Stepping into The Book and the Flower, Liu Ye's solo show at David Zwirner in New York (29 October–19 December 2020) is like walking into a vault. Small, delicate paintings depict close-up views of books mostly painted in a faded monochromatic palette—a selection of new works from Liu's 'Flower', 'Book Painting', and 'Banned Book' series.
Whether in Flower No. 3 (2013–2020), in which two roses are placed inside a vase on top of a table, or Book Painting No. 6 (2014–2015), which transposes Mondrian's grid palette of red, blue, and yellow to an open book, simple lines, rectangular planar divisions, and a deliberate flatness clearly reference modernist sensibilities in Western art history.
According to the press release, the artist's strategy of painting books invokes 'an atmosphere of meditation' that is based on his love of reading and appreciation of Western art and literature, and the book does indeed seem to be an object that bears a lot of personal significance for Liu, as testified by the meticulous layers of paint and the time that each painting takes to complete.
Several world-renowned books of art and literature are the subject of Liu's painterly interpretations, most of which are reproductions that are intervened by a certain sleight of hand.