LI SONGSONG (CHINA, B. 1973)

Li Songsong is a weaver of images. From images of historical events, portraits of celebrities in magazines, to news footages, they are all elements from which he appropriates. The artist's stylisation strips the source image of its original meaning. Oxygen Mask (Lot 167) is the first work from the Instruction Manual series. He said, 'The very first one I painted was an airline safety manual. In it, a woman is putting an oxygen mask on a child. It is supposed to be purely instructional. But to me, the scene was full of tenderness'. The washes of pastel colours on top of the figures nullified any sense of danger in the picture, resulting in a warm scene of familial love.