“These Buddha paintings remind me that I have to give up something to create new things.”
“Abstraction developed very early in Chinese calligraphy and is a part of our culture. We know it quite well. But I want to go beyond that concept, to develop further.”
Chen Li, Serene Thought, 2016, oil on canvas, private collection
Chen Li, Information Overload, 2016, oil on canvas, private collection
Chen Li, Cosmopolitan Buddha, 2016, oil on canvas, 60 x 50cm
Chen Li, Vitality, 2017, oil on canvas, private collection
“In his usual manner, Chen Li took the Mogao caves inspiration quite a few steps further. Building on the harmonious colours and forms passed on through millenia, he created his own colour and form expressions to reflect the contemporary state of mind and heart, as well as the contemporary exchange of artistic practices from both East and West.
His Buddha is the contemporary Buddha, the Human Buddha.”
