Lu Yang: DOKU The Flow

Born in 1984, Lu Yang is a multimedia artist who lives and works in Shanghai (China) and Tokyo (Japan).

In his multidisciplinary practice, Lu Yang favors the use of advanced digital technologies and wide-ranging collaborations with specialists such as designers, composers, psychologists, dancers, engineers and scientists. He creates virtual worlds that unfold in immersive video installations. His fantastic imaginary realm, one with postapocalyptic overtones, is born of a syncretism in which Buddhist spirituality dovetails with transhumanist theories and neuroscientific research. Through these combinations, the artist brings to life hybrid creatures that transcend identity concepts of gender, sex and nationality to better understand what it means to be human in the 21st century.

For Open Space #14, his first solo exhibition in a French institution, Lu Yang has conceived a unique video installation centered around his new film DOKU The Flow, the second chapter of the “DOKU” series. Rooted in the Japanese concept “DOKUSHO DOKUSHI”, which reflects on the solitary nature of birth and death, DOKU is a virtual character born from the digitization of the artist’s facial features. Blending technological expertise with Buddhist philosophy, the film traces the multi-faceted avatar’s solitary odyssey. Through DOKU, Lu Yang transcends the limitations of the physical body, enabling him to explore a newfound freedom through digital reincarnation. Here, the boundaries between mental, physical, and spiritual dissolve, giving way to a poetic and evocative narrative full of transformative possibilities.

Curators: Claudia Buizza and Ludovic Delalande (Fondation Louis Vuitton)

As a partner venue of the Fondation Louis Vuitton (Paris), K11 will host DOKU The Flow by Lu Yang in K11 Shenzhen next spring 2025. 

About the artist
Recent solo exhibitions: Mudec, Milano; Kunsthalle Basel, Basel; Palais Populaire, Berlin; ARoS Museum, Aarhus; M Woods, Beijing; MOCA Cleveland; Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Zabludowicz Collection, London; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo and Kunstpalais Erlangen.

Recent group exhibitions: Centre Pompidou-Metz; Muzeion, Bolzano; La Biennale di Venezia; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; CCA, Tel Aviv; ICA, London; Muzeum Sztuki, Poland; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Fridericianum, Kassel.

Lu Yang is represented by Société, Berlin.
 

The Open Space programme
Open Space is a programme dedicated to the most contemporary expressions of creativity. Several times each year, national and international artists are invited to create specific projects for one of the galleries in Frank Gehry’s building. Open Space actively supports emerging contemporary creation, providing the opportunity for a first personal exhibition in a renowned institution and encouraging production of a new work.