Opening Reception for visiting artist Beili Liu, The Grunwald Gallery of Art, 1201 E 7th St, Bloomington, IN

The Grunwald Gallery at Indiana University Bloomington is pleased to present After All
(Mending the Sky), an installation by visiting artist Beili Liu.
After All (Mending the Sky) is a site-specific installation which will occupy the east wing of the Grunwald
Gallery as part of China Remixed: Arts and Humanities in Contemporary Chinese Culture. The global festival
is sponsored by the Indiana University Bloomington’s Arts and Humanities Council.
Emphasizing gentle movement, the energy and transformative properties of sunlight, and repeated organic
forms, After All (Mending the Sky) is comprised of suspended raw silk half domes. These domes or “stones”
have been imprinted upon using the cyanotype process to lend rich indigo tones to their forms. True to her
use of humble, yet metaphorically charged, materials, Beili Liu’s use of raw silk makes reference to the
tradition of cultivating silk in China where Liu was born. After All (Mending the Sky) poetically draws upon
the Chinese fable of Nüwa, goddess and creator of mankind. After a tear in the sky brings suffering and
calamity to her creations, Nüwa faces heroically difficult tasks to mend the tear, and return order to the
world.
This installation will be a continuation of the After All (Mending the Sky) project, previously installed at the
Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art during fall of last year.
Beili Liu is a visual artist who creates material-and-process-driven, site-responsive installations. Oftentimes
embodying transience, fragility, and the passage of time, Liu’s immersive installations are engaged with
multifaceted dichotomies: lightness contrasted with heft; fierceness countered by resilience; and chaos
balanced by quiet order. Working with commonplace materials and elements such as thread, scissors,
paper, stone, fire, and water, Liu manipulates their intrinsic qualities to extrapolate complex cultural
narratives. Janet Koplos spoke of Liu’s works as “materially simple but metaphorically rich” (Art in America
Review, April 2009).
Beili Liu’s work has been exhibited in Asia, Europe and across the United States. She has held solo
exhibitions at venues such as the Hå Gamle Prestegard, Norwegian National Art and Culture Center (2016,
2011), Hua Gallery, London, UK (2012), Galerie An Der Pinakothek Der Moderne, Munich, Germany (2011),
Elisabeth de Brabant Art Center, Shanghai (2009), and the Chinese Culture Foundation, San Francisco (2015,
2008). Liu’s work has been showcased in group exhibitions at the National Museum for Women in the Arts,
Washington, D.C. (2012), Hamburg Art Week, Germany (2012), the Kaunas Biennale, Lithuania (2011), and
the 23rd and 25th Miniartextil International Contemporary Fiber Art exhibitions in Como, Italy (2015, 2013),
among many others.
Liu’s work has received critical reviews from publications including Art in America, Saatchi Review, UK,
Helsinki Sanomat News, Finland, Morgenbladet, Norway, China Daily, Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art,
Hamburg Abendblatt, Vita (Life) Magazine, Italy, ArtSlant, The Huffington Post, New York Times, San
Francisco Examiner and LA Confidential.
Born in Jilin, China, Beili Liu now lives and works in Austin, Texas, USA. Liu received her MFA from the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.
The installation is part of China Remixed: Arts and Humanities in Contemporary Chinese Culture, the first of
an annual Global Arts and Humanities Festival, sponsored by Indiana University Bloomington’s Arts and
Humanities Council. Further assistance comes from the Studio Art Department in the School of Art and
Design in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Grunwald Gallery at Indiana University.
For further information, please contact the Grunwald Gallery at (812) 855-8490 or [email protected].
We invite you to visit our website at https://studioart.indiana.edu.The Grunwald Gallery is accessible to
people with disabilities. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 12:00pm – 4:00 pm, closed Sunday and
Monday or by appointment. All events are free and open to the public. For more information on the Studio
Art Department, the School of Art and Design and the Grunwald Gallery at Indiana University, please visit
https://soad.indiana.edu/.