Soft Heroes 2017-2024

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Shion, 2021 
Vinyle, coton et polyester

c.280 × 150 × 660 cm

Highlights aus der Sammlung Jakob, Freiburg im Breisgau, Allemagne, 2023

Photo © Danillo Donzelli

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Milo, 2021 
Bois, métal, laque, vinyle, coton, velours, polyester, ouate synthétique

165 × 147 × 132 cm

17, Xippas, Paris, France, 2021

Photo © Frederic Lanternier

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Ziwen 1, 2018 
Softsculpture
240 × 40 × 12 cm
Offshore framing, Take Festival, Vienne, Autriche, 2019

Photo © Ganica Stauz

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Mace, 2021 
Denim, vinyle, coton, acier, bois, ouate et Tracteur 

240 × 40 × 12 cm
Liste, Vinvin, Bâle, Suisse, 2021

Photo © Studio Shapiro

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Philippe I, 2021 
Bois, corde, acier, vinyle, ouate synthétique, denim et coton

240 × 40 × 12 cm

Cozzie Livs, curated by Tom Bull, Des Bains, Londres, Angleterre, 2021

Photo © Studio Adamson

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Allen 1, 2018 
Vinyle, coton, strass, tulle et ouate polyester

240 × 40 × 12 cm

Duna Bianca, Dittrich & Schlechtriem, Berlin, Allemagne, 2020

Photo © Jens Ziehe

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Bad Luck II, 2022 
Machine à pinces, acier, vinyle, ouate synthétique, denim

ArtGenève, Stand Xippas, Genève, Suisse, 2023
Photo © Claude Cortinovis

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Philippe II, 2021 
Denim, vinyle, coton, acier, bois et ouate

240 × 40 × 12 cm

Liste, Vin Vin, Bâle, Suisse, 2021

Photo © Julien Gremaud

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Stan, 2019 
Vinyle, tulle, acier, bois et mousse

115 × 50 × 166 cm 

i’m not okay, VinVin, Vienne, Autriche, 2019

Photo © Flavio Palasciano

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Chae 1, 2018 
Softsculpture
240 × 40 × 12 cm

ShowDown, Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle, Suisse, 2018

Photo © Lionel Henriod

Thomas Liu Le Lann

THOMAS, 2019 
Vinyle, coton, ouate polyester, pvc, denim et crochet en fer

280 × 150 × 660 cm

Ziwen, you deserve all the flowers that still grow on earth, Xippas, Genève, Suisse, 2019

Photo © Annik Wetter

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Y (Y wears a baby blue PMS shirt), 2021 
Tricycle, velours, vinyle, t-shirt en coton biologique imprimé, acier, bois et ouate

115 × 50 × 166 cm

Milo, Dittrich & Schlechtriem, Berlin, Allemagne, 2021

Photo © Jens Ziehe

Thomas Liu Le Lann

!?!?!?!?!?, 2024
Coton, ouate, plastique, corde, bois, acrylique et métal

c.325 × 315 × 330 cm

Sky Rush, Xippas, Genève, Suisse, 2024

Photo © Julien Gremaud

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Stan, 2019 
Vinyl, tulle, acier, bois et mousse

115 × 50 × 166 cm 

Photo © Flavio Palasciano

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Ziwen III, 2020 
Jersey, vinyle, fausse fourrure, pvc, rembourrage polyester

240 × 40 × 12 cm

Year of the rat, Dittrich & Schlechtriem, Berlin, Allemagne, 2020

Photo © Jens Ziehe

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Untitled, 2018 
Tissu laqué

Dimentions variables, ~ 8 mètres de long

i’m not okay, VinVin, Vienne, Autriche, 2019

Photo © Flavio Palasciano

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Loved (soft), 2017 
Softsculpture
240 × 40 × 12 cm

Une histoire d’amour, One Gee in Fog, Genève, Suisse, 2020

Photo © Théa Giglio

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Bad Luck I, 2022 
Machine à pinces, acier, vinyle, ouate synthétique, denim

190 × 60 × 110 cm

Barbe à Papa, CAPP, Bordeaux, France, 2022

Photo © Arthur Pequin

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Ziwen 1, 2018 
Softsculpture
240 × 40 × 12 cm

19.07, maladie d’amour, Grenoble, France, 2018

Photo © Lili Reynaud Dewar

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Ziwen Forever, 2024 
Vinyle, coton, ouate, plastique
Dimensions variables 

Photo © Julien Gremaud

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Vue d’exposition
Milo, Dittrich & Schlechtriem, Berlin, Allemagne, 2021

Photo © Jens Ziehe

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Untitled, 2018 
Tissu laqué

Dimensions variables, ~ 8 mètres de long

i’m not okay, VinVin, Vienne, Autriche, 2019

Photo © Flavio Palasciano

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Nacho (Nacho wears a kiwi green PMS shirt), 2021 
Tricycle, jersey, vinyle, t-shirt en coton biologique imprimé, acier, bois et ouate

115 × 50 × 166 cm

Milo, Dittrich & Schlechtriem, Berlin, Allemagne, 2021

Photo © Jens Ziehe

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Ryu #1, 2019 
Lycra, remourrage polyester, chaine en aluminum, simili cuire et acrylique
90 × 23 × 5 cm
Photo © Yuko Tohihara

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Ashe, 2021 
Denim, vinyle, coton, acier, bois et ouate

240 × 40 × 12 cm

Liste, Xippas, Bâle, Suisse, 2021

Photo © Julien Gremaud

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Philippe I, 2021 
Bois, corde, acier, vinyle, ouate synthétique, denim et coton

240 × 40 × 12 cm

Le Commun, Genève, Suisse, 2021

Photo © Julien Gremaud

Thomas Liu Le Lann

THOMAS, 2019 
Vinyle, coton, ouate polyester, pvc, denim et crochet en fer

280 × 150 × 660 cm

Étude sur l’empathie, Fondation Pernod Ricard, Paris, France, 2019

Photo © Aurélien Mole

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Untitled, 2023 
Carton, vinyle, denim, coton, acier, polyester, corbeille

140 × 60 × 60 cm

Claustrophobia Alpina III Relief, Forde, Genève, Suisse, 2023

Photo © Théa Giglio

Thomas Liu Le Lann

Archive de l’artiste, 2018

Photo © Droits réservés

‘the silence of a boy is hard to endure
but endure mine, i beg you’
Dennis Cooper, The Weaklings (XL), 2013

In their extreme blankness, Liu Le Lann’s figures perhaps most resemble the unlocatable love objects of Dennis Cooper’s fiction. Because the boys Cooper obsesses over lack any discernible characteristics, and refuse to express themselves, they demand to be represented. Someone else has to describe them if they cannot do it themselves. But by refusing to affirm or deny their representation, or display even the most meagre qualities attributed to them, they mark up the distance between reality and representation. The processes of identification and representation continue whether or not there is something to be described. Identity, and the subject, are shown to be little more than narrative fantasy or social construction. This is not some subversive power wielded by the dissident individual – a passive agency, whatever that would mean – but simply making visible an already existing fault line in the process of identification. In showing that representation comes from the outside, at a cultural rather than individual level, Cooper’s blank characters, like Liu Le Lann’s almost formless figures, cannot be reduced to a type, a racial category, or otherwise defined. The silence of the blank figure is harder to endure than any speech.

Paul Clinton, Soft Heroes – Passivity and Weak agency in Thomas Liu Le Lann’s ShowDown, 2019 (Excerpts)