Leo Xu Projects is envisioned as a platform for artistic experiments that investigate and explore through the aesthetic lens the phenomenon of Shanzhaiism, namely bootleg culture, in the contemporary Chinese society.
[4] Subsequent exhibitions included a series of solo exhibitions by young Chinese artists, such as Cheng Ran (Cheng Ran: What Why Now), Chen Wei (Chen Wei: More), Liu Chuang (Liu Chuang: Works #16-21), Michael Lin (Michael Lin: Shanghai Daily), Cui Jie (Cui Jie), and Guo Hongwei (Guo Hongwei: Editing).
[6] Boy: A Contemporary Portrait presents works produced by a group of artists who work with diverse media, including the French choreographer Jérôme Bel, video artist Cheng Ran, Guo Hongwei, Hu Xiangqian, Li Qing, Liu Chuang, fashion photographer Mei Yuangui, Wolfgang Tillmans, Fred Tomaselli, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Danh Vo, Yang Fudong and Zhou Haiying.
Through installation works, the artist examines and calls into attention the immediate reality of contemporary China, exploring in particular how the notion of Shanzhai - the phenomenon of counterfeiting and plagiarism in mass manufacturing and consumption - has infiltrated and inflected the local population and their ideological landscape.
This series, set primarily on club dance-floors or at party scenes, aims to capture the moment of trance from the life of Chinese youth, who grow up in the post-89 years and are heavily influenced by imported and unlicensed cultural products such as bootlegged music cassettes, CDs, DVDs, unofficially translated literature and art publications.