shashasha

In his extraordinary photography, Chinese artist Lin Zhipeng (aka “223”) has been expressing a playful, arrogant sense and spirit of youth in the context of a conservative Chinese culture. His visually bright images capture a peculiar freshness, sexual playfulness and carelessness that nevertheless feel burdened by an intangible weightfulness.

The project “Grand Amour” was created in collaboration with curactor Anna Mistal, who gave Zhipeng three days in the Parisian hotel “Grand Amour” to create a series that would then be exhibited in the corridors and rooms of the hotel. Working together with Asian models who answered his call on social media as well as props (fruits, flowers, doves), Zhipeng created a multilayered series that is saturated with ambiguity regarding love, sex, youth, escapism, eroticism (non-)conformity, optimism and social pressure.

“I am like a waiter who was given a special identity. At this time, I may be a stranger, perhaps a maker of taste and emotion, maybe a peeper next door, maybe just a recorder using a camera to invade others. The young flesh came in and out. Our communication was limited to the narration of the shutter’s sound and an euphemistic dialogue. This is a colorful room filled with invisible desires and slow laziness. The body appears to be still, or just a dream, because it is not a strong oppressive relationship.” (from Lin Zhipeng’s afterword)