Lin Zhipeng Aka N.223
CHINA
Lin Zhipeng, aka No.223, born in Guangdong in 1979, a coastal province in southeast China, is currently lives in Beijing. In 2003, he created a blog North Latitude 23 in which he published photos of his friends accompanied by short texts, which met with great success and quickly became one of the leading figures of the new emerging Chinese photography.
The artist took the pseudonym "编号223 | No.223" more than 20 years ago on social networks. It comes from the name of a young police inspector, a fascinating character in the film Chungking Express by Wong Kar-Wai released in 1994.
Over the past decade, No.223 has become a prolific and important representative figure in contemporary Chinese photography. “The work of 223 reveals the uncensored heart of counterculture”, explains Luigi Clavareau. “Photographing young people enjoying life and love – passing through moments of melancholy and liberated sexuality – he challenges not only the conservatism imposed by society, the government censorship, but the indifferences of his homeland.” His photography becomes political for many in a symbolic way. Pascal Hoël (MEP, Head of collections) writes “The photographs by n°223 depict a Chinese youth who live as if without prohibitions or limits, and who indulge in love games, alternating exaltation, deep melancholy and playful sexuality”. To that one must add 223 own words “I have always been fascinated by the creative madness and the incredible energy that emanates from youth. Through my photographs of semi-nude or nude subjects I implicitly unveil the heart of China's counterculture scene of liberated sexuality and gender orientations, my works and lifestyle are censured and persecuted in China”.
• SERIES •
Colours of Love
Colours of Love
In collaboration with Galería Cadaqués, InCadaqués Photo Festival, Lin Zhipeng aka No.223, and in)(between gallery grouped outtakes from his two latest major exhibitions: Photographed Colors of Love, part of the group exhibition Love Songs - Photographies de l’intime at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie Paris, and Colors of Love, in)(between record vol. 45, his third personal exhibition in France. The show revisits his personal love story with his past lovers and the intimate souvenirs of many of his friends exposing his inmost gaze on love and sexuality of today's Chinese youth. This exhibition is not simply a selection of images from 223’s extensive and fabulous collection of film photography Polaroid work, on which he embarked in the early 2000s from his hometown of Guangzhou, China. It is a deep dive into his intimate memories of dear ones, his Polaroid and 35mm films and his travels across China, Tibet, South East Asia, and Europe. It is a panoply of his love, fashionable nudity, of expressive glaring portraits, of colourful landscapes and people, of embracing bodies in playful melancholy, of eroticism, of a sense of absence and untold more, all fashioned by the touch of the stunning imperfections of this medium and the master’s talent. The work of 223 reveals the heart of counterculture and by photographing young people enjoying life and love – passing through moments of melancholy and liberated sexuality – he challenges not only the conservatism imposed by society, but the indifferences of his homeland.
223 explains that labelling or selecting 1, 2 or 3 of his photographs as the best ones would be extremely difficult because each one speaks about a memory, an intimate moment from a period in his life. To those words, I add that the beauty of a photograph is not just the image, with its composition, colours, albedo, and perfection or simplicity –– it is also an entanglement of actual memories, and of the sensations the image can ignite. In that light, this exhibition conveys the intent and breadth of a poet, uniquely giving voice to the lovemaking frolics of 223’s intimate souvenirs, ignited sensations.