Inverted Monologue -- On Liu Qinghe's artistic creation
Ji Zong

The cultural system of different cities, the teaching style of different colleges and universities, and the study and practice experience of different departments have fostered Liu Qinghe's multi-dimensional thinking on visual creation and individual thinking expression. Throughout his years of creative practice, no matter 《Mother 》(2014), 《1953》 (2014), 《Aunt》 (2014), or the "Muddy Water: 《Sketching》 (2019), 《Prickly》 (2021), 《Committee Member》 (2019) and other works exhibited in Liu Qinghe's solo exhibition can clearly perceive a kind of instantaneous memory created by the rapid progress of society, which are cleverly framed in the multi-visual expression of Liu Qinghe. The memory of The Times on which it is based has been infused into the landscape innovation practice of traditional symbols, and multi-dimensional connections are constructed through multiple exposition. It is not difficult to find that a kind of "creative transformation" and "solitary monologue" rooted in its bones and created based on tradition are integrated into the landscape symbols full of memory and personal visual expression without any sense of violation.

For Liu Qinghe, who was born in the 1960s, he experienced great changes in the era and had a deep memory of "survival in turbulence". "Living" seemed to be the theme and collective demand of that era. Especially during the decade of 1970s and 1980s, Liu Qinghe grew up soberly as an independent individual. For the overall social situation in China and for the living status of different individuals are ups and downs and sensitive. The vigilance of the group to the reality and the possessiveness of the individual to "things" overflow outwards all the time with the "multidimensional network of life" constructed by reality and illusion, which is worth exploring and exploring. The power of memory plays an extremely important role in his artistic exploration, just like the home in the hutong, which seems to be the beginning of the "monologue" of Liu Qing and ink painting practice. The huge sound of opening the heavy iron gate, the stone lion statue with its sharp edges and smooth edges, the pedestrians and their families coming and going, the sitting on the stone steps... Such as childhood memories to promote his ink monologue constantly transformed into individual unique "loneliness". At the same time, Liu Qinghe also experienced a new period of progress of social and cultural system brought about by the reform and opening up, and experienced the characteristic cultural exploration value created by "Southern Talk". When the economic development with vigor and vitality and the overall social system innovated and advanced, Liu Qinghe formed the creative habit of constantly thinking and exploring new and unknown landscapes in visual expression.

Cloudy Water: Liu Qinghe Solo Exhibition held by Fine Arts Literature Art Center focuses on Liu's works in the past two years. A kind of flowing time, pure memory, overlapping cultural reality and comprehensive paradox of existence are presented in a simple way. The time and space created by self-vision form Liu Qinghe's own speculative field of culture, life, existence and perception. When mediocre life and rebellious soul are displaced, when individual monologue and material representation subtly overlap, the newly born elements of time and memory habits are redefined by Liu Qinghe. A kind of cultural memory originally passive acceptance, in the exhibition landscape at the moment, gradually transformed into a kind of "active innovative continuation" based on the impression of contemplation. For example, in "Sketching" (2019), figures cast in bronze are hidden behind curtains of ink on paper. At first glance, it is easy to ignore the correlation between the two works, but when the viewer sees the exhibition label, they can consciously combine the sculpture and curtain into one. This novel combination of foreground and rear scenery not only arouses new viewing creativity in the process of viewing the exhibition, but also carries out the living reality that Liu Qinghe constantly looks back at in his creation and daily life. The reality of partition and memory fragments created by daily current events is asked, felt and answered by him through different visual practices.

Through Liu Qinghe's individual expression, it is not difficult to find that in the current world of cultural diversity, the realistic temptation formed by different mass media systems makes the group have a sense of visual freedom, but also have a mentality of "natural worship" for the symbol landscape. The continuous upgrading of science and technology not only makes people's information processing speed increase, but also makes people attach a heavy feeling of urban loneliness behind the pleasure and beauty. In an urban society that looks like a busy city, this "appropriate" but "inappropriate" anxiety, as well as the hidden concern for modernity, are shown by Liu Qinghe through different character gestures and material flow patterns. His profound resonance for reality removes the boundary between the secular system formed by the crowding of art and information and the flourishing of culture.

Cloudy Water: Liu Qinghe Solo Exhibition not only showcases Liu Qinghe's exploration and research on reality and himself in the past two years, but also presents the audience with a sense of "urban loneliness" and the innovative development and creative transformation of traditional culture, which has been shifted into a tangible symbolic landscape. In Liu's memory, his father often asked himself the same question: "What can we gain by turning over such an era?" Looking at his visual expression in recent years, perhaps this strategic stimulation of the internal logic of culture and his own creative desire can, to some extent, answer some of his questions in memory -- a discussion of The Times and self-authenticity, a simple exploration of reality, and a deep deconstruction of the individual body. And a unique aesthetic core in the chaotic urban cultural reality, a subtle but difficult to hide the eye of the soul...