The pandemic of Covid-19 and the consequent sanitary, economic, and social crisis that it caused marked a real global moment in the history of humanity. Many countries around the world were forced to implement tight measures of lockdown and social distancing which had a direct impact on all aspects of our private and public life, forcing us to reconsider our relationship with other human beings, with nature, and with the larger context of the earth ecosystem.

Liu Ruowang's exhibition Coping with Covid-19, which will be inaugurated at Dodo Art Museum in Beijing on January 23^rd 2021, is the last of a series of large-scale contemporary art touring exhibitions of the artist, aimed at raising awareness about environmental protection and at rethinking a harmonious coexistence between human beings and the other creatures of Earth. The show had an anticipation in Florence in the summer of 2020 and then it was presented in Yukou, Yulin, Datong. The Beijing edition, the last and most important one, is also the opening exhibition of Dodo Children's Art Museum.  Coping with Covid-19 is co-curated by Li Wenru, former vice-director of The Palace Museum, the Italian artist Jacopo Della Ragione and Wang Zhenlin as executive curators, with the academic support of Parkview Green Art.

The co-occurrence of the joint exhibitions in five cities and villages, highlights the universalism and the global character of the message conveyed by the show, which resonates from the streets of Florence, the cradle of Renaissance, to the rural context of the artist's hometown at the very heart of China, reflecting Liu Ruowang's deep concern for the ecology of rural and urban areas, both in China and abroad, as well as the artist's call to deepen artistic and cultural exchanges.

The group of sculptures titled Wolves Coming presented in Florence at Piazza Pitti and Piazza Santissima Annunziata and in Yang Gao, Datong, Shanxi Province, embodies the feeling of an offended nature, hurt by profound alterations to the ecosystem as result of human activity, and the harsh reaction of nature to the devastation brought by man, therefore conveying the artist's concern for natural ecology. Yukou International Art Zone takes the concept of "Seeing the Village" as the main theme to advocate the integration of art into rural space. Dodo Art Museum in Yulin emphasizes the parallelism between art museums and urban development, through the subject of ecological protection. These initiatives demonstrate the attitude and determination of the artist to address issues related to nature and ecology, to use public art to raise awareness of the importance of environmental protection, suggesting that we all need to be united to overcome a global crisis as we are all part of collective dimension sharing the same destiny.

Coping with Covid-19 at Dodo Art Museum in Beijing displays artworks of Liu Ruowang created during the epidemic with the theme of “coping with covid”. The hope for a world liberated from the pandemic reflects the artist's compassionate feelings: avoiding any representation of heroic or tragic characters, Liu Ruowang explores the root of human suffering, while awakening people's critical thinking. The exhibition Coping with Covid-19 will stretch both indoor and outdoor: sculptures, installations, paintings, and multimedia works, selected specifically for the space of Dodo Art Museum, mainly revolve around the representation of animals: in recent years, artists both in China and abroad, have rediscovered an interest for the “animalier” theme, a revival of Neo-Romanticism reflecting the conception of nature as a mirror of the individual soul and as a reflection of personal anxiety, values, and desires. Nature is therefore at the very heart of the artist's intimate experiences and therefore the representation of animals takes on a conceptual connotation. The works of Liu Ruowang are perfectly in line with this idea: they lead us into a different and supernatural reality: realistic, fantastic, or deformed animals are in fact archetypes of the reflections on society and on the relationship between nature, technology, and humans.

The conceptual framework of the exhibition Coping with Covid-19 reflects the willingness to reaffirm the centrality of the role of the artist in addressing issues related to contemporary society: as a reaction against the indifference and nihilism, the artist elaborates a deep and emotionally intense artistic language to shed light on the complexity and the fragility that characterizes humans' existential experience. Through his works, the artist suggests that the plague of pandemic raging around the world can be seen as nature's backlash against mankind. Undermining the illusion of human omnipotence, Liu Ruowang tries to arouse people's awareness about the fact that we should be humble in front of nature. With the majesty of his works, the superiority of man as a "conqueror" is undermined: challenging a worldview that privileges the aim of improving human welfare over other aspirations, the artist advocates a post-anthropocentric worldview, calling for a multi-species coexistence and environmental ethic. Liu Ruowang, creating an artistic language imbued with philosophical connotations and cultural references to Western and Eastern art history, manages to elaborate transnational narratives and to convey universal messages about human existence and about the need to pursue a balanced relationship with nature and all the elements around us. Liu Ruowang's works reflect compassionate feelings and engagement in society to imagine a better future for the next generations.

n  Practical Information 

Exhibition Title: From Yukou to Florence——Liu Ruowang joint exhibitions on art and environment: Beijing Edition, Ruowang: Coping with Covid-19

Opening: Saturday January 23, 2021. 16:30 (Online Opening)

Venue: Dodo Art Museum, No.1, Xiedao Road, Jinzhan, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Artist: Liu Ruowang

Director: Li Wenru (Former Vice Director of The Palace Museum)

Curators: Jacopo Della Ragione, Wang Zhenlin

Organizer: Dodo Art Museum

Academic Support: Parkview Green Art

Exhibition Design: Zhang Hetian (unarchitecte), Liu Ruowang Studio

Visual Design: Dodo Design

Support organizations: Yulin Dodo Art Museum, Yukou International Art Zone, Dodo Design, Dodo Video Studio, Netease Art Channel

n  About the Artist Liu Ruowang

Liu Ruowang, a professional artist, is the founder of Beijing Dodo Art Museum, Yulin Dodo Art Museum, and Yukou Art Town in Jiaxian County. He lives and works in Beijing. He was born in 1977 in the mountain area of Jiaxian County of Yulin District in the Northern Shaanxi Province. In 1996, he was admitted at "Xi'an Polytechnic University" in Xi'an to study fashion design. Later on in 1998, he withdrawn from school to pursue the painting career. He moved to Beijing in 1999 and studied postgraduate courses as Teaching Assistant at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) from 2002 to 2005; in 2005, his artwork The East is Red was part of the "Light of the Academy" exhibition of excellent artworks held by CAFA and it was awarded. 

Liu Ruowang grew up after the Reform and Opening up of China. Thanks to his education, from a small poor mountain village in the Western part of China, he moved to the provincial capital city and later on to the capital of China. Finally, he became a professional artist. He became a shining star in Chinese artistic circles in 2005 and his sculptural works became very famous. He had many exhibitions, becoming an influential young artist with an international reputation. His artworks have been exhibited in many places around the world, including: Beijing, Shanghai, other major cities in Mainland China, Singapore, Seoul, Queenstown, Venice (during the Biennale), the University of Turin, Naples Municipal Square, Piazza Pitti and Piazza Santissima Annunziata in Florence, the Armory Show of New York, Campell (France), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) and other places. His most representative artworks include Wolves Coming, The East is Red, The People, Heaven Soldier, Lofty Mountains and Flowing Water, The Original Sin, Dodo and others. Wolves Coming! was displayed in Florence's Piazza Pitti and Piazza Santissima Annunziata with the patronage of the Gallerie degli Uffizi: Liu Ruowang was the first artist after the Second World War to receive this honor. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, German President Joachim Gauck, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, South Korea's Parliament Defense Commission Chairman Won Yoo-Cheol, South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister Kim Byung-Joon have all met Liu Ruowang and congratulated with him for his work.

n  About the Director Li Wenru

Researcher and former vice director of The Palace Museum, Li Wenru is a distinguished professor and Ph.D. tutor at the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese National Academy of Arts, Nankai University and Tsinghua University. He served as president and editor-in-chief of the China Cultural Relics News and director of the Museum Department of the National Cultural Heritage Administration. He has published monographs such as Youth Problems of Cultural Heritage, Various Possibilities of Museums, Lu Xun's Biography, The president of the Forbidden City talks about the Forbidden City, 600 Years of the Forbidden City, Value Issues in the Study of the Forbidden City and so on.

​n  About the Curators

Jacopo Della Ragione

Born and raised in Florence, Italy, Jacopo moved to Beijing in 2001, where he still lives with his family. While a student of Medieval History at Milan University, Jacopo undertook a Master course in Graphic Design and Printing Technologies; this particular combination of analytical research approach and interest about technologies and media, brought him to work as Art and Creative Director for design and advertising agencies, and media companies for almost two decades. As Managing Director of a State-owned company he lead a team of 30 people on projects with clients as: Beijing Communist Party School, Beijing Women's Federation, China National Children Center, Summer Palace, Sinopec Group, MoMA, RIBA, TATE Gallery.  Involved with artists of different disciplines over the years, in 2018 he finally gave up the last of his resistances to become a full time artist. At the same time, with the awareness that art is a language that acquires different meanings throughout one's life, Jacopo began getting involved in children art activities, art therapy, and adults' art education; this involvement is now one of his life's central interests and occupations.

Wang Zhenlin

Wang Zhenlin is an artist and independent curator of the Art Museum of 798 International Art Exchange Center, Founder of Ermu Art Museum, creator of 798 theme sculpture Wukong, and former president of Contemporary Art magazine. Wang Zhenlin is a senior independent curator in China. Over the years, he has planned a series of important art exhibitions at home and abroad, including the creation of 798 promotion exhibitions. The 798 Promotion Exhibition is the official art promotion platform of 798. Over the years, a series of exhibitions have been launched. At the same time, Wang Zhenlin has been focusing on the relationship between art and society, promoting contemporary art and the relationship between art and public life. He has successfully introduced art forms such as "earth art" to the public, which has encountered a wide public appreciation.

n  About Dodo Art Museum

Beijing Dodo Art Museum, founded by internationally renowned artist Liu Ruowang, is the first public welfare organization in China that focuses on ecological education, while promoting public art and culture and practicing aesthetic education for young generations. Since its establishment, the museum has won various awards and it has been visited by leaders and embassy representatives of many countries. The museum was awarded with the 17th International Classic Cultural Architecture Prize in Naples, Italy.

n  About Parkview Green Art

Parkview Green Art is a non-profit organization under the umbrella of the Art and Culture Department of Parkview Group. For the past decades, Parkview Group has supported the development and promotion of Chinese art both in China and abroad with the aim to foster a dialogue between artists from different cultural backgrounds while creating a platform for cultural and artistic exchange at a global level. Following these core values, the Group has successively established physical art spaces including The Parkview Museum, Parkview Green Art Gallery, and Parkview Green Art Derivatives Space. In 2020, the Group founded Parkview Green Art intending to enlarge the experimental space of contemporary art, while promoting interdisciplinary research methods and fostering critical thinking. Through collaborations with different institutions both in China and abroad, the goal of Parkview Green Art is also to establish a cultural bridge between the East and West, while promoting values of multiculturalism and artistic exchange.

n  Exhibition Foreword

2020 has been the year of the pandemic. The world has stood still and the disorder in all aspects of public life brought about by the virus has been accompanied by a constant state of confusion. People of our generation have unprecedently experienced a prolonged and unbearable sense of anxiety, just briefly anticipated by the difficult time faced during the SARS emergency.

Liu Ruowang, through an artistic language that shuns from heroic or tragic tones, gives voice to the difficulties that the whole of humanity is now facing. As an artist who has always been engaged in addressing issues related to the relationship between humanity and the ecosystem, his artistic creations explore the root of human suffering, disclosing it directly in front of our eyes. The heterogeneous scenes depicted in his paintings, sculptures, and installations, alongside images of human eyes, snakes, bats, dead trees undermine viewers' comfort zone; the intense chromatism and the strong contrast between light and shadow generate in the viewers a sense of discomfort and uneasiness. 

Through his works, the artist suggests that the plague of pandemic raging around the world can be interpreted as nature's backlash against mankind. Unveiling the fallacy of human omnipotence, Liu Ruowang tries to awaken people to rethink the fact that in front of nature, we all should learn to be humble. His majestic animal sculptures, very large in volume and displayed in groups, challenge the idea of the human being as “conqueror”, encouraging the public to re-examine the relationship between humanity, animals, and nature.

This “confrontational” approach reflects the artist's concern for the human existential experience. Liu Ruowang's works are characterized by an innate emphatic character: the hope for a pandemic free world reflects Liu Ruowang's concern for the state of the universe and the fate of mankind. Through countless eyes, the artist observes the world and the fate of ordinary people.

This exhibition is a blessing for the world, with the aim to celebrate the courage of those fighting against pandemic and of ordinary people.

n  Exhibited Works

Indoor Artworks:

Indoor artworks include oil paintings, sculptures and installations which can be considered as a whole group of works in the light of their semantic coherence.

The group of installations at the center of the exhibition hall is composed of giant snakes, bats, skylights, and red light. The snake and the scepter, symbols of the World Health Organization, metaphorically represent the power of medicine to control the pandemic. At the same time, the powerlessness and helplessness experienced by human beings facing the Covid-19, is caused by the limitations of medicine itself. Losing the scepter, the whole world is now out of control.

Countless pairs of eyes contemplate this condition of confusion: everyone in the world in 2020 is facing the experience of suffering. Liu Ruowang depicts 60 eyes of Chinese people and 20 of foreigners to express this extraordinary common "perception" spread among all people. Eyes are often considered the windows of the soul through which we can understand the world. When we see a world overthrown by the epidemic, should't we learn to live in a harmonious coexistence with nature and its creatures?

Establishing a dialogue with the snake, symbol of pandemic, the red "Tree of Life", which soars up to the sky, has no leaves and it is withering. These two opposing forces reflect the dichotomy between life and death.

The bat is an eye-catching element which recurs in installations, oil paintings, and sculptures throughout the exhibition. In traditional Chinese culture, the bat has a strong symbolic connotation, embodying the symbol of good luck, also because its pronunciation in Chinese is similar to the words for "happiness and prosperity". Images of bats are widely used in traditional Chinese iconography. However, bats are also very dangerous animals as they carry deadly viruses. Their disturbing appearance makes people feel uncomfortable and scared. There is the strong semantic contrast between the symbolic meaning of bat in traditional culture and their real nature. Through this work, the artist encourages the public to reflect about the fact that pursuing an auspicious illusion so distant from reality might bring negative results.

Artworks in Dodo International Sculptural Park:

Between two and three hundred sculptures are exhibited in the outdoor space of the Dodo International Sculpture Park. These works are Liu Ruowang's artistic creations over the last ten years. With the exceptions of the early series The People and Heaven, most of Liu Ruowang's sculptures represent images of animals to address issues related to the relationship between human beings, nature, animals and the world around us. Strictly speaking, some of the animals depicted by the artist no longer exist in our world. Some of them art extinct, some others are manipulated and transformed to acquire a different appearance from their real counterparts like The Dodo, Original Sin, Wolves Coming, etc. Regardless of what kind of species they belong to, they are all "Living Beings" coexisting with humans in the universe.

Past news reported that the number of primitive black-haired pigs in China is lower than the number of pandas: they are already on the verge of extinction, replaced by white-haired pigs that can be farmed on a large scale. It is hard to imagine that animals closely related to our daily diet might also face the risk of extinction. This news touched Liu Ruowang's to the point of encouraging the artist to realize his original intention of creating works inspired by animals like pigs. Dodo International Sculpture Park revolves around the theme of ecology and respect for the environment. In the future, the Sculpture Park will display artworks from local and international artists, all committed to the cause of ecological awareness.