Liao Fei’s practice stems from his reflections on existence and self-doubt, seeking to access the essence of things through creative practice. His works interrogate the nature of being through the formal aspects of art and the physicality of everyday materials. With a rational approach towards art-making, Liao Fei translates logical reasoning and abstract concepts into powerful sensorial experiences. Transforming the logic of mathematical systems into a visual language, his works offer an encounter with the immediacy and limits of mathematics, logic, and abstraction through a minimalist and almost linguistic expression. This exhibition marks Liao Fei’s largest institutional solo presentation to date, revisiting the artist’s key early works, including the “One Way Sculpture” series (2017) and the “Permutation Generation” series (2018), and weaving together the significant thematic threads that continue to inform his current practice. The artist will design and transform the exhibition space to reflect the distinctive characteristics of his works. This exhibition is curated by UCCA Curator Neil Zhang.

About the Artist

Liao Fei (b. 1981, Jingdezhen; lives and works in Shanghai) graduated from Shanghai Normal University in 2006. His recent solo exhibitions include “Physics Temple” (Vanguard Gallery × Tihho Art Space, Shanghai, 2023); “Depiction” (The Cloister Project, Shanghai, 2021–2022); “Is everything a contingent occurrence?” (OCAT Shanghai, 2021); “Res Extensa” (Vanguard Gallery × O Art Center, Shanghai, 2018); and “Plain” (Shanghai Museum of Glass, 2016). Select group exhibitions include “An Atlas of the Difficult World” (Macalline Center of Art, Beijing, 2024); “Endless Mountains: Spanning Mountains and Seas—An Exhibition of Art and the Tang Poetry Road” (Osaka Culturarium at Tempozan, 2024); “Silent Thunder” (UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2021); “Dis-/Continuing Traditions: Contemporary Video Art from China” (Salamanca Arts Centre, Tasmania, Australia, 2021); “In the Open or in Stealth” (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, 2018); “Frontier: Re-assessment of Post-Globlizational Politics” (OCAT Institute, Beijing, 2018); and the 11th Shanghai Biennale “Why Not Ask Again? Arguments, Counter-Arguments, and Stories” (Power Station of Art, Shanghai, 2016–2017).