Liu Shiyuan's Pixel-Brick Grids at Matteo Cantarella, Copenhagen

Liu Shiyuan's solo exhibition at Matteo Cantarella in Copenhagen presents two interrelated works exploring modularity across digital and physical realms. The series of paintings 'Punished You and Me' (2024-2025) features hand-painted pixel-like squares, while the floor installation 'Nobody, Labour' (2026) comprises bricks of varying hues arranged across the gallery floor, inviting visitors to walk across. Both works use the grid as a foundational structure, with the pixel and brick serving as parallel units—one tied to digital image production, the other to physical construction. Through repetition and subtle variation, Liu reveals deviations within systems that aspire to uniformity, evoking the convergence of industrial and digital paradigms. The grid also recalls algorithmic systems designed to organize behavior, yet the minute variations resist homogenization. Liu Shiyuan (b. 1985, China) lives and works in Copenhagen, holding an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York, and a BFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. Recent solo exhibitions include Fotografiska, Shanghai (2024); UCCA Dune, Beidaihe (2023); and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Los Angeles (2020). Group exhibitions include the Guggenheim Museum, NGV Triennial, and Fondation Louis Vuitton.