a uniquely bright texture and reminds us that the cities and buildings of our modern world are in their essential structure, “collages”. Therefore, this work is no longer concerned with traditional concepts of painting; rather it deals with ideas of construction, composition and movement. In the spaces between city and building, building and painting, painting and personal experience, the artist has created a different interface or image, with the dynamic screen illuminating a speed of the metropolis and an authenticity of the urban landscape.

If one is to say that superimposition of image is a temporal concept, then this piece can be viewed as a multilayered product of numerous temporal collisions and interactions. For example, among these temporal factors are included the time involved in the conception (within the imagination) of the main idea of the piece, the time taken for the artist to initially draft the work, the time taken by the artist’s assistant in painting the work, the time taken in the usage of pigment, as well as the time taken for the image and shape of the painting to finally manifest on the canvas. When all of these temporal units are superimposed over one another in a single painting, it enables us to experience and sense the present age in a new way. The temporal unit in which we live is one of disorder, but Liu Wei does not recreate this disorder, rather, he attempts to imbue his work with a certain order.

Lu Mingjun, Perceived Leviathan: Li Wei’s Use of “Color” and Governance, 2016 (Extract)