By Liz Daggett
In Imaginary Enemy, Chinese sculptor and painter Liao Yibai recounts his remarkable life as he prepares for his first solo show in America. Yibai was born in a top-secret missile factory in the Chinese countryside during the Cold War. His mother went into labor while standing at her place in the factory line, welding missiles. Unmarked on any map, Factory 215 was part of Mao Zedong's master plan "to fight China's biggest enemy, America." Under complete government control and unable to leave, young Yibai was continually subjected to Cultural Revolution propaganda on loudspeakers by day, and awakened by explosions at night.
Yibai's imaginative and ironic stainless-steel sculptures depict his childhood, turning the complex cultural relationship between China and the US into accessible, humorous stories. A giant metal hamburger emblazoned with "Top Secret" represents Yibai's first impression of the West and "the food of the enemy." As his works progress, they raise deeper questions. Are we pawns in a political game? What is the nature of war, and can it be stopped? Can art be used to share forgotten stories, ugly memories, and childhood dreams?
|