A neon sign that read “Rear Windows” protruded from the facade of Prada’s beautifully restored Rong Zhai mansion in Shanghai, advertising Li Qing’s solo show within, which conjured the historic Beaux-Arts-style building’s heyday of the 1920s and ’30s, when such signs were in vogue. Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1954 film in which the wheelchair-bound protagonist spies on his neighbors, Li’s “Rear Windows” invited viewers to examine the evolving states of metropolises like Shanghai.

The exhibition catalogue suggests that the artist reimagined the space as one inhabited by the ghosts of its past, which Li emphasized in a literal sense with his sound installation of disembodied footsteps heard in the corridors, The New Owner Upstairs (2019). Yet one could not help but look outside of the villa’s history and notice the stark contrast between the sumptuous, attentively preserved venue and the humble window frames that Li used in Tetris Window, repurposed from old residential buildings that were cleared amid relentless urban expansion. This irony is noted by Li, who covered the windows of Rong Zhai’s ballroom with his Hangzhou House series (2019), large decal photographs of grand suburban Hangzhou homes slated for demolition. Under the impressive, stained-glass skylight of the hall, these eclectic houses based on local farmers’ visions of modernity and luxury further accentuated the disparities between the realities of different social classes. The wood floor was covered with Things You Can Take Away (2019), carpets printed with images of aged floor tiles from razed houses, introducing further contrast. 

Many of the project’s elements invited audience participation. In the former master bedroom, attendees were tasked with identifying dissimilarities within two pairs of seemingly identical paintings: the two panels of Finding Differences – Sales Lady (2019) both show the interiors of a property sales office, while a lavish corner of a shop is repeated in Finding Differences – Clothing Store (2010). The room’s pristine décor, replete with a plush bench, mirrored contemporary high-end sale rooms, gesturing at the rising popularity in the country of luxury brands like Prada.

Li’s exhibition felt exhaustive and monumental, with abundant works filling a maze of winding corridors across multiple floors. In a darkened room, Neon News Videos (2019) highlights the surging popularity of entertainment media with fictional tabloid-like news shown across LED screens. The narratives, about a cheating tycoon, a poet-turned-successful businessman, and an actor who marries a 16-year-old, are connected formally with individual Chinese characters from neon signs, themselves often associated with recreational activities. One narrow hallway (Writers Wall, 2019) was plastered with magazine clippings depicting landscapes and people, with all of the faces covered by translucent sheets, recalling chilling scenes from psychological thrillers such as One Hour Photo (2002). There was even a courtyard installation in the form of an illuminated tent with projected silhouettes of imagined figures. The small space symbolizes social intimacy and yet, exposed to passersby, the tent touches on voyeurism and surveillance in an increasingly connected post-internet world. These juxtaposed elements explored issues relating to multiple aspects of daily life in China following a century of social change. As one exited the mansion’s garden, one viewed the bustling streets of contemporary Shanghai anew.