Li Erpeng
Tang Contemporary Art
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This week’s spotlight is on Li Erpeng, the young genius behind Tang Contemporary Bangkok’s current exhibition, “Control” curated by Fiona Lu.
When and how did you know you're an artist? Tell us a bit of a background story about your childhood and how it all started.
When I was very young, around kindergarten age, I was fascinated by putting the things that I liked on paper. I found happiness and satisfaction in that, and I realized that painting made me happy. When I was in primary school, I really liked watching videos about dinosaurs, and when I was in class, I impulsively filled the blank spaces in my books with the dinosaurs that were in my head. When my teachers saw all of this, they didn’t criticize me; they praised me in front of the entire class and encouraged the other students to find the things that they liked and were good at. This was really inspiring for me and made me even more passionate about painting.
在我很小的时候，大概在上幼稚园的时候就特别着迷于把现实中我看到的喜欢的东西搬到纸上，这会给我一种幸福感和满足感，自己也意识到绘画使我感到快乐。我记得小学的时候特别喜欢看关于恐龙的影像，在上课的时候就很冲动的把小学课本空白处画满了我脑中的恐龙形象，当我的老师看到这一切时，并没有批评我而是当着全班的面夸奖了我，并鼓励每个孩子寻找到自己擅长和喜欢的事情，这让我大受鼓舞，更加疯狂的痴迷于绘画。
Who is or are your biggest influence(s)?
Any creator, regardless of profession, who is full of vitality and works seriously.
所有充满生命力并认真工作的创作者们，无论什么职业。
In your works for your exhibition “Control”, what has inspired you to bring the virtual and the real together?
I didn’t bring them together. I think it might be more accurate to say that, for Gen Z artists, the virtual and the real are one and the same; realism and abstraction are one and the same, without boundaries. Our times (and especially since the start of the pandemic) have witnessed the beginning of the mingling of the virtual and the real. Virtual content has eroded our attention spans, people are participating in social media with online identities, and entertainment, life, economics, and politics are gradually becoming virtual. In the last two decades, the entire human world has become irreversibly immersed in cyberspace. Text was humanity’s first entrance into the virtuality of cyberspace; humans love the virtual world, but this is also our final form of existence. I am instinctively describing this irresistible human instinct. I mean, when was the last time you forgot to bring your iPhone with you?
我并没有结合在一起，在我看来，更准确地说：在z世代的艺术家们看来虚拟和现实是一回事，写实与抽象是一回事，没有边界。我们所处的这个时代，尤其在疫情后时代是虚拟和现实开始混合的元年：虚拟内容侵蚀人们的注意力；人们以赛博身份参与社交；娱乐、生活、经济、政治逐渐虚拟化；整个人类世界，在这20年间，以不可逆之势浸没入赛博空间中。文字就是人类最早进行赛博虚拟化进程的入口，人类钟爱虚拟化，也是人类的最后的存在形式，我本能的描绘了人类这种不可抗拒的本能。请问你上次忘记带iPhone是什么时候？
What is your biggest dream/goal as an artist?
I don’t have grand dreams or goals; I just want to keep creating.
没有最大的梦想或目标，一直创作下去就可以了。
What other mediums or different fields of art do you wish to explore? Why?
I want to attempt all mediums. However, canvas is currently what best allows me to do what I want to do. When I am able to understand and master other mediums, I will certainly explore them. I am interested in exploring electronic music and art forms that integrate virtual technologies.
所有的媒介都想尝试，不过目前最让我随心所欲的是画布，当我有能力理解和驾驭其他形式的媒介的时候，我一定会去做。我比较感兴趣探索电子音乐领域，和虚拟技术结合的艺术形式。
As an artist, how do you wish to be remembered?
Any way is fine.
都行
Does your opinion or thought on each of your work ever change through time?
It changes every day. Ideas that I had yesterday often end up subverted. When I look at my previous work, I feel like I’m looking at another, somewhat strange, self.
每天都在变化，推翻昨天的想法是常有的事，看之前的作品感觉像是在看另一个有些陌生的自己。
What do you think is integral to the work of an artist—or at least to you as an artist?
Indomitable vitality, multiple ways of thinking, and luck.
顽强的生命力和多角度的思维方式，还有运气。
If you could create one last artwork, what would that be and why?
Ha-ha. If conditions permit and technologies mature, I want to upload the first vlog about going to Mars onto YouTube.
哈哈哈哈，如果条件允许技术成熟，到火星上拍第一支vlog上传YouTube。
To know more about the artist and the exhibition, please view or contact:
Li Erpeng
Instagram: @li_erpeng
Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok
Location: Room 201 - 206, River City Bangkok, 23 Soi Charoenkrung 24, Talad Noi, Sampantawong, Bangkok, 10100
Hours: 11AM - 7PM, Tuesday - Sunday
Email: bkk@tanggallery.vip
Tel: +662 000 1541
Website: www.tangcontemporary.com
Facebook: @tangcontemporaryartbangkok
Instagram: @tangcontemporaryart
LINE: @tangbkk
Special thanks to:
Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok
Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing