The freedom of Chen Li’s thoughts is echoed in the freedom of his strokes, transporting you into the experience. His 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 vision and originality. Chen Li lives and works in Kunming, the capital of 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. 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. He defines his practice as a constant transformation, as a living art that while rooted in tradition embodies evolution through constant innovation, defying any one style. “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.” In his woodblock prints, Chen Li uses Yunnan’s “waste-block” or “reduction” technique that is also known as the “suicide” method because it 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 small edition can be printed and the process can never be repeated. Chen Li’s woodblock print “Human Buddha” is part of the permanent collection at The British Museum and is currently on view. His woodblocks have won numerous national awards in China. His oil paintings and woodblock prints are in significant private collections worldwide.
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