Li Qing: East of Eden

By Harriet Thorpe

Li Qing (b1981), who is based in Hangzhou and Shanghai, recently had an exhibition titled Rear Windows at the Prada Rong Zhai, a cultural institution set in a restored 1918 villa in Shanghai. Through site-specific installations, Li illuminated the history of the architecture, a colonial fusion of French and Chinese design. Neon lights highlighted the decorative facade, and printed carpets echoed the patterned tiles from the bygone ballroom floor, revealing the complex history with Hitchcockian drama.

Li Qing, East of Eden, installation view, Galerie Eigen + Art, Berlin, 2020. Courtesy the gallery

Li uses architecture and the urban environment as a tool to expose social history, never taking his surroundings at face value. An urban flaneur, he collects photographs and found objects from the cities he studies. Painting and collaging follows, bringing layers of human narrative to the works. Li’s work is a personal process. He grew up witnessing China opening up economically to the west and watching how urban life evolved through unexpected lenses such as window frames, strange urban phenomena and neon lights...READ MORE