No. 223 Wants You to Surrender to Sensuality at Saint Laurent Rive Droite
Before the sun sets on summer, a new solo exhibition in Beijing turns up the heat.
Summary
Photographer No. 223 (Lin Zhipeng) has opened a new exhibition at Saint Laurent Rive Droite in Beijing
Curated by Anthony Vaccarello, the show culls a collection from the artist's extensive archive to focus on intimacy, desire, and romance in time for Qixi
The exhibition is now on view until September 11
Love is in the air at Beijing’s Saint Laurent Rive Droite. With summer hitting its stride in the run-up to Qixi, considered Chinese Valentine’s Day on August 19, photographer No. 223 echoes the mood of the season: dreamy, fleeting, and flirty.
Curated by Anthony Vaccarello, the show spotlights a quieter side of romance through a constellation of intimate scenes. Plump stone fruits sit beside sun-lit blossoms. Warm shots of bodies folded atop one another are in dialogue with those of cherry stems held tight between teeth. “I would describe the atmosphere of these photographs as tranquil and unrushed, imbued with understated sensuality,” the artist, born Lin Zhipeng, told Dazed in a recent interview.
Like the Chungking Express character from which his moniker stems from, 223’s practice centers moments that carve the contours of young life, love, and loneliness, softened and layered in depictions of desire, innocence, and play. Be it two people locked in a kiss or grapefruit slices, pulp ripe and tender, each piece in the collection holds tight to its beauty, even if just for a second, before it slips away forever.
The exhibition is now on view in Beijing until September 11.
Saint Laurent Rive Droite Beijing
19 Sanlitun Road,
Chaoyang District,
Beijing, China
