Li Lei is holding his solo show, The Apsara's Flowers, at Minsheng Art Museum Beijing.
"When one daringly embraces the fear of death and gets rid of inherent habits and prejudices, he is free from exterior interferences that will influence his judgments."
Li says the works on show are like the nymph's flowers, which will pervade the exhibition space and encourage viewers to "open their hearts, reflect on bygone events and think about the future".
He categorizes the artworks into chapters by constructing "three worlds" - one with the hustle and bustle of life, another gripped by depression and miseries, and the last in which he invites people to engage in silent introspection.
At the entrance of the museum's lobby, dozens of colorful silk strips are hung from the ceiling, and people need to walk through them, which is a ceremonial start of the exhibition tour.
The first floor shows Li's two series of abstract oil paintings, Shanghai Flowers and Flames of Pompeii. The rhythmic shadings of vibrant colors seduce and excite people, reminding them of the deceptive nature of the material world.
On the winding stairs to the second floor stand dozens of white dummy models whose waists, eyes and ears are bound with colorful pieces of cloth like the entrance.
Here, the artist asks one question to people who are about to enter the next section of the exhibition: When enjoying earthly glories, are we also blinded by them and turn deaf ears to the crisis of existence?
On the second floor, Li shows two visually shocking installations. One is The Graveyard of Angels, in which he has placed sculptures that look like reclining, broken bodies of bald angels.
This, in his view, represents those who sacrifice for their ideals and those who are lost while searching for their life goals.
In another work, Sea of Human Skulls, 3,000 roughly carved wooden skulls and fish are laid on the ground before a huge wall mirror.
"Death is not an end. It is a door that transforms a life into a different state, leading to more possibilities of freedom," Li says.
Hans d'Orville, the exhibition's German adviser, says Li's artworks show the expressive powers of mega-city life that engage and confuse people, that arouse different emotions and also calm.
Liu Chunfeng, the exhibition curator from Beijing's National Art Museum of China, says: "The exhibition can be as a whole seen as a flower that blooms quietly but moves people in a thrilling way."
If you go
10 am-5 pm, closed Mondays, through Feb 16. 9 Jiuxianqiao North Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-5323-2111.
