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.
Read more at Ocula.