About the artwork
Li Ji Kai confronts the social illness that plagues contemporary China, through his sculptures of young Chinese boys and the self-indulgence in their daily lives. The subject is perched atop his lavatory throne, aloof and uncaring, treating himself to an undeserved nap. The depiction is laughable, yet sad, and one can discern the affluence of the boy’s parents based on how well-dressed he is.
About the artist
Li Ji Kai born in Chengdu, Sichuan, 1975, insightfully explores the effects of the social illness plaguing today's China. Through the physical manifestations of young Chinese boys in sculptures and paintings, Li illustrates their disengagement with their environment and the preoccupied self-indulgence that he observes in their daily lives.
Li's works have been exhibited throughout China since 2002 in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hubei and Guangzhou, as well as the "Path -China-France Exhibition" in Paris in 2004.
He often covers historic and political happenings including the issue of Chinese youth goading each other towards ideological fervour and joining Red Guard groups to unleash Mao's brand of political terror during the Cultural Revolution, the post-revolution generation was pampered with consumerism, technology and filled with individualistic desires.