Travail aérien, 2016

Arxlee  

A genius illustrator, Li Chaoxiong (Arxlee) creates poetic universes in which gentle and dreamy heroes evolve, in endless search for the meaning of life. Li Chaoxiong, who signs his works under his alias “ARXLEE”, is a Chinese artist born in 1978 in Zhongshan, in the province of Canton. From the end of the 1990s he presented his first works in group exhibitions in Canton, Beijing and Japan (5th International Academies Art Exhibition, 1997). He was then enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Guangzhou from which he graduated in 2002. Li Chaoxiong is the author of two particularly poetic and introspective graphic novels: “Bilibi” at the beginning of the 2000s and “Buda - Pest” in 2010 which is the subject of an edition in three languages and an exhibition at the Loft Gallery. Bathed since his childhood in the world of super heroes, cartoon and illustration, Li Chaoxiong develops his style in different artistic disciplines such as painting, illustration, design, sculpture and photography. Mastering both the codes of literary narration and plastic and digital artistic composition, the artist develops a language all of his own, composed of figures and singular scenes that make him a great representative of the young Chinese generation. “I grew up with comics. It remains one of my favorite reads. I've always dreamed of being the hero of a comic book. It's a universe that fits perfectly to my painting and to my way of expressing myself. I like to work with oil paints. As I am a lover of detail and clear spaces, this technique suits me perfectly. I could not at all obtain these desired effects, all in halftones, with a painting that would be all in matter. I'm like a child, I like being explained to me. If there is a feeling that I cannot express through painting, I write it down. When I start a series, I just have a canvas in my head. The real story comes through painting. To best express these feelings that inhabit him, Li Chaoxiong imbues his creations and his characters with his most intimate reflections. His soul emerges in his works by following the path of heroes who symbolize the evolution of his own personality. First of all there was “Bilibi”, a contemporary and urban hero, courageous and generous, smiling and clumsy, who roamed the world and the stars in a carefree manner. Then “Buda”, an amnesiac lunar puppet mad with love for her female counterpart “Pest”, herself lost on the other side of a decaying world. With Buda it is nostalgia and naivety that predominate, gentleness and contemplation also, facing a world in perdition where everything is to be rebuilt. For the past few years, Li Chaoxiong has been working on a new project. “Bumi”, a sweet and dreamy little astronaut, symbolizes the attachment to childhood that we refuse to lose. Tireless worker, traveler of great immensities, he is more mature than Bilibi and less anxious than Buda. He always seems to know where he is going but without having a predestined goal. He lets himself be carried away by what seems to be an endless dream. Exploring the universe beyond the confined worlds, Bumi (“Bumi” means “land” in Sanskrit), like a Buddhist monk, always moves forward in a constantly changing world. With his eyes closed, he learns to communicate through his feelings, listening to his heart and feeling things rather than being distracted or corrupted by his gaze. In the works dedicated to him and which we present today, Li Chaoxiong thus offers us a metaphor of life as a “journey” where the destination is less important than the path traveled. Like the serenity that emanates from Bumi, the artist invites us to contemplate his adventures while in turn letting our heart speak.