Li Tianbing: “Bing Bang”

Li Tianbing, Self-Portrait Tour #3, 2006, laquer on canvas, 64” x 51”

The Virtue of Virtuosity

What does it mean for a painter to transcend a unique and personal trace by exploiting any and all styles? Can we find value in this? As Li Tianbing explains: “a painting doesn’t define who I am but who I am becoming.” What is the point of focusing on identity when identity endlessly fluctuates? It is simply something to experience and not possess.

In Eastern thought, the need to declare and claim a self is a product of fear, it serves as a crutch. Li Tianbing throws aside this crutch and sets out to constantly discover new experiences and to translate them through the fluid medium of paint. And each new experience is an encounter with a new style, a different Way of painting.

By Deborah Zafman, Ph.D.

Exhibition catalog published by galerie deborah zafman, 2006