Notes on Images 1. Today the nature of 'war' between China and the USA has less to do with violence than with fluctuations in currency between the two countries. Although these change in small increments, they have a large impact on trade balances. To represent this, Yibai's Cash Fighting sculpture depicts a famous American (Ben Franklin) and a famous Chinese (Chairman Mao), rising out of stacks of currency. Wearing boxing gloves, they prepare to fight. The ridiculous nature of the sculpture echoes Yibai's view that such competition is absurd, and instead the two countries should work together.
2 & 3 One of Mao Zedong's dreams was to bring socialism and Karl Marx to America. Recalling this, Yibai has designed a huge stainless steel imaginary map of America as seen by the Chinese. On specific areas across the map's surface, the artist has added three- dimensional symbols of sites that Mao and the Chinese perceived were characteristic of The USA. For example, on Yibai's map, Seattle, Washington, is marked by a Boeing airplane as the state was thought to produce the most American airplanes. Los Angeles is represented by Mickey Mouse, and LA is the place where America's capitalist entertainment and propaganda films are made. A symbol for a rocket ship and an orange represent Florida's space shuttle and most popular fruit. Yibai has placed a vague bomb-like form near Arizona, as the Chinese were not exactly certain where the main American missile sites were hidden.
4 Yibai created "Party Stamp" to represent the means by which his classmate's father managed to transport a United States hamburger back to China without encountering difficulty from Chinese customs; the stamp was what made Yibai's first encounter with a hamburger a reality. In a time of government animosity toward Western objects, this piece pokes fun at a mere stamp's ability to allow the possibility of bringing the otherwise mysterious object that is a hamburger into the Chinese world. Yibai's stamp creates a dichotomy between ancient and modern Chinese stamps. Yibai has created the "Party Stamp" in large and small sizes, so as to match their respective large and small hamburger counterparts.
Liao Yibai: Imaginary Enemy May 8, 2009 - August 15, 2009
Mike Weiss Gallery presents Imaginary Enemy, an exhibition of new work by Chinese artist Liao Yibai. The exhibition will run from May 8 to August 15, 2009. Unlike other Chinese contemporary artists, Yibai�s sculpture uniquely explores how the Chinese imagined the myth and threat of America during and immediately following the Cultural Revolution.
Yibai was born and grew up at the site of a bomb and chemical weapons factory, where his father designed cruise missiles to be used against the United States. The artist therefore grew up in an environment of weapons, secrecy, and danger. The key to understanding the Imaginary Enemy series is through stories arising from the artist�s personal memories and dreams.
At first viewing, the stainless steel sculptures prompt laughter. They look disconcertingly strange and unlike most other contemporary art. Yet each one carries complex layers of meaning and significance. Top Secret Hamburger, for example, recalls the artist�s first taste of an American hamburger (considered an icon of American capitalism) and finding it rancid. Cash Fighting represents the continuing economic battles between the two countries, while PLA Whiskey recalls the story of a former Chinese soldier�s dream of forbidden American alcohol. Several of Yibai�s works combine motifs from ancient Chinese art, with memories and dreams from the artist�s childhood such as the Propaganda Machine. In the work, a traditional turtle carries a set of megaphones resembling the ones that blasted Communist slogans from a truck that drove through his town three times a day.
Through his sculptures, Yibai reminds us that �enemy� is a relative concept. Instead of threatening war and competition, the works in Imaginary Enemy encourage us to see these as humorous misunderstandings that must be corrected.
This is the first exhibition of Yibai�s work in New York. The artist attended the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, and was an art lecturer at Chongqing University. Yibai�s work has been exhibited throughout China including Beijing; Hong Kong; Guangdong; Shenzhen as well as in Cannes, France and Miami, Florida. He currently lives and works in Beijing and Chongqing.
