Salto Mortale

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DESCRIPTION Mixed Media on Yupo paper | 2018 Chaos, In An Almost Classical Mode is artist Fei Li’s attempt to create an encyclopedia that examines the capacity for chaos inside a r igorous and coherent structure. Li’s approach is oblique, like walking a tightrope between visual dynamics and pandemonium. Inspired by the correspondences between James Joyce’s Ulysses and Homer’s Odyssey, the paintings in this series take the structure of historical artworks as their point of departure. Embodying the allusive nature of the works, the paintings weave an immense network of visual relationships into a labyrinth. Li purposefully uses small oil pastel sticks on large surfaces as a metaphor for the artist raising arms against manifest destiny, exploring what it means to confront an impossibility. “Salto Mortale” means a dangerous and daring jump with a possibly lethal outcome. It reflects my feeling while painting the chaos -- like walking the tightrope between visual dynamics and pandemonium. It also records my summer experience in a residency in Norway where I jumped into the deep cold sea to learn how to swim. DIMENSIONS 86 x 60 inches AUTHENTICATION Signed by artist. The work comes with a Certification of Authenticity signed and numbered by the Co-Founder of Tappan Show more