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.