Liu Zheng

刘 铮

Photographer, *1969 Wuqiang, Hebei, lives in Beijing



Liu Zheng, 2005, photo Facebook

In 1994, Liu Zheng began photographing people, archetypal Chinese figures in contemporary incarnations – and often in extreme and unexpected situations. The resulting series, "The Chinese", portrays a society wrestling with the contradictions between traditional culture and modernization. Through this series he tries to show a broad cross section of society including the wealthy, the poor, beggars, transsexuals, coal miners, opera performers, as well as waxwork figures in historical museums.

Influenced by both Diane Arbus and August Sander, Liu Zheng presents the viewer with a personalized study of Chinese culture, concentrating on the dark side of its psychology. Through his photographs Zheng performs an intricate balancing act between harsh reality and romanticism, between engagement and detachment, seeking to reconstitute Chinese history in the process.
Yossi Milo Gallery, Beijing, 2005

Liu's photo series are inadvertently also plumbing the limits of present Chinese sensitivities and aesthetics. A Westerner has to understand that his work has not been censored in China with the exception of some images from his “Beijing Opera Series” - ten years after their publication....

I will present a selection of his extraordinary photographs in chronological order. Clicking on the pictures will enlarge the images.

The Chinese
1994-2000



1994
A Boy with his Monkey
Beijing



1995
Convicts waiting for hot water
Baoding, Hebei



1995
Elderly Entertainers
Beijing



1995
Aged Female Impersonator
Beijing



1995
Xinjiang Youth
Beijing



1996
Coal Miners
Datong, Shanxi



1996
Buddhist Monk
Lingqiu Monastery, Shanxi



1996
Moslem Children
Tongxin, Ninxia



1996
Old Moslem
Shiangu, Ninxia



1996
Textile Worker
Hetian, Xinjiang



1997
Actress in the Revolutionary
Opera
Beijing



1998
Caged Buddha
Wutai Shan, Shanxi



1998
Coal Miners
Datong, Shanxi



1998
Poetess
Beijing



1998
Soldiers in a Sunflower Field
Harbin, Heilongjian



1999
Entertainers in Nightclub
Beijing



1999
One-Armed Beggar
Linton, Shaanxi



1999
The Rich Celebrating
New Year's Eve
Beijing



1999
Dancers at a Nightclub
Beijing



1999
Transvestite
Huiyang, Henan



1999
Warrior Actor on a Donkey
Longxian, Shaanxi



2000
Actress in Hebei Opera
Huoshentan, Henan



2000
Boy in School Uniform
Fengxiang, Shaanxi



2000
Transsexual Males
Shenzhen, Guangdong



2000
Three County Strippers
Houshental, Henan



2000
Performing Theater Group
Nanfeng, Jiangzi


Newer Work
1997-2006

Two newer series remain incomplete, “Revolution” and “Three Realms”. The former presents highly scripted photographic tableaux of revolutionary scenes in forms of soft pornography. “Three Realms” alludes to the Buddhist concept of separate spheres of humans, deities, and suffering souls in sub-series:”Peking Opera” (1997), “Four Beauties”(2004), and “Survivors” (2005). In the Peking Opera series Liu depicts canonical scenes from classical opera in which the female actors are stripped of their clothes. “Survivors” portrays bedraggled foreigners with ashen, befuddled faces supposedly in reference to news photographs of 9/11. His most recent series “Under the Sun” (2010) is a confusing hodgepodge of images of topless women, swimming pools, and Che Guevara....
Text abbreviated from Philip Tinari in Uta Grosenick and CasparSchübbe, edts., “China Artbook”, Dumont, 2007
- None of these photographs has the artistic power, or holds the historical interest of “The Chinese” series.

Two tableaux from “Peking Opera”, 1997



Tableau from “Four Beauties”, 2004



“Survivors”, 2005

God knows who lent their faces for these zomby photos