Chen Li is a master woodblock printmaker and painter whose work was acquired by The British Museum as an exceptional example of modern Chinese art.

Chen Li defines his practice as a constant transformation, a living art. He developed his style in conscious isolation from the influences of academia. The freedom of Chen Li’s thoughts is echoed in his dynamic flying strokes, the originality of his compositions, and the brilliant interplay of colours and textures.

Inspired by the spectacular landscapes and Buddhist philosophy of Yunnan, Chen Li weaves East and West into a unique and harmonious visual language. After a turbulent youth he goes deep inside himself to find the peace, lightness and joy that permeate his works.

“I paint what I feel in my heart. For this I have to face my past, both successes and failures."

For his woodblock prints, Chen Li works in a rare jueban technique (which translates roughly as “waste-block”) perfected in Yunnan. Also dubbed the "suicide technique", this method leaves no room for error because all colours are printed off a single woodblock, each step carving over the previous one until the woodblock itself is destroyed. Only a single limited edition can be printed because the process cannot be repeated.

Born into an artistic family, in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province where he still lives and works, Chen Li grew up surrounded by the avant-garde artists of the post-Cultural Revolution, equally inspired by the works of Bruegel and de Kooning as of Guan Xiu and Zhao Wu-ji. Chen Li breathes new life into an existing medium, both in his paintings and woodblock prints, reaching out from within his cultural context in a way that speaks to universal experiences.

“Chinese art and Western art have different views about reality. But when I paint, I ignore both man-made and natural rules to create living artistic images. I paint to finish my idea, my hope. Just like writing a love letter, content is the key; what pen you use is not important.”