Only by removing the veil of hypocrisy and bravely facing the evil of human nature can we experience the reality of our existence. This is also the essence of existentialism. Many artists have endeavored to bring such abstract ideas into forms; the ancients, including Goya and Bosch, as well as the more recent ones such as Bacon and Freud. The tenderness of being, manifested as etiquette, covers the originally cruel reality with warmth; but once it is revealed, it becomes unbearable. Impressionism is like that veil: no matter how you look at it, it is still aesthetically intelligible. As Cézanne enters the object, the formerly concealed body is gradually revealed layer by layer. Today, too many people fail to appreciate Soutine - they are unable or unwilling to stare at the evilness of human nature. Liu Zifeng, belonging to the post-95s generation, has the rebellious spirit of rock and roll flowing through him. In these paintings of his, he returned to the seaside of Qinhuangdao when he was a child, digging into the dark memories that had long been buried in the dust.

——by Zhou Tong