Chinese performance artist Liu Jinxing, better known by his artist name Zhui Hun, is reported to be critically ill in detention following a hunger strike he staged after his trial in August, a news report has said.

Liu, 48, has been in custody for more than a year, having been taken away by Nanjing police in late May last year together with five other artists from the prominent Beijing Songzhuang art colony on grounds of public order charges ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The six were on a touring exhibition, “Conscience Movement in China,” at the time.

Liu was later charged on suspicion of the vaguely defined “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a criminal law that targets activists, rights lawyers and journalists in mainland China for criticizing and acting against the Communist Party.

He stood trial at Xuanwu District People’s Court in Nanjing on Aug. 13 and declared during his closing statement that he would go on a hunger strike, defense lawyer Xie Yanyi told Radio Free Asia. The lawyer said it was Liu’s form of protest at being unable to get a fair trial.

The artist pleaded not guilty to the charge against him, Xie said, adding that the charge and detention were in violation of Liu’s freedom of expression and basic human rights.

No verdict or sentence was passed during Liu’s trial, and his condition was unknown to his relatives and lawyer until Liu’s father received news on Monday of his critically ill state after starting the hunger strike, the artist’s wife Liu Lijiao said. A notice of his transfer to the intensive care unit of a hospital, issued by authorities at the Nanjing No. 3 Detention Center, was dated Aug. 21.

The wife tried to get a lawyer’s help to find out his condition. She also called the detention center, she said, but staffers there refused to reveal any information, saying they could not verify her identity.

RFA’s calls to the detention center went unanswered.

Born in Xianning city, Hubei province, Liu studied at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts before 1996. He is well known for paintings and performances that are seen as critical of the status quo in China. His vocal stance has led to his arrest on multiple occasions, including a crackdown on dissidents in 2011 that targeted 54 people, including Ai Weiwei. Liu has also helped families of Chinese prisoners by selling his artworks.

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