EXHIBITED:

Li Chen – In Search of Spiritual Space, National Museum of China, Beijing, April 29 – May 11, 2008

Li Chen: Mind, Body, Spirit, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, September 17 – December 9, 2009 (larger version)

ILLUSTRATED:

Li Chen 1992-2002 Sculpture, Asia Art Center, Taipei, 2004, color illustrated, pp. 82-83

Li Chen in Venice 52nd Venice Biennale - Energy of Emptiness, Asia Art Center, Taipei, 2007, color illustrated, pp. 118-129

Li Chen in Beijing - In Search of Spiritual Space, Asia Art Center, Taipei, 2008, color illustrated, pp. 50-57

Li Chen: Mind, Body, Spirit, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, 2010, color illustrated, pp. 94-103

Li Chen, a contemporary sculptor born in 1963, continues to instill brand new concepts into the creation of Chinese sculptures. So far, he has held exhibitions in New York, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Paris, London, Geneva, Venice, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, Jakarta, and Taipei. His work has been housed by individuals and by museums in many different countries. Li Chen is one of the most important international artists at the present time.

In Li's expansive studies of Buddhist and Taoist scriptures he seeks truth beyond the material world. He uses sculpture to convey the spirit and allusions of Eastern culture, taking the idea of "Emptiness" or "Void" as his central creative aesthetic concept. These are important concepts in Chinese Buddhi stand Taoist cultures. But "Emptiness" in Buddhism does not mean "Nothing". Instead it connotes a vast and calm understanding of one's existence in the world. In the same vein, there is a Taoist saying that goes: "When emptiness is broken, the earth loses its balance"; it describes an extreme state of disturbing the balance of things as pursued though the idea of interconnectivity.

Li Chen's sculptures investigate the energy of such emptiness, and his sculptural forms are not empty, but instead are full of a vital energy. He achieves this through an energetic and spiritual style that uses exaggerated shapes and dark black lacquer to create a spiritual matter that people can absorb. But the sculptures also convey emotions that are sweet, romantic, happy and satisfied. For this reason, though some of his works may be massive, they don't appear oppressive and heavy. Instead they seem to be floating in the air, exhibiting an alluring ambiguity between lightness and heaviness.