At a Hong Kong auction in May this year, Taiwanese artist Li Chen's Golden Rain, a large-scale bronze sculpture sold for more than four times the estimated price at nearly NT$40 million (approximately USD$1263,118), creating a new world record for personal auction prices. Li Chen was selected as one of the world's top ten sculptors by Artprice, an art market information company in France. According to Arttrend, a website covering the modern and contemporary art markets of Asia, the market value of Li Chen's works ranks second in Asia in the category of sculpture, only after the master of sculpture, Ju Ming.

Born in Yunlin, Taiwan in 1963, Li Chen started out as a traditional sculptor of Buddhist imagery. In 1999, his works debuted in Taipei. Since 2000, Li Chen has been exhibiting his works throughout the world's major cities, such as New York, Chicago, Miami, Paris, London, Geneva, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong, Jakarta,and Taipei. With works collected in private and public collections in various countries, he serves as a mainstay in the world of Taiwanese contemporary sculpture.

In 2007, he held a solo exhibition titled, Energy of Emptiness, at the 52nd Venice Biennale, the most important and avantgarde event in the art world. As a result, he became the first Taiwanese artist to be invited to participate in the exhibition over the past century. In 2008, he held a large-scale solo exhibition, In Search of Spiritual Space, at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing that received wide levels of acclaim and recognition. Furthermore, Li Chen held his first personal outdoor large-scale sculpture exhibition at National Gallery Singapore in 2009. In 2011, he held Greatness of Spirit Li Chen Premiere Sculpture Exhibition in Taiwan at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Square, marking the largest sculpture exhibition in Asia's history. In 2012, his first solo exhibition in the United States was held at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. His 2013 European Tour started from the Place Vendôme in Paris, France. In 2014, he launched the Ordinary People series of works.

Through modern techniques of sculpture and unique methods for processing surface texture, Li Chen has provided new innovation to bronze sculptures. With distant views of meteorites, close-up observations of copper, and forms of gas energy, the entire sculpture features a kind of "both heavy and light" effect. The Genuine State series incorporates his original "Silver Pressing" technique to create a life condition similar to the reflection of a mirror or a physical and virtual body.

"Traveling in Mountains" emphasizes the concept of "wandering" in Chinese culture: wandering can represent a relaxed and happy attitude. Similar to the life of an urban hermit, spiritual liberation can be found though there is no magnificent material life. Laying comfortably among the clouds, what a wonderful life! On one end, the Genuine State series seeks a spiritual space, while the The Beacon series is the extension of a spiritual space. Fire serves an important element to these works. The Pursuer and Golden Palm comprise two of the eight works in The Beacon series. For those, the artist attempts to make the sculpture more interactive during the process of lighting. Observing changes in light and shadow and the shading of the sculpture from different angles, the threedimensional sensations of the work is visually illustrated. This three-dimensional physical existence touches sensory perceptions and sparks a mental spirituality. With the relationships found in the breathing space of the shadowy atmosphere, the life meaning for the sculpture is made even richer.

Li Chen develops a new Eastern spirit that distinguishes itself from tradition. Presenting a higher level of spiritual beauty, it enables traditional statues passed down for thousands of years to find perfect modern integration. Expressing the closeness of physical and spiritual spaces through visual sensations, the value of people and spirit is further conveyed, instantly moving viewers. Along with a sense of humor and a broad internal rhyme, the spiritual worlds in the works present an illusory and tranquil temperament, an all inclusive wisdom, that simply and directly conveys a position and language.