New York, NY – February 6, 2025 – Liu Shiming Art Gallery hosted Beijing Stories, a conversation between photographer Lois Conner, art critic Lilly Wei, and gallery’s curatorial director Fran Kaufman, exploring Beijing’s evolving landscape through sculpture and photography.
The discussion, held in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition, brought together two distinct yet deeply connected artistic visions—Liu Shiming’s sculptural portraits of everyday life and Conner’s panoramic photographs spanning four decades. Liu Shiming’s sculptures capture Beijing’s shifting identity through the people who navigate its streets, bridges, and alleyways. His figures are not symbols but individuals—travelers, workers, families—shaped by the city’s transformations. Fran Kaufman, the gallery’s curatorial director, noted Liu’s deep engagement with the human stories behind urban change.
For Lois Conner, who first arrived in Beijing in 1984 with her large-format camera, the city has been a subject of perpetual change. “Entire neighborhoods vanished almost overnight, but memory lingers,” she said. “I walk, I wait, I observe. My photographs are about what remains after the dust settles.” She described Beijing as a city of contrasts—where centuries-old hutongs stand in the shadow of gleaming skyscrapers, where history is both preserved and erased.
The conversation underscored a shared sensibility between Liu and Conner. Though one worked in clay and the other in film, both sought to document the rhythms of Beijing—its people, its architecture, and its fleeting moments. “Their work is a record of change, but also of continuity,” said Wei.
Following the discussion, guests explored the exhibition, which pairs Liu’s sculptures with Conner’s photographs, offering a layered portrait of a city constantly in motion.
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Written by: Chirui Cheng
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