Liu Qinghe :: Essay
Liu Qinghe’s Terms of Endearment :: Tally Beck
Liu Qinghe explores new subject matter in his latest series Bao Bei Er. Generally noted for his monumental, sensual ink wash paintings of larger-than-life adult subjects, Liu has shifted his attention to a subjective catalogue of rural and urban children. He paints them on a smaller scale, emphasising their diminutive stature and vulnerability.
Bao Bei Er literally means “precious shell” and refers to the ancient Chinese practice of using cowry shells as currency. In modern Chinese parlance, it has become a term of endearment reserved for children and loved ones. Liu Qinghe’s choice of title effectively forecasts the tenderness and emotion that his delicate ink wash paintings evoke.
There is a palpable sense of pathos in his depictions – particularly in the infants.
Tally Beck
Liu was inspired to address this theme after seeing media images of children in the countryside that spotlight rural poverty and seek to shock the urban population, inspiring donations. He was also aware of the practice among urban children of donating their pocket money directly to rural families. Noting that the media concentrated on a few images of select children in the countryside and that this presentation was too myopic, Liu sought to extrapolate on this imagery as well as portray the sociological connection between the urban and rural children.
The series of paintings is formally cohesive, yet each is autonomous. Far from being portraits, Liu paints them from his imagination. He gives them attitudes and attributes that comment on their situations. The mischievous boy from the countryside wears a sleeveless T-shirt, a PLA cap and no pants. He wields a slingshot, and his eye narrows to focus on a target. In sharp contrast, a city girl stands primly and sports a colourful, frilly outfit. Her wide eyes suggest naiveté. Liu’s portrayals comment on socialisation with Rousseauesque romanticism: the partially nude but cunning rural boy is free and unfettered by societal restraints while the urban girl, encased in superfluous artifice, seems to be deprived of a carefree childhood.
Liu was executing these works when the catastrophic earthquake struck Sichuan Province in May 2008, and this tragedy affected his engagement with his subject matter. Some of the works had already been completed (such as the boy with the slingshot), but Liu embarked on many of the works with knowledge of the earthquake orphans fresh in his mind. These pieces illustrate the seismographic nature of Liu’s ink wash paintings. There is a palpable sense of pathos in his depictions—particularly in the infants.
Liu is able to achieve an astonishing degree of expressiveness in the medium of ink wash. His careful modulation of tones, light and shadow lent a salient sensuality to his previous work. In this series, he manipulates the medium to give his subjects softness, innocence and vulnerability. In his depictions of adults, the defining linear elements convey sexual tension with tactile vibrancy. Liu employs a completely different type of energy in his youthful subjects. He removes the linear tension and describes flesh with warm hues and tonal variations.
When explaining his choice of subjects, Liu emphasised his intrigue with the notion of predetermined destiny. While all children are the same, their futures seem laid out depending on where they are born. He does not allow this predetermination to add static elements to his depictions. Whether presenting adults or children, his subjects always seem to be in transition. The energy he imbues in the character defies a sense of permanence. In these youthful subjects, Liu augments this vibrancy with a brighter palette than he uses in his images of adults. He continues to measure and restrain his use of colour, but the saturated yellows and lively reds and pinks suggest a sense of optimism unseen in his images of more mature subjects.
It may have seemed that the power of Liu Qinghe’s work lay in its monumentality in many of his previous paintings, but we see in this recent series that the awesomeness of his imagery lies in its intimacy. His virtuosity in the ink wash medium allows intense expressiveness; he creates a kind of impressionism with psychological intensity. As he explores the characters of children of different backgrounds, he evokes our sympathy and underscores the universality of human experience.
When explaining his choice of subjects, Liu emphasised his intrigue with the notion of predetermined destiny. While all children are the same, their futures seem laid out depending on where they are born. He does not allow this predetermination to add static elements to his depictions. Whether presenting adults or children, his subjects always seem to be in transition. The energy he imbues in the character defies a sense of permanence. In these youthful subjects, Liu augments this vibrancy with a brighter palette than he uses in his images of adults. He continues to measure and restrain his use of colour, but the saturated yellows and lively reds and pinks suggest a sense of optimism unseen in his images of more mature subjects.
It may have seemed that the power of Liu Qinghe’s work lay in its monumentality in many of his previous paintings, but we see in this recent series that the awesomeness of his imagery lies in its intimacy. His virtuosity in the ink wash medium allows intense expressiveness; he creates a kind of impressionism with psychological intensity. As he explores the characters of children of different backgrounds, he evokes our sympathy and underscores the universality of human experience.