Coinciding with the acquisition and display of Chen Li’s “Human Buddha” at The British Museum

Chinese art and Western art have different views about reality. But when I paint, I ignore [these] rules to create living artistic images. (Chen Li)

Chen Li is a master woodblock printmaker and oil painter with a unique vision and boundless originality. His joyful, dynamic, and intoxicatingly peaceful works convey the life-affirming energy of his native Yunnan Province on China’s southwest frontier.

In his woodblock prints, Chen Li uses Yunnan’s rare “waste-block” or “suicide” technique that leaves no room for error. All colours are printed from a single woodblock, each step carving over the previous one until the block is destroyed. Only a single edition is possible.

Our fourth solo exhibition of Chen Li’s works coincides with the display of his “Human Buddha” woodblock print at The British Museum, just 8 minutes walk from the gallery. This work was acquired by the museum after our first solo exhibition of Chen Li’s woodblocks in 2018 and is now on display as an exceptional representation of modern Chinese art.

Spirit of Landscape is Chen Li's third solo show in London and also marks his highly anticipated first visit to the U.K., coinciding with the acquisition of his work by the The British Museum.

Chen Li's works won many prizes at the mandatory national art exhibitions in China but he felt he was not ready to exhibit internationally until he was 46. After his first solo exhibition in London last year, his work has been acquired by The British Museum, shortlisted by the Royal Academy of Art, and placed in significant private collections in the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States.

Earlier this year, we created a buzz with Chen Li's extraordinary reduction woodblock prints, made using a rare technique developed in Yunnan. You can see editions of his prints here.  This June we focus on his equally extraordinary lyrical oil paintings.

Chen Li (b. 1971, China) is an artist of vast scope and originality who is attracting serious interest from public and private sectors. He reaches out from within the cultural context of his native Kunming, the capital of China's frontier Yunnan Province, in a way that speaks to universal experiences.

Chen Li lives, feels, and breathes the poetry of life.  His works are joyful, dynamic, and intoxicatingly peaceful.

Inspired by the spectacular landscapes and Buddhist philosophy of his native Yunnan Province, Chen Li weaves East and West into a unique visual language full of harmony, spontaneity, and a brilliant interplay of colours and textures.

“Chinese art and Western art have different views about reality” says Chen Li, “but when I paint, I ignore the rules to create living artistic images. Just like writing a love letter, content is key; what pen you use is not important."

About Chen Li

Chen Li lives and works in Kunming. Born into an artistic family in 1971, he 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's practice is a constant transformation, a living art. He developed his style in conscious isolation from the influences of academia. The freedom of his thoughts is echoed in the freedom of his strokes and the originality of his compositions. His flying strokes render wind, clouds, the universe - transporting the viewer into the experience.

After a turbulent youth and a near-fatal accident, Chen Li goes deep inside himself to find peace, harmony and balance. It is this search that gives his works such power. “I paint what I feel in my heart... For this I have to face my past, and have the courage to see past successes and failures.”

From Yunnan to Fitzrovia: Rare Woodblock Prints from China's Frontier Yunnan Province

Chen Li lives and works in Kunming, the capital of China’s spectacular Yunnan Province. Born into an artistic family in 1971, he 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.

Last year, we introduced Chen Li’s lyrical paintings in his first London exhibition, “Paintings from the Heart”. This time, we shine the spotlight on Chen Li’s extraordinary woodblock prints.

In his woodblock prints, Chen Li uses Yunnan’s rare “waste-block” or “suicide” technique that leaves no room for error. All colours are printed from a single woodblock, each step carving over the previous one until the block is destroyed. This lends a sense of urgency, commitment and entirety to each work, as there is simply no going back. Only a single edition can be printed this way.

Chen Li also uses thick oil-based colours, creating relief-prints with a mesmerising texture.

Vibrant and dynamic, Chen Li’s woodblock prints are a song of line and colour. Steeped in Eastern philosophy and simultaneously traditional, contemporary, and whimsical, the woodblocks are a vivid testament to his unique vision and abundant originality. 

Chen Li defines his practice as a constant transformation, as a living art that while rooted in tradition embodies the evolution of woodcut printing and painting though constant innovation.

The freedom of Chen Li’s thoughts is echoed in the freedom of his strokes and the originality of his compositions. His flying strokes render wind, clouds, the universe – transporting the viewer into the experience.

After a turbulent youth and a near-fatal accident, Chen Li goes deep inside himself to find peace, harmony and balance. It is this that gives his works such power. “I paint what I feel in my heart... For this I have to face my past, and to have the courage to see past successes and failures.”

Defying any one style, he says “Just like writing a love letter, content is key; what pen you use is not important. Chinese art and Western art have different views about reality. But … I ignore [these] rules to create living artistic images.”

Chen Li’s woodblock prints have won numerous national awards in China and his works, both on canvas and paper, have been placed in significant private collections in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, and the United States, inspiring a loyal following.

Nicolas Usherwood, Galleries Magazine editorial, June 2017

With post-millennial globalisation ... artists like Ai Weiwei [are] becoming as familiar in the West as Jeff Koons. But [Weiwei's] art is still essentially Western in its aesthetic - what happened to a Chinese artist who wanted to engage with his own artistic traditions and yet be recognised by a wider audience? These thoughts are provoked by the show of Kunming-based Chen Li's paintings and woodblock prints, put on by gallerist Katrine Levin at Debut Art & The Coningsby Gallery.

One of the best exhibitions to see in June (About Time Magazine)