Victor Liu . Art
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Statement on Work

​This set of works presents a small pantheon of figures, and each figure in the pantheon proposes to harness forces at work in the world today.  I am continuing an ancient impulse to give figure to mysterious forces, adapted to the contemporary world.  There is a truth-seeking aspect to these proposals -- not truth with a capital-T, but more like what is meant when, after hearing a good joke, you say: "That is so true!"  It's similar to Werner Herzog's declaration that his films chase ecstatic truths.

With these works I am also interested in looking at posture and poses.  I think attention to these subjects in art could use some recuperation.  In India and China in the 7th and 8th centuries, certain bodhisattva sculpture exhibit a surprising naturalism.  In their very felt features and poses, down to the slouch of their hips, they sidestep a merely totemic presence, to pull the demigod into our world.  Part of my inquiry with this work is to ask how comportment can yield a worldview, and pull the otherworldly into our timeline of lived, human experience. 

Laura Poitras and Nan Goldin: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

To speak from the other side of a void.

David Hockney: 20 Flowers and Some Bigger Pictures

L'air d'inkjet.

Generative AI and the Arts: 10 Extrapolations

It seems everyone and their grandmother are offering their hot takes.  Here are mine.

Charles Ray: Figure Ground

Some thoughts following Ray's recent retrospective show at the Met.

Avant-Garde Mannerism

The artistic avant-garde of the 20th century shook the world, with a strong lingering legacy today.  This brief essay has the aim to get clearer on this legacy.

Michaël Borremans: The Acrobat

Borremans's oblique view of our world.

Christina Quarles: In 24 Days tha Sun'll Set at 7pm

My god.

Abdulnasser Gharem: Hospitable Thoughts

The language of contemporary art -- its modes and discourses -- has become, for better and worse, the lingua franca for global art practices.  Gharem shows that this language can be adapted with a fresh power and directness.

Bio

Victor Liu (born Taipei, Taiwan) received an MFA from the Art Practice program at the School of Visual Arts.  His previous education includes an MA from Yale University and a BA from the University of California at Berkeley.  His work has shown in galleries in the US and Europe.  He is the recipient of a NYFA fellowship, and work commissions from the Whitney Museum's Artport and Turbulence.org.  He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

    Contact

    v@victorliu.art
    ​
    (917) 459-3596
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